Transferring from FW800 to USB 3.0 on rMBP

[jterp7]

Initially it looked fast but it looks no better than usb2.0. Is this because I'm using a TB display, hence any usb 2.0 devices connected drops the entire stream to usb2 speeds?

(The 2tb passport is directly connected to rMBP and the 1.5tb seagate fw800 is connected to the TB display)

 

[g4cube]

When copying between drives, remember that the copy is not direct. The OS buffers these transfers. Check to see if you have lots of other open apps during the transfer, and how full each drive is as well as the drive you booted the OS from.

 

[jterp7]

OS drive is the SSD. Its going from external to external (usb 3 from port, fw from tb display

 

[MCAsan]

If you want max speed, probably forget the Display's USB 2 hub. Consider connecting a powered USB 3 hub directly to the rMBP. Replace the FW drive with a USB 3 one. You can get a 3TB USB 3 Seagate at Costco for around $130.

I am hoping for a Display refresh later this year that replaces USB 2 with USB 3.

 

[jterp7]

If you want max speed, probably forget the Display's USB 2 hub. Consider connecting a powered USB 3 hub directly to the rMBP. Replace the FW drive with a USB 3 one. You can get a 3TB USB 3 Seagate at Costco for around $130.

I am hoping for a Display refresh later this year that replaces USB 2 with USB 3.

well technically all 3 are usb 3 capable. I tried a couple things yesterday. With two usb 3.0 passports directly connected to the rMBP and transferring to one another, the rate was around 64-70MB/s sustained. From the 256GB SSD to the 2tb passport it was 100MB/s. I'd say something internally in the TB display is at fault here because I know directly connected the FW800 drive was also capable of 60MB/s sustained on its own.

I wonder if its because the TB display is technically a hub with FW800 AND usb2.0, so when connected to anything the entire line is stuck at usb 2.0 even though none of the drives are themselves.

 

[alphaod]

Are you saying you HDDs are transfering slowly at 60MB/s? That sounds pretty reasonable for hard drives.

If you want good performance try SSDs.

 

[g4cube]

Copying from SSD to either USB 3.0 or FireWire drive should be fast.

Copying from USB 3.0 to FireWire or vice versa will be slower.

 

[jterp7]

Are you saying you HDDs are transfering slowly at 60MB/s? That sounds pretty reasonable for hard drives.

If you want good performance try SSDs.

trying again earlier today I got 90-100 from usb 3 to usb 3. It was the FW800 to usb3 that surprised me at only 20-24 sustained. As stated earlier, I know the FW800 drive will do a solid 70 when the bottleneck is removed, unless the FW800--USB3 is what results in some huge losses.

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Copying from SSD to either USB 3.0 or FireWire drive should be fast.

Copying from USB 3.0 to FireWire or vice versa will be slower.

i'm not expecting 250MB/s or something crazy, but I thought it would drop to the slowest object in the chain, i.e. in FW800 to USB 3 it would be limited by the FW interface which seems to be around 70MB/s.

 

[MCAsan]

That being the case, I am OK with Apple dropping FW in any Display refresh and adding more USB 3 ports and/or more Thunderbolt ports.