Solved Internal SATA vs External USB Speed?

Mike Lynch

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I believe Internal SATA is faster than External USB.

If so, by about how much?
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Two HP Desktops. One in the Laundry Room / Bed Room.
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 3396
Memory
8.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Sound Card
(1) Realtek High Definition Audio (2) Intel(R) Display Aud
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns-G
Screen Resolution
1440 x 900 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 59 Hz
Hard Drives
(1) ATA WDC WD40EZRX-00S SCSI Disk Device (2) HP Officejet Pro 86 USB Device (3) WD My Book 1230 USB Device
PSU
Whatever came with the CMT.
Case
HP CMT Black.
Cooling
Whatever came with the CMT.
Keyboard
Logitech K740.
Mouse
Microsoft Optical Mouse 1000.
Internet Speed
Spectrum 25Mbs.
Antivirus
WebRoot, Microsoft Security Essentials.
Browser
EDGE
Other Info
HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus.
WD MyBook 4TB.
External USB 3 vs Internal SATA

Boy this seems very complicated.

One 2.5" USB Drive, one Internal 2.5" SATA Drive.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Two HP Desktops. One in the Laundry Room / Bed Room.
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 3396
Memory
8.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Sound Card
(1) Realtek High Definition Audio (2) Intel(R) Display Aud
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns-G
Screen Resolution
1440 x 900 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 59 Hz
Hard Drives
(1) ATA WDC WD40EZRX-00S SCSI Disk Device (2) HP Officejet Pro 86 USB Device (3) WD My Book 1230 USB Device
PSU
Whatever came with the CMT.
Case
HP CMT Black.
Cooling
Whatever came with the CMT.
Keyboard
Logitech K740.
Mouse
Microsoft Optical Mouse 1000.
Internet Speed
Spectrum 25Mbs.
Antivirus
WebRoot, Microsoft Security Essentials.
Browser
EDGE
Other Info
HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus.
WD MyBook 4TB.
ACTUALLY depends on your motherboard which speed it can handle check via MSinfo32
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
medionl/Aspire 6930G/acer x55a
OS
W7 home premium 32bit/W7HP 64bit/w10 tp insider ring
CPU
E5300 dual core
Motherboard
medion MS7366
Memory
3gb
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia Geforce 7100 Nforce 630i
Monitor(s) Displays
avixc
Internet Speed
n (isp resticted to 72)
Antivirus
mse/pands
Browser
palemoon
Other Info
Belkin Fd7050 n USB using Railink RT2870 drivers, more upto date
I looked however, there are several pages of MSInfo32.
Any clue as to which I should focus on?
 

Attachments

  • Capture - MSinfo32 page one.PNG
    Capture - MSinfo32 page one.PNG
    293 KB · Views: 3

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Two HP Desktops. One in the Laundry Room / Bed Room.
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 3396
Memory
8.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Sound Card
(1) Realtek High Definition Audio (2) Intel(R) Display Aud
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns-G
Screen Resolution
1440 x 900 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 59 Hz
Hard Drives
(1) ATA WDC WD40EZRX-00S SCSI Disk Device (2) HP Officejet Pro 86 USB Device (3) WD My Book 1230 USB Device
PSU
Whatever came with the CMT.
Case
HP CMT Black.
Cooling
Whatever came with the CMT.
Keyboard
Logitech K740.
Mouse
Microsoft Optical Mouse 1000.
Internet Speed
Spectrum 25Mbs.
Antivirus
WebRoot, Microsoft Security Essentials.
Browser
EDGE
Other Info
HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus.
WD MyBook 4TB.
You first need to specify what SATA speeds your drives are and then what SATA and USB speeds the motherboard and enclosure supports. You need that to compare results between computers. Here are some definitions.

1 Theoretical Speeds.jpg

I have two computers with different capabilities:

2 Hardware.jpg

Here are the results after testing:

3 Results.jpg

The motherboard for Computer #1 only has USB 2.0 ports and supports SATA/eSATA 2.0. As you can see by the results eSATA 2.0 is faster than USB 2.0.

The motherboard for Computer #2 has USB 3.0 ports and supports SATA/eSATA 3.0. USB 3.0 is fast enough that I never bothered to buy a eSATA 3.0 enclosure to test it.

Note that SATA 3.0 is not much faster than SATA 2.0 for SATA 3.0 HDDs. However, SATA 3.0 is noticeably faster than SATA 2.0 for SATA 3.0 SSDs.

Also, note that both external SATA 3.0 HDDs and SSDs are a whole lot faster when connected with USB 3.0.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    Custom build
    OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 (AM3+)
    Memory
    GSKILL Ripjaw-X PC3 12800 8GB (2x4GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1060 6GB
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus VE228H (21.5-in)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG 870 EVO 2.5 Inch SATA SSD (1TB)
    SAMSUNG 870 EVO 2.5 Inch SATA SSD (1TB)
    SAMSUNG 870 EVO 2.5 Inch SATA SSD (1TB)
    PSU
    Corsair RM750x (750 watts)
    Case
    Corsair Carbide Series 200R
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro Series H60 (CWCH60)
    Keyboard
    Logitech Elite
    Mouse
    Logitech M510 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    Comcast Gigabit Extra (1200Mbps down / 35Mbps up)
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge, Chrome
    Other Info
    ASUS DRW-24B1ST DVD-RW (24X) optical drive
    Seagate Expansion Desk (5TB) external SATA/USB HDD
    Comcast XB8 Internet Gateway
  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Custom
    OS
    Windows 7 Pro (64-bit)
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II 960T X4
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N82 Deluxe
    Memory
    Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 8GB (4x2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 1GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 930B 19-inch LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1000 GB (Windows 10)
    Seagate ST1000DM003 1000 GB (Windows 7)
    PSU
    Antec TruePower (new) TP-650
    Case
    Antec Three Hundred
    Cooling
    AMD stock cooler from FX8350
    Mouse
    Logitech M100
    Internet Speed
    Xfinity Gigabit Extra 1200/35 Mbps
Mr. Ed,

Thank you for all the research you have done on my behalf.

In a way, I wish I had never asked the question.

I assumed / thought it would be answered with a simple:

Internal SATA is always the fastest or External USB is.

Either way, based upon your research, I'll just let the question / Post drop.

I believe I would be very hard pressed to replicate what you have done, for my PC.

Thank you again for all that work.

Best regards,

Mike Lynch
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Two HP Desktops. One in the Laundry Room / Bed Room.
OS
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 3396
Memory
8.00 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Sound Card
(1) Realtek High Definition Audio (2) Intel(R) Display Aud
Monitor(s) Displays
Hanns-G
Screen Resolution
1440 x 900 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 59 Hz
Hard Drives
(1) ATA WDC WD40EZRX-00S SCSI Disk Device (2) HP Officejet Pro 86 USB Device (3) WD My Book 1230 USB Device
PSU
Whatever came with the CMT.
Case
HP CMT Black.
Cooling
Whatever came with the CMT.
Keyboard
Logitech K740.
Mouse
Microsoft Optical Mouse 1000.
Internet Speed
Spectrum 25Mbs.
Antivirus
WebRoot, Microsoft Security Essentials.
Browser
EDGE
Other Info
HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus.
WD MyBook 4TB.
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