Barefeats tested the latest USB 3.0 bus powered storage devices against Thunderbolt devices to see how they performed in comparison. Notably, the USB 3.0 devices FirmTek miniSwap/U3 outperformed even an externally powered Little Big Disk Thunderbolt RAID in three out of four tests.
Turns out that the newest, latest USB 3.0 bus powered notebook storage devices are as fast or faster than their Thunderbolt counterparts. How is this possible when Thunderbolt is rated at 10Gbps (theoretical) and USB 3.0 is rated at 5Gbps (theoretical)? Two reasons: a) no single 6Gbps SSD can go faster than about 500MB/s (or 5Gbps) and b) improved USB 3.0 controllers squeeze the full potential from USB 3.0. What about the dual drive scenario? How could the dual USB 3.0 RAID 0 keep up with the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt (10Gbps) RAID 0 unit? That's because the two miniSwap/U3s were being fed by dual 5Gbps USB 3.0 ports (or 2 x 5 = 10Gbps). Though the emphasis in this article is on "fastest BUS POWERED notebook storage," we overlooked the fact that the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt RAID unit required an AC adapter."
Of course, Thunderbolt is actually 10Gbps per channel or 20Gbps total for both channels. It is technically faster; however, it appears that with these smaller bus powered devices, you may be better off with the cheaper USB 3.0 solution. Check out the benchmarks below or hit the link for the full analysis.
Turns out that the newest, latest USB 3.0 bus powered notebook storage devices are as fast or faster than their Thunderbolt counterparts. How is this possible when Thunderbolt is rated at 10Gbps (theoretical) and USB 3.0 is rated at 5Gbps (theoretical)? Two reasons: a) no single 6Gbps SSD can go faster than about 500MB/s (or 5Gbps) and b) improved USB 3.0 controllers squeeze the full potential from USB 3.0. What about the dual drive scenario? How could the dual USB 3.0 RAID 0 keep up with the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt (10Gbps) RAID 0 unit? That's because the two miniSwap/U3s were being fed by dual 5Gbps USB 3.0 ports (or 2 x 5 = 10Gbps). Though the emphasis in this article is on "fastest BUS POWERED notebook storage," we overlooked the fact that the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt RAID unit required an AC adapter."
Of course, Thunderbolt is actually 10Gbps per channel or 20Gbps total for both channels. It is technically faster; however, it appears that with these smaller bus powered devices, you may be better off with the cheaper USB 3.0 solution. Check out the benchmarks below or hit the link for the full analysis.
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