The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    M18x R2 USB 3.1 Speeds

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by maxslo, May 24, 2017.

  1. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

    Reputations:
    237
    Messages:
    918
    Likes Received:
    245
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I recently bought the Sandisk Extreme Pro 3.1 128GB USB, ofc first thing i did when it arrived was check the promised speeds, to see if they match the advertised...

    To my dissapointment i found that the USB barely reaches 250MB/s read/write speeds.
    Advertised: 420MB/s read & 380MB/s write.
    I tested on all four ports and the result was the same.
    I even tested it with the E6530, no dice.

    I am thinking Ivy Bridge might have some limitation or i got a lemon? (Feels like running S3 SSD on S2 port)
    Has anyone else tested their USB 3.1 speeds before?
     
  2. Tulius

    Tulius Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    242
    Likes Received:
    76
    Trophy Points:
    41
    The M18X-R2 doesn't have 3.1 USB ports, only the old 2.0 and 3.0 ones, that's why you can't achieve the proposed usb 3.1 speeds,
     
  3. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

    Reputations:
    237
    Messages:
    918
    Likes Received:
    245
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Actually it does... the USB 3.0 is infact USB 3.1 Gen 1 ...
    The USB 3.1 that you had in mind is actually USB 3.1 Gen 2.
    USB 3.0 -> later renamed to USB 3.1 Gen 1 is capable of 5GB/s (roughly 500MB/s), so in my opinion 420/380 of this USB shouldnt be a problem...
     
  4. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
    As tulius stated, m18x r2 only got usb 3.0 on 4 hubs and 2.0 on the esata combo port.

    however, usb 3.0 is rated for 5gbps which is around 625MBps so something is still not right here .
     
    maxslo likes this.
  5. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

    Reputations:
    237
    Messages:
    918
    Likes Received:
    245
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Exactly, I'm gonna put an SSD into USB 3.1 Enclosure and retest when i get the time, it would be really dissapointing if the USB speed is capped at 250MB/s
     
  6. aaronne

    aaronne Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    321
    Messages:
    466
    Likes Received:
    524
    Trophy Points:
    106
    what OS are you using?

    Because on my Win7x64 I got Nando's modded drivers (SATA and USB3.0) and I noted a performance increase over my ssd and usb write/read.
     
  7. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

    Reputations:
    237
    Messages:
    918
    Likes Received:
    245
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Same, Win 7 x64... would you mind posting a link to those drivers? :)

    Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk
     
  8. aaronne

    aaronne Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    321
    Messages:
    466
    Likes Received:
    524
    Trophy Points:
    106
  9. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
  10. aaronne

    aaronne Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    321
    Messages:
    466
    Likes Received:
    524
    Trophy Points:
    106
    I did not make a screenshot at time, but with standard m18xR2 drivers, both samsung magician and atto result's was not aligned to how 850Evo supposed to.
     
  11. Tulius

    Tulius Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    242
    Likes Received:
    76
    Trophy Points:
    41
  12. GodlikeRU

    GodlikeRU Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    165
    Messages:
    1,254
    Likes Received:
    562
    Trophy Points:
    131
    In most cases you won't get desired maximum USB bandwith. Chip gives it's overhead, there are drivers etc. You won't ever get maximum bandwith. This score is pretty good.
     
  13. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

    Reputations:
    237
    Messages:
    918
    Likes Received:
    245
    Trophy Points:
    56
    With the modded drivers and unlocked A11 i've seen an increase of 10MB/s on both read and write speed, but thats inside a margin of error..

    I've put a 512GB ssd in a 3.1 case and the case is super crippled, max 200MB/s when the SSD runs well over 400MB/s directly on SATA3

    Gonna need to try the USB on a different (newer machine)... :/
     
  14. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

    Reputations:
    237
    Messages:
    918
    Likes Received:
    245
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Ok, a buddy of mine tested the USB on his Ryzen machine and the usb is performing exactly as it should (420 read / 380 write).
    Dont wanna be pointing fingers but the culprit (bottleneck) seems to be the Ivy Bridge USB 3.1 Gen 1.
    Sucks to be missing 50% of the bandwith of a USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen 1... :/