Our tests included timing how long it took to copy a 10GB file to the external drive (in other words, to write the file) and then to copy that file back to the internal drive (read the file). SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4-Port Hub.) We then ran the tests with the drive connected over FireWire 800 and via Thunderbolt with different enclosures. (We used StarTech’s $61Ħ Port USB 3.0 / USB 2.0 Combo Hub with 2A Charging Port with two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and a seventh USB port used for charging devices and Belkin’s $50 We ran the same tests again, but with the USB drive attached to each of two hubs.

Hard-drive testsįor our first test, we used a bus-powered, 2.5-inch Hitachi 750GB, 7200-rpm hard drive and ran a series of tests with it connected over USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 directly to our MacBook Pro. We also tested USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 speeds for comparison. To give the tests the best chance of success, we connected the USB 3.0 drives to a 2012 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a speedy internal SSD drive installed. So we ran a slew of tests using both spinning and solid-state drives that had a variety of interfaces and were plugged in both directly to a computer and through a USB 3.0 hub. We wanted to see if USB 3.0 lives up to its hype, and if Thunderbolt is in fact a faster alternative.

Usb 2 vs usb 3 transfer speed