# USB 3.0 New Technology (up to 4.8 gigabits per second)



## 2048Megabytes

Found this information about USB 3.0:

No doubt you’re familiar with the Universal Serial Bus – we ranked it as our top PC innovation of all time. But what do you know about the next version of this ubiquitous interface? USB 2.0 (otherwise known as USB Hi-Speed) boosted the original USB 1.1 12 mega bits per second (Mbps) data rate to 480Mbps over eight years ago, and now USB 3.0 (dubbed USB Superspeed) is set to multiply that bandwidth tenfold. Intel released the Extensible Host Controller Interface to hardware partners last week after some reported disputes with AMD and Nvidia (who, afraid Intel would have a jump start in incorporating the tech in chipsets, threatened to develop their own USB standard). But how does this affect you? We dug up some new information about USB 3.0, got our hands on the new connectors, and even took a look inside the new cables.

USB 3.0 will be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0.  Like the upgrade from USB 1.1 to 2.0, the new 3.0 connectors and cables will be physically and functionally compatible with hardware from the older specifications. Of course, you won’t be able to maximize your bandwidth unless you’re using a USB 3.0 cable with Superspeed devices and ports, but at least plugging a 3.0 cable into a 2.0 port won’t blow up your PC. The spec’s compatibility lies in the design of the new connectors. USB 2.0 cables worked off of four lines – a pair for in/out data transfer, one line for power, and the last for grounding. USB 3.0 adds five new lines (the cable is noticeably thicker), but the new contacts sit parallel to the old ones on a different plane, as opposed to being adjacent to them. This means you’ll be able to differentiate between 2.0 and 3.0 cables just by looking at the ends.

Read the rest at this website:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe..._about_usb_30_plus_first_spliced_cable_photos


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## Cleric7x9

what would ever need bandwidth that high?


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## Respital

Thanks, i heard someone say something about this. 

Looks like i'm going to build a new computer with USB 3.0 now.


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## 2048Megabytes

It takes a little while to upload stuff to my USB flash drives and external hard drive but I don't care.  USB 2.0 transfer rates aren't highly annoying to me.  Nice to know when I get a new computer around 2012 what new technology will be waiting for me.


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## Respital

2048Megabytes said:


> It takes a little while to upload stuff to my USB flash drives and external hard drive but I don't care.  USB 2.0 transfer rates aren't highly annoying to me.  Nice to know when I get a new computer around 2012 what new technology will be waiting for me.



It's probably not even USB 2.0 limiting you there... if i'm correct there is no such device that maxes out USB2.0 besides your processor would hit it's limit soon too. 

2012? Seems like long to wait.


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## Cleric7x9

no flash drive or hard drive can write anywhere near 4.8gb/s tho, so idk what the point is


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## Respital

Cleric7x9 said:


> no flash drive or hard drive can write anywhere near 4.8gb/s tho, so idk what the point is



Can Solid State?


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## 2048Megabytes

Cleric7x9 said:


> no flash drive or hard drive can write anywhere near 4.8gb/s tho, so idk what the point is



I think my USB 2.0 flash drive transfers data about 1 to 4 megabytes per second (8 to 16 megabits per second).  

I wonder what USB 3.0 devices would transfer data at?


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## Respital

2048Megabytes said:


> You are right there.  I think my flash drive transfers data about 1 to 2 megabytes per second (8 to 16 megabits per second).
> 
> I wonder what USB 3.0 devices would transfer data at?  10 to 20 megabytes per second?



Depends on the device. 

My flash drive currently writes at 24-25mb/s and reads at 34-35mb/s.


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## ducis

Cleric7x9 said:


> what would ever need bandwidth that high?



reminds me of my uncle who said no one would ever be able to fill a 20mb hard drive


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## 2048Megabytes

ducis said:


> reminds me of my uncle who said no one would ever be able to fill a 20mb hard drive



Shoot, I only have about 140 gigabytes of hard drive space and most of it is empty.  I don't know what do to do with it. (Of course that is a lot more storage space than 20 megabytes.)


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## Jerrick

Sounds promising. Ill be needing to update my studio gear soon. =p


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## Cleric7x9

2048Megabytes said:


> I think my USB 2.0 flash drive transfers data about 1 to 4 megabytes per second (8 to 16 megabits per second).
> 
> I wonder what USB 3.0 devices would transfer data at?





Respital said:


> Depends on the device.
> 
> My flash drive currently writes at 24-25mb/s and reads at 34-35mb/s.



your speeds are being limited by the flash memory, not the USB bandwidth...USB 2.0 is 480mb/s



ducis said:


> reminds me of my uncle who said no one would ever be able to fill a 20mb hard drive




true, maybe i should not have said "ever" but the capacity of USB 2.0 is barely touched right now...


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## porterjw

Cleric7x9 said:


> what would ever need bandwidth that high?



We won't. Skynet, however, will.


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## Respital

Cleric7x9 said:


> your speeds are being limited by the flash memory, not the USB bandwidth...USB 2.0 is 480mb/s
> 
> 
> 
> 
> true, maybe i should not have said "ever" but the capacity of USB 2.0 is barely touched right now...



Ya i know, i was just pointing out to the other dude. 



imsati said:


> We won't. Skynet, however, will.



Skynet?


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## 2048Megabytes

Respital said:


> 2012? Seems like long to wait.



I don't like wasting my money on computer upgrades continually.  Hopefully I will be able to upgrade my processor to a Quad-Core Phenom in about three years and have that be adequate to carry me thru another few years.


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## porterjw

> Skynet?



Not sure if that's a joke, but...let's just hope not

In the sad realization that it's *not* a joke, go to your local movie rental store and rent Terminator and Terminator 2:Judgement Day.


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## TrainTrackHack

> no flash drive or hard drive can write anywhere near 4.8gb/s tho, so idk what the point is


Well, currently the USB2.0 standard is a bottleneck, especially when all devices connected to a controller share all the bandwidth. So, if you have heaps of USB devices plugged in, existing USB standard will bottleneck flash drives -and even ordinary hard drives- pretty bad... plus, camcorders & stuff can really use the bandwidth, so...


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## Cleric7x9

2048Megabytes said:


> I don't like wasting my money on computer upgrades continually.  Hopefully I will be able to upgrade my processor to a Quad-Core Phenom in about three years and have that be adequate to carry me thru another few years.



in about three years you will be able to get a phenom for $30 and it will barely be worth it


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## johnb35

imsati said:


> Not sure if that's a joke, but...let's just hope not
> 
> In the sad realization that it's *not* a joke, go to your local movie rental store and rent Terminator and Terminator 2:Judgement Day.



Or just watch the Sarah Connor Chronicles on TV....


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## 2048Megabytes

Cleric7x9 said:


> in about three years you will be able to get a phenom for $30 and it will barely be worth it



You are likely right.  When I upgrade again I will likely just get a whole new motherboard, processor, RAM and a new hard drive.

Hopefully my hardware has far out paced the software I use so I won't need to upgrade anything until after May 2012.  I don't run the latest video games so I don't stress about the performance of the latest hardware.


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## Calibretto

Cleric7x9 said:


> what would ever need bandwidth that high?


You kidding me? Transferring data would take seconds! I would kill to have a 5Gbps transfer speed.



Cleric7x9 said:


> no flash drive or hard drive can write anywhere near 4.8gb/s tho, so idk what the point is


Maybe not in today's world, but I'm sure, in the next couple of years, there will be devices that can support that.


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## tlarkin

USB is burst speed, so its not constant.  You will never get full bandwidth with USB, but it will occasionally spike to the max data throughput on a good day.

Results will vary.

Firewire, on the other hand, is a constant speed.  So it is allways 400/800 mbit per a second.  Just like SATA is a constant speed.


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## 2048Megabytes

tlarkin said:


> USB is burst speed, so its not constant.  You will never get full bandwidth with USB, but it will occasionally spike to the max data throughput on a good day.



Why does universal serial bus 2.0 transfer data like this?


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## 2048Megabytes

I just transferred 211 megabytes of data to my USB 2.0 flash drive.  

It transferred the data at 2.705 megabytes per second (21.64 megabits per second).  As others pointed out earlier in this thread, that is quite far from the advertised 480 megabits per second data transfer rate (about 22 times slower).


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## Calibretto

2048Megabytes said:


> I just transferred 211 megabytes of data to my USB 2.0 flash drive.
> 
> It transferred the data at 2.705 megabytes per second (21.64 megabits per second).  As others pointed out earlier in this thread, that is quite far from the advertised 480 megabits per second data transfer rate (about 22 times slower).



Again, it depends on the flash drive. Some transfer faster than others.


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## 2048Megabytes

Calibretto said:


> Again, it depends on the flash drive. Some transfer faster than others.



Just played with one of my other flash drives. 

The same 211 megabyte file of data transferred at 4.13 megabytes per second (33.09 megabits per second).  That is a 52% faster transfer rate than my other flash drive.


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## TrainTrackHack

I heard, as flash drives age, they get slower, but generally all/any solid-state drives are a lot faster than mechanical HDs (granted they're usually slower at burst transfers). It's almost always the USB link that's bottlenecking.


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## jamesd1981

i cant wait for usb 3 think it will be great but i did read although usb 3 is coming in just now in terms of hardware that you wont get the best from it for a year or two until the chipset makers catchup.


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## Shane

On the front of one of my pc magazines it says that currently only Linux is capable of running USB 3.0 transfer speeds? Dont know how true this is though.


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## Jamin43

Cleric7x9 said:


> no flash drive or hard drive can write anywhere near 4.8gb/s tho, so idk what the point is



Good sales pitch


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