HP Envy X360 Laptop USB 3.0 transfer speeds

[wvcadle]

Hello.  I have the HP Envy X360 with an Intel i5 processor in it.

I also bought a Seagate USB 3.0 portable hard drive.

I am only getting speeds between 20-30 MB/s between them.

Why?

And yes, the drive is plugged into one of the two USB 3.0 ports.

[Great-Deku-Tree · Accepted solution]

Hello @wvcadle ,

Welcome to the HP Forums!

I understand you have concerns with the read/write speed of the USB 3.0 ports on your notebook.

The capabilities of a protocol do not indicate the actual typical performance. The maximum speed for USB 3.0 is 5 gbps (gigabits per second) which translates to 640 MBps (megabytes per second).

Note that B and b are very different, by a factor of eight and result in very different numbers and is a huge complaint amongst people troubleshooting speed issues.

That said, these specifications mean that 640 MBps is the maximum possible speed of the technology and does not in any way reflect the speed you will actually experience. Many things will slow down the read/write speeds of your computer. Processes running on the notebook, CPU capabilities, RAM speed, drive speed (RPM or SSD, and lens movement speeds), or the size of the file being transferred. Mechanical drives that operate at 7200 RPM (5400 is the usual) usually have a throughput of around 80-100 MBps. 

Basically what I'm saying here is taking a car that can only go 55 Mph, wont go any faster if you drive it on a street with a higher speed limit. (Sorry if that analogy comes off rude. I want to make sure the point is clear for some of the less technical people reading the forums.)

When protocols are created they are written with futuristic capabilities in mind. This is somewhat deceiving to consumers as they expect these types of speeds when devices don't even support them yet, only the theoretical protocol does.

Another important factor is if the device is USB powered or not. USB powered devices typically operate at a slower speed than devices with their own dedicated power supply.

If you look at the read and write speed of most USB 3.0 devices you will find that the actual device (not the port) maxes out around 100 MBps, which even then will still not provide a 100 MBps speed in most cases once you factor in the other variables posted previously.

Here's a good graphical representation of what I'm talking about for common devices.

If you'd like more information on USB 3.0 from a more credible source other than little 'ol me check out this article published by PC Mag: USB 3.0 Tested: How Fast Is It in the Real World? It's slightly outdated but the same concepts apply today. Remember USB 3.0 was standardized in 2008, and this article was written in 2010. Lots of time for manufacturers to jump on board and get things together.

So the question is: What do we do about this?!

1. Make sure you have a USB 3.0 cable connecting the drive to the notebook.
2. Make sure the 3.0 Drivers are installed from here: HP - Drivers & Downloads or the Intel website.
3. Make sure that the xHCI controller is enabled in the BIOS and that the BIOS is up to date. (Access the BIOS via tapping F10 on startup.)
4. Use a clean boot of Windows to eliminate background services and processes.

Hopefully this information provides some insight to the problem. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂

-Edited formatting and grammar.

[wvcadle]

Very good.  Well thought out and lots of information.  Thanks.