External storage - HDD or SSD?

[janclaes47]

On 6/17/2017 at 5:06 PM, Encid said:

A couple more questions... if I go for the USB SSD option how can I find out if my desktop computer's USB ports are USB 3.0? 

USB 3.0 ports are usually blue.

 

https://www.geeksinphoenix.com/blog/post/2014/01/12/How-to-tell-what-type-of-USB-connector-you-have-by-color.aspx

 

 

Edited June 18, 2017 by janclaes47

[Richard-BKK]

On 6/18/2017 at 0:44 PM, Encid said:

Very good suggestion.

I have been thinking about it for some time as the power outages must be having some adverse affect on my internal HDD as well.

I can get this one on Lazada for 1,690 baht - 1000VA/400W.

 

Excellent idea.

I found this PCIE to USB 3.0 4 port adapter on Lazada for 540 baht.

 

So for just over 2,000 baht I will have upgraded my PC's ability to transfer data faster and safer, and not need to worry anymore about power outages.

I could also test the speed of my existing WD external USB drives, as all are USB 3.0.

What sort of speed increase could I expect?

Maybe an SSD would not be needed after all?

 

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies.

Why go for an old USB 3.0 PICe card, you can get USB 3.1 PCIe cards in Thailand http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/computer-accessories/orico/pa31-2p-2-ports-usb3-1-pci-express-card-p026990/

Edited June 19, 2017 by Richard-BKK

[Encid]

5 hours ago, Richard-BKK said:

Why go for an old USB 3.0 PICe card, you can get USB 3.1 PCIe cards in Thailand http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/computer-accessories/orico/pa31-2p-2-ports-usb3-1-pci-express-card-p026990/

Thanks for the tip. 

I'll look into that option.

[lvr181]

6 hours ago, Richard-BKK said:

Why go for an old USB 3.0 PICe card, you can get USB 3.1 PCIe cards in Thailand http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/computer-accessories/orico/pa31-2p-2-ports-usb3-1-pci-express-card-p026990/

Will an external hard drive with USB 3.0 port accept the higher speed of a USB 3.1 pci-express card?

[Richard-BKK]

1 hour ago, lvr181 said:

Will an external hard drive with USB 3.0 port accept the higher speed of a USB 3.1 pci-express card?

Yes, of course the external hard drive will only work with the speed of USB 3.0. You can already buy external USB 3.1 drive enclosures for 2.5" SSD's or HDDs. That will give you access to the full speed of the SSD as USB 3.1 can do up to 10GB data transfer. SSDs with a SATA3 connection have a maximum data transfer of 6GB...

 

If you have an external HDD by USB 3.0 you not need to buy a USB 3.1 case as you will not notice much performance enhancement. But with a SSD it will make the drive fly...

Edited June 20, 2017 by Richard-BKK

[Encid]

On 6/20/2017 at 3:45 AM, Richard-BKK said:

Why go for an old USB 3.0 PICe card, you can get USB 3.1 PCIe cards in Thailand http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/computer-accessories/orico/pa31-2p-2-ports-usb3-1-pci-express-card-p026990/

Unfortunately that was not an option because the motherboard only has spare PCIE x1 slots and the USB 3.1 card requires a PCIE x4 slot.

 

 

I bought a USB 3.0 4 port card from one dealer at Lazada but when it arrived, the USB ports were white which indicated that they were USB 1.0 not 3.0 so I returned it and received a no questions asked refund.

 

My next attempt at getting a USB 3.0 card kind of worked... the card arrived this morning and the ports were blue (a good sign).

I plugged it into the computer and turned it on... went into setup by pressing F10 on bootup to see if I needed to change any settings in there.

Nothing to change re USB option so proceeded to start Windows 10.

Device Manager now recognizes that I have a USB 3.0 hub.

 

However when I plug in one of my WD external USB 3.0 drives, nothing happens.

No light on the drive, no Windows popup telling me that a new USB device has been added... nothing.

 

Any suggestions?

[Encid]

Oh... I forgot to mention that I also checked in Device Manager that I had the latest drivers and it is supposedly working.

 

 

[lvr181]

6 hours ago, Encid said:

Unfortunately that was not an option because the motherboard only has spare PCIE x1 slots and the USB 3.1 card requires a PCIE x4 slot.

 

 

I bought a USB 3.0 4 port card from one dealer at Lazada but when it arrived, the USB ports were white which indicated that they were USB 1.0 not 3.0 so I returned it and received a no questions asked refund.

 

My next attempt at getting a USB 3.0 card kind of worked... the card arrived this morning and the ports were blue (a good sign).

I plugged it into the computer and turned it on... went into setup by pressing F10 on bootup to see if I needed to change any settings in there.

Nothing to change re USB option so proceeded to start Windows 10.

Device Manager now recognizes that I have a USB 3.0 hub.

 

However when I plug in one of my WD external USB 3.0 drives, nothing happens.

No light on the drive, no Windows popup telling me that a new USB device has been added... nothing.

 

Any suggestions?

I take it that your external drive has its own power supply? Just make sure it is connected and turned on so when you boot the computer it may recognise it.

[DogNo1]

It sounds as though the USB ports are not powered.  If you continue to use this card you will need to use drives that are powered by an adapter or pull power from  another USB port.  Since most modern drives don't do this without special cables (Y cables which have one male A that plugs into the USB 3 port and one male A that plugs into a powered USB port ( won't be on the same card.)    Your alternative is to return the card and get one with the correct specs.  FYI, every single USB 3 hub that I bought at Phantip this year would  not work.  Returned to Japan and bought one on Amazon for $10.00 that works perfecty.  Be careful of these local stores that sell Chinese Junk.  On the other hand everything that I bought from Lazada works just fine.  Good luck!

[Encid]

10 hours ago, DogNo1 said:

It sounds as though the USB ports are not powered.

You hit the nail on the head.

The card looks very similar to this one.

 

At the top of the card there is a Molex power connector.

I took a spare cable from my power supply and plugged it into the card.

Due to the shape of the Molex power connector it can only fit one way so I'm sure it's correct.

Re-started the PC and then plugged in one of my WD external USB 3.0 drives, the light on the drive comes on but nothing else happens.

File Explorer does not recognize that drive, but if I plug it into a USB 2.0 port, it's found.

 

The card is Chinese in origin although I bought it from Lazada... could it be a dud?

I want to see this:

[Jai Dee]

3 hours ago, Encid said:

The card is Chinese in origin although I bought it from Lazada... could it be a dud?

 

Get a proper one from invadeIT - see here.

Talk to Thomas ([email protected]).

He is very helpful.

[DogNo1]

It does sound as though the card is faulty.  It may be best to buy a new one with a guarantee to return it if it doesn'r work.

Every item that I have bought at Phantip this year has turned out to have some problem with it.  Cheap Chinese stuff.  Lazada has been pretty good. Maybe they will let you return the card.  If not, turn to invadeIT as Jai Dee suggests.  Good luck.  BTW, IT City at the top of Phantip guarantees their stuff to work.

[Encid]

On 6/18/2017 at 5:18 PM, Encid said:

Thanks for that link.

 

I gave it a try and here are the results for the external USB 1TB WD drive (via a USB 2.0 port):

 

Compared with this result for my internal 1TB Toshiba HDD:

 

 

Yes I'm convinced that I need to buy a PCIE USB 3.0 adapter card and also the UPS.

But I still need extra storage.

I still do not know if I would benefit from a USB 3.0 SSD or another USB 3.0 HDD.

 

If that is the case then I should expect to see about 500 Mbps (62.5 MB/sec) write and about 825 Mbps (103 MB/sec) read speeds from my existing external HDD's.

Would that be realistic?

The SSD that I was looking at from Lazada was the SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD 500GB USB 3.0 which claims rw speeds of 415/430 MB/sec.

 

My USB 3.0 card (4 port) finally arrived today from invadeIT... only 1,090 baht plus postage.

Thomas was very helpful thank you.

I plugged it into a PCIE x1 slot, plugged in the MOLEX power cable, started up the PC, downloaded and installed the driver, and now have blazingly fast USB 3.0.

I performed the same speed test (40MB) and here are the results for the external USB 1TB WD drive:

 

 

I'm very happy with the results as it has breathed a new lease of life into my PC.

I'm not going to bother looking at SSD options any more as the portable USB 3.0 HDD's are fast enough for me now.

To get the full benefit of an SSD I would need a new motherboard, and more RAM, etc... probably a new PC.

By the way, I did buy that UPS and it has already saved my bacon twice.

Thanks to everyone who provided some very good information and opinions on this topic.