T420 USB 3.0 PCIE too slow

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t420poklop · #1 Post by **t420poklop** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 12:14 pm

Hello everyone,
I bought PCIE adapter USB 3.0 but it is horribly slow; write speeds (to external HDD) are cca 2x slower than normal USB 2.0. I have T420 with original BIOS. Maybe should I upgrade BIOS?
Thanks, Dave.

dr_st · #2 Post by **dr_st** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:33 pm

1) Which adapter did you buy?
2) Is the USB3 cable firmly plugged all the way in?
3) Is the HDD getting external power?

excal32 · #3 Post by **excal32** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 3:14 pm

t420poklop wrote:Hello everyone,
I bought PCIE adapter USB 3.0 but it is horribly slow; write speeds (to external HDD) are cca 2x slower than normal USB 2.0. I have T420 with original BIOS. Maybe should I upgrade BIOS?
Thanks, Dave.

My experiences with a USB 3.0 expresscard on my T420 were very disappointing.
I ended up returning the card and suffering with the USB 2.0 ports on the machine.
The only time I got good USB3.0 throughput is with the Mini Dock Series 3 - some models have usb 3.0 on the back instead of eSATA.
I have one for sale in the marketplace but they're very easy to find and not very much money. Possibly less than you spent on the USB 3.0 card?

dr_st · #4 Post by **dr_st** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 3:37 pm

excal32 wrote:The only time I got good USB3.0 throughput is with the Mini Dock Series 3 - some models have usb 3.0 on the back instead of eSATA.

A USB 3.0 dock will not give you USB 3.0 speeds if there is no native USB 3.0 available on the laptop. The T420 only has USB 2.0 ports. The USB 3.0 port on the mini-dock will only function as 2.0.

A USB 3.0 ExpressCard is the way to go. Some of them are problematic, others are less so. I wouldn't get anything Renesas-based for the T420. ASMedia or Fresco Logic should be OK.

t420poklop · #5 Post by **t420poklop** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 4:37 pm

I use Delock adapter and WD Elements Portable 1TB (which does not require external power)
USB cable seems to be plugged correctly.
Maybe I will try some adapter from eBay like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Port-USB-3-0- ... SwubRXIdoQ

thinkpadcollection · #6 Post by **thinkpadcollection** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:26 pm

Again this is same problem as Renesas because Nec-Renesas merged into single NEC while back.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

t420poklop · #7 Post by **t420poklop** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 8:17 pm

Ok, understand. Which card would you recommend? I found GMYLE® ExpressCard 34mm to USB 3.0. But I am not sure. I found from customer reviews, that this one has fresco.

https://www.amazon.com/GMYLE®-ExpressCa ... eNumber=12

TonyJZX · #8 Post by **TonyJZX** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 9:43 pm

This hasnt been my experience.

With a slew of Assmedia Renesas whatever random $5 ebay cards I get something like 75 megabyte per sec plus on Win7 or Win10 on my 410/420 machines.

Its not great like the 250-300 plus on native usb3 but its decent.

All on usb ext ssd.

dr_st · #9 Post by **dr_st** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 3:12 am

t420poklop wrote:http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Port-USB-3-0- ... SwubRXIdoQ

Indeed this is NEC/Renesas and will likely cause problems in your T420 (unless you disable ASPM for a serious hit on your battery life). Don't buy it.

t420poklop wrote:https://www.amazon.com/GMYLE®-ExpressCa ... eNumber=12

This is ASMedia ASM1042 and should be fine, but:

t420poklop wrote:I use Delock adapter and WD Elements Portable 1TB (which does not require external power)

I think that this may be your problem. While in theory, it does not require external power, ExpressCard-based USB ports often cannot provide enough juice for hard drives, and this can explain the low performance you are experiencing (can lead to worse issues of drive suddenly 'disconnecting' during a transfer).

There are two possible solutions that I see:

Use a USB Y-splitter cable which has two connectors on the PC side - one for data+power and an extra one just for power. You would connect the extra one to a spare USB port on your laptop's chassis. The cable would look something like this: https://www.amazon.com/SNDIA-DUAL-Super ... 01G3A1MAC/
(Don't know if this particular one is good or not)
Use an ExpressCard adapter that comes with a DC-in jack, and a cable that connects it to another USB port on the chassis. It achieves the same thing, but power goes through the ExpressCard. There are not many options in 34mm flush cards - the only one I know is this, which is currently unavailable:
https://www.amazon.com/ExpressCard-Expr ... 00AZZP8RU/
(If you are OK with a card that sticks out, then there are more options, but in any case, I think that the Y-splitter option is preferred)

t420poklop · #10 Post by **t420poklop** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 8:58 am

ok, thanks for reply

So would it be possible to get regular usb 3.0 speeds (130 Mbps) if I use GMYLE®-ExpressCard-34mm-Adapter-Dual and Y-split cable connected to second usb port on that card?

dr_st · #11 Post by **dr_st** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:04 am

On a T420, I'd imagine so.

Look at the X220 results reported here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=110163

Windows 8/10 will perform better than Windows 7 and older due to optimized built-in drivers from Microsoft.

t420poklop · #12 Post by **t420poklop** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 8:11 pm

Finally, I get the Gmyle 2x Usb 3.0 which has ASMedia and it works fine; read and write speeds 103 mbps, win7.

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