Found software that tests USB Port Transfer Speed

[coreman]

This post is for those folks who get the popup message "This device could perform faster if plugged into USB 2 port" because their USB port apparently throttled back to 1.1 speed.

Of course I would finally find this free software after my problem is solved (new motherboard)...at any rate, HD Tach is a shareware (free version tests read speeds) that can test both your harddrive and USB port reading speeds.

Since I don't like to link directly for downloads (in case there is spyware inside...I checked my copy (from Major Geeks) and found nothing), try Googling for HD Tach...

At any rate, I don't have a way now to compare to when my USB ports throttled down to 1.1 but here are the speeds reported for (3) usb devices and my stock Hitachi HDD.

Generic 256 mb USB Flash Drive:
Access Time: .5ms
CPU Utilzation: 10%
Average Transfer: 12 Mb/s
Burst Transfer: 12.4 Mb/s

edit: Out of curiosity, I tested the above 256 mB device in bottom port as well and got the same results...

Cruzer 1 Gb USB Flash Drive:
Access Time: .8ms
CPU Utilzation: 12%
Average Transfer: 16 Mb/s
Burst Transfer: 16.4 Mb/s

WD 60Gb USB 2.0 HDD:
Access Time: 18.2ms
CPU Utilzation: 12%
Average Transfer: 20.4 Mb/s
Burst Transfer: 24.9 Mb/s

Hitachi 40GB HDD:
Access Time: 16.6ms
CPU Utilzation: 4%
Average Transfer: 30 Mb/s
Burst Transfer: 93 Mb/s

Wish I had known about this software when I was having my problem...learned about it from one of the PC magazines, they used it to benchmark USB hard drives...

[Brad]

Thanks for your hard work. Interesting results.

What was the RPM of the Hitachi drive?

Thanks again,

Brad

[coreman]

It's the standard Hitachi drive for T41s...HTS548040M9AT00, 5400 rpm with 8mb...