USB 3.1 Set to Reach Desktops

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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The new USB 3.1 standard is ready for prime time and has already begun its rollout in higher end motherboards. The new standard will be at least twice as fast as its 3.0 predecessor with a transfer speed of 10Gbps.

New technologies like USB 3.1 usually first appear in high-end laptops and desktops, then make their way down to low-priced PCs, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst of Mercury Research.
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I hope there is a "killer app" that makes me want to upgrade to a motherboard with USB 3.1. Maybe an external HD that moves data as fast as an internal so I can use it as a portable Steam Drive.
 
I bet most of the journalists who drool over the Macbook's USB 3.1 ("Gen 1" = USB 3.0 speed) port don't understand it doesn't use the newer 10Gbps transfer speed. Losing the Lightning connector for a USB port running at half the speed is so :spanishappleengineervideo:.
 
hafnium911 said:
Can't wait for a 3.1 flash drive to come out!
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We'll need to wait for faster flash memory. I don't think there are any single die or MCM flash chips which can saturate USB 3.0/3.1 gen 1 speeds yet. The fastest ones do under 300MB/s read and 200MB/s write in Crystal-DiskMark.

Stacked flash should eventually do better.
 
so when are usb flash drives going to catch up? like never?

can usb 3.1 connect pc to pc for superfast file transfers?
 
pxc said:
We'll need to wait for faster flash memory. I don't think there are any single die or MCM flash chips which can saturate USB 3.0/3.1 gen 1 speeds yet. The fastest ones do under 300MB/s read and 200MB/s write in Crystal-DiskMark.

Stacked flash should eventually do better.
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I think he's referring more to the type-c slot rather than usb 3.1 speeds, no one really cares about the speeds, i just wanna plug it in on the first try.
 
Great USB 3.1 and yet still not one device can even reach USB 2.0 speeds these days. Not one flash or external hard drive reads or writes at 480 MB/s which was USB 2.0 Speeds. Then everything went to USB 3.0 great selling point but still no real speeds.
 
Wolf_Tech said:
Great USB 3.1 and yet still not one device can even reach USB 2.0 speeds these days. Not one flash or external hard drive reads or writes at 480 MB/s which was USB 2.0 Speeds. Then everything went to USB 3.0 great selling point but still no real speeds.
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yep. raid is the only way to see that speed, right?
 
dr.kevin said:
so when are usb flash drives going to catch up? like never?

can usb 3.1 connect pc to pc for superfast file transfers?
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It could be a while before regular USB drives catch up to maximum USB 3.1 speeds. The focus is on NAND cell/bit density, not maximum speed. It should continue to get better, slowly. Some enterprising flash drive maker may try to use multiple chips to increase speed, but performance will probably be uneven and the drive will be bulky.

Probably not. Asus makes "Transfer Express" add-on, but I think it only supports USB 3.0 speeds. PC to PC transfer wasn't a spec in the USB 3.0 either. Asus will probably make a 10Gbps version if it doesn't flop.
 
I'm tired of hearing about transfer speeds. Everything should be instant by now.
 
Wolf_Tech said:
Great USB 3.1 and yet still not one device can even reach USB 2.0 speeds these days. Not one flash or external hard drive reads or writes at 480 MB/s which was USB 2.0 Speeds. Then everything went to USB 3.0 great selling point but still no real speeds.
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USB 2.0 is 480Mb/s, not 480MB/s.
 
Wolf_Tech said:
Great USB 3.1 and yet still not one device can even reach USB 2.0 speeds these days. Not one flash or external hard drive reads or writes at 480 MB/s which was USB 2.0 Speeds. Then everything went to USB 3.0 great selling point but still no real speeds.
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lolwut? I've got a 4TB backup drive that's USB 3.0 compatible, and I can confirm that backups move MUCH faster when it's hooked into a 3.0 port compared to a 2.0 port. Same thing goes for the USB 3.0 compatible flash drives I own, too.
 
USB 2.0 devices were capped at 480 Mb/s, so 60 MB/s. After USB overhead, it's quite a bit less. I typically didn't see USB 2.0 transfer speeds exceeding 37MB/s.

USB 3.0 is much faster, and I routinely see 100+ MB/s. It's not as good as SATA, but it was a huge improvement.

I'll probably wait for USB 3.1 to become native (although we'll likely still be using an ASmedia controller or similar for additional ports). Will that happen with Skylake? That sounds like a good time to upgrade.
 
Why change motherboards? Just get yourself a cheap USB 3.1 PCIe card when they come out.
 
I hope 3.1 is a bit more consistent than 3.0. Any time I connect something with 3.0 it feels like I'm rolling the dice as to if it will simply revert to 2.0 or not.
 
3.1 is kinda a mess it seems. May want to make sure you're getting the right "3.1" etc:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/03/explaining-the-usb-3-1-gen-1-port-in-the-retina-macbook/

USB 3.0 has retroactively been renamed “USB 3.1 Gen 1,” and it retains a theoretical transfer rate of 5.0 Gbps. The USB-IF has confirmed to us that “USB 3.1 Type 1” uses the same controllers as USB 3.0, so we can expect to see some early Broadwell-based Type C systems like the Retina MacBook come with “USB 3.1” even though they’re using what we have heretofore known as “USB 3.0” controllers. The new Chromebook Pixel, likewise, comes with these 5Gbps Type C ports, though Google’s spec sheet refers to them by speed rather than by a USB version.

The 3.0 and 3.1 specs are so similar that we see why the USB-IF didn’t want to separate the version numbers that much. USB 3.1 is certainly no USB 4.0, at least not by the standards set by USB 2.0 and 3.0. But referring to USB 3.0 as “3.1 Gen 1” rather than “3.0” is confusing—what if Microsoft had relabeled Windows 8.0 as “Windows 8.1 Gen 1” when it released Windows 8.1? Is the iPad Air now the iPad Air 2 Gen 1?

It’s confusing at best and misleading at worst, and other outlets and readers have already seen “USB 3.1 Gen 1” on Apple’s product page and assumed that the new MacBook includes a 10Gbps USB port. USB 3.0 didn’t see wide adoption in many computers, Macs included, until its controller had been integrated into chipsets from Intel, AMD, and the like. OEMs are happy to take advantage of features they get “for free,” but few are interested in adding extra controllers to most of their systems (see also: Thunderbolt).
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Shady stuff man, make sure you know what you're getting or you'll end up with a re-labeled USB 3.0 basically.
 
pxc said:
I bet most of the journalists who drool over the Macbook's USB 3.1 ("Gen 1" = USB 3.0 speed) port don't understand it doesn't use the newer 10Gbps transfer speed. Losing the Lightning connector for a USB port running at half the speed is so :spanishappleengineervideo:.
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Usually I have to come in here and break up the Apple bashing, but regarding the MacBook, the speed of that connector IS THE LEAST of it's worries. There are plenty, PLENTY, of other shortcomings related to that 1 plug :mad:
 
Wolf_Tech said:
Great USB 3.1 and yet still not one device can even reach USB 2.0 speeds these days. Not one flash or external hard drive reads or writes at 480 MB/s which was USB 2.0 Speeds. Then everything went to USB 3.0 great selling point but still no real speeds.
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That's 480Mbps, not 480MB/s. ;)
Yes, there are a lot of devices which have far exceeded USB 2.0 and have made it obsolete.

Honestly, USB 2.0 was obsolete a decade ago. years before 3.0 even emerged.
 
I would like to see more USB 3.1 Type-C only to eliminate this problem.

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Mobo support is all well and good but where are the drives and enclosures that support it? I want one of those Asus RAID 0 encloseures for a pair of 2.5" drives, I have a pair of old 64 GB SSD's looking for a home. :D
 
Ducman69 said:
Why change motherboards? Just get yourself a cheap USB 3.1 PCIe card when they come out.
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The problem with just getting a card is that the chipset must be supported and there is also the BIOS which must be supported. A card and driver are not enough. I'm waiting for Skylake before I upgrade my game box and then USB 3.1 will be supported fully I hope. Socket 1151 here I come.
 
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