USB 3.0

[gman]

What kind of speed should I be expecting when transferring files from a USB 3 external harddrive (uses a second USB cable for power) to a USB 3 port?

 

[neil_g]

how long is a bit of string, USB3 is rated to 5 Gbit/s (625 MB/s) but depends on the disk mainly..

what sort of rate are you getting?

 

[Mikesphotaes]

A lot faster than using a USB2 drive

 

[gman]

I'm only seeing between 30-45 MB/s.

 

[EOS_JD]

It depends on the files. Small files transfer at much slower rates than large files.

Try transfering a single 1Gb file (or larger)
Then try transferring a few thousand very small files

For others you 'll be somewhere in between.

Small files is where SSD comes into their own. They fly with small files. Most of the files you access in Windows (and Mac is probably the same) are all small files hence SSDs are much faster at booting up etc.