System setup and notes
Specifications
| Drive | Seagate Barracuda XT/ASUS U3S6 USB 3.0 | Seagate Barracuda XT/ASUS U3S6 USB 2.0 | Seagate Barracuda XT/ASUS U3S6 SATA |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7 870 (2.93GHz, LGA1156) | ||
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D Premium (Intel P55) | ||
| BIOS revision | 1002 (13/11/2009) | ||
| Graphics Card | HIS Radeon HD 5850 1GB | ||
| Disk drive | Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (ST32000641AS) in an ASUS-provided enclosure or via SATA | ||
| Mainboard software | Intel Inf 9.1.1.1015 + Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.9.0.1023 | ||
| Graphics driver | Catalyst 9.11 | ||
| PSU | Cooler HX1000W | ||
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) | ||
Tests
| Benchmarks | CrystalDiskMark 2.2.0m PCMark Vantage Far Cry 2 benchmarking loading time |
|---|
Setup notes
Just to recap, what we're looking at is performance when run in the USB 3.0 caddy and attached to the ASUS U3S6 card via the supplied USB 3.0 cable. Secondly, the same tests are undertaken with the enclosure and card connected via a USB 2.0 cable. Lastly, we install the 2TB hard drive into the system and attach it via a regular SATA cable (3Gbps) to one of the onboard Intel ICH10R's ports. Bear in mind that the hard drive is the same in all three cases.We want to see a) what's the real-world difference in USB 3.0 vs. USB 2.0 and b) whether USB 3.0, at this nascent stage, can begin to approach the speeds provided by SATA and, by inference, eSATA.
Thanks to ASUS for providing the motherboard, card, and drive.
