Of course, the fresh standard will eventually supplant the well-deserved veteran of the industry (it's no joke - a good decade in the ranks, the oldest aksakals from common interfaces are perhaps PCI bus and PS / 2 connectors, and even those can no longer always be found on modern motherboards!). But is it worth it to run ahead of the locomotive, preparing in advance the periphery for new standard? How good is the claimed compatibility between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 devices and controllers? Is there a performance difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 drives when running legacy USB?
To answer these questions, we took two USB 3.0 USB drives available to us and a pair of USB 2.0 flash drives. The basis for comparison was the maternal Gigabyte board GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 offering user both USB 2.0 ports Intel chipset Z68 and a USB 3.0 controller from EtronTech.
Test participants
The four drives were chosen quite simply. We used both USB 3.0 key fobs from two different "royal" offices: Kingston and Kingmax. For greater clarity, we took a couple more USB 2.0 drives from two opposite poles of the market: a cheap and slow ADATA flash drive of the mass segment and an expensive one, fast and protected from any troubles external environment Corsair Survivor GTR drive.Now let's devote a few words to each of the drives participating in the comparison, especially since the alphabetical order ideally arranges our four according to the speed declared by the manufacturers.
ADATA C905
Volume: 32 GB
Interface: USB 2.0
Manufacturer-declared sequential read speed: 30 MB/s
Manufacturer-declared sequential write speed: 8 MB/s
Dimensions: 18.7 x 10.7 x 61.8mm
Weight: 13g
The most ordinary inexpensive flash drive (about 1,400 rubles for 32 GB), which stands out against the background of most analogues, except perhaps with a nice brushed aluminum case.
In use, the drive is quite convenient (compact dimensions, well-fixed cap, minimal heating during use), but even the characteristics declared by the manufacturer (which in practice it somewhat falls short of) do not allow one to hope for speed records and set the owner in advance to exercise patience.
Corsair Survivor GTR
Volume: 32 GB
Interface: USB 2.0
Manufacturer-claimed sequential read speed: 34 MB/s
Manufacturer advertised sequential write speed: 28 MB/s
Dimensions: 22 x 22 x 113 mm
Weight: 54g
The second of the tested drives boasts almost absolute protection against environmental influences. A case made of durable aluminum alloy with threaded connections and rubber gaskets is able to protect the flash drive from impacts with acceleration up to 1500 g, and from immersion in water to a depth of 200 meters, and from vibration.
Speeds are just as impressive (at least compared to most USB 2.0 drives), and heat is minimal during operation. A real high-end, but also at the right price, significantly higher than the cost of most drives of the same size we know - even models with USB 3.0 support.
The dimensions of the drive are very large: it is the longest in our quartet, and the diameter of the protective case successfully competes with the section of a very well-fed Kingston USB 3.0 model.
Kingmax ED-01
Volume: 64 GB
Interface: USB 3.0
Manufacturer-declared sequential read speed: 66 MB/s
Manufacturer-declared sequential write speed: 41 MB/s
Dimensions: 20 x 9 x 74.5 mm
Weight: 10.5g
This drive is quite suitable for carrying in your pocket, which not all flash drives designed to work with USB 3.0 can boast of: a regular, medium-sized rectangular flash drive made of black plastic. Silver parts - the same plastic, but with a metallized coating. Heating during operation is small and does not cause concern about the survivability of the device during active use. The protective cap is put on the rear end of the flash drive in a very original way: to do this, it must be turned 180 degrees.
Volume: 32 GB
Interface: USB 3.0
Manufacturer-claimed sequential read speed: 80/30 MB/s (USB 3.0/USB 2.0)
Manufacturer advertised sequential write speed: 60/30 MB/s (USB 3.0/USB 2.0)
Dimensions: 22.2 x 16.1 x 73.7mm
Weight: 25g
Massive drive in a very thick case with aluminum inserts and a blue activity LED. In terms of dimensions, only the Corsair Survivor GTR can be compared with it in our four, but, unlike the latter, the Kingston drive cannot boast of extreme security parameters.
During the tests, a very strong heating of the drive during operation was noted: after use, the case heats up so much that it is uncomfortable to hold it in your hands - the temperature is clearly approaching 50 ° C, which cannot but inspire concern for the life of the device.
The complete set of this drive is distinguished by the presence of a special cable for improved power supply of the device when connected to USB connectors 2.0, which by standard provide less current than USB 3.0 (500mA versus 900mA). A drive is connected to one connector, and the other two are connected to the computer's USB connectors, and one of the wires connected to the USB connectors is noticeably thinner than the other and serves only for power supply. True, we could not find any benefit from this cable: power and from one USB port 2.0 on our system was enough for normal operation of the drive, there was also no difference in performance or case heating when using this cable compared to a direct connection to one port.
Test Methodology
As test bench used the following configuration:
Processor Intel "Core i3-2100" (3.10 GHz, 2x256 KB + 3 MB);
Mat. Socket1155 board GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 (Intel Z68);
Hard drive 3TB western digital Caviar Green WD30EZRS 5900 rpm (SATA);
One 1GB DDR3 SDRAM SEC M378B2873GB0-CH9 (PC10600, 1333MHz, CL9);
Video card HIS HD 3870 IceQ3 Turbo H387Q512NP (Radeon HD 3870);
Power Supply Seasonic M12D SS-850EM (850 W);
Operating system Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1.
Testing was carried out with installed drivers from component manufacturers, relevant for July 2011. The drives were partitioned under the NTFS file system with the default cluster size.
All drives were connected to the USB 2.0 controller ports of the Intel Z68 chipset and an additional integrated motherboard EtronTech EJ168A USB 3.0 controller.
The following utilities were used for performance testing:
FC Test 1.0 b13
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1
For FC-Test, we used templates that correspond to three different typical uses for flash drives:
Writing and reading large files (one file of 900 MB), which is typical for large video files, distributions of large software packages, etc. On the graphs, this test is designated as "Large File";
Writing and reading files of moderate size (a set of files of 2-12 MB in size and a total volume of about 1 GB), which can be compared with copying photos or music in mp3 format. On the graphs, this test is designated as "mp3";
Writing and reading files of an already installed software package (the template is removed from the folder with installed by Microsoft Office 2007). Although this method of application is not very typical for flash drives, it is the most difficult for them due to the presence of a large number of small files. On the graphs, this test is designated as "Programs".
The CrystalDiskMark utility was used primarily to allow readers to compare their results with ours if they so desired. In this program, we used five runs of all tests with a test data volume of 1000 MB.
Test results
Let's start with the results obtained in CrystalDisk Mark. For each drive, the first measurement data screenshot is for a USB 2.0 connection, and the second one is for a USB 3.0 connection.ADATA C905
As you can see, when connected to a USB 3.0 controller, an old and rather leisurely USB 2.0 flash drive slightly increases the read speed (on average by about 10%), while the write speed remains approximately at the same level (somewhere a little higher, somewhere a little lower). Nevertheless, even this result turned out to be unexpected: we assumed that the USB 2.0 interface had already been debugged to such an extent that there should not be any difference between the controllers.
Corsair Survivor GTR
For a fast (by USB 2.0 standards) Corsair flash drive, the performance gain from switching to a USB 3.0 controller is visible to the naked eye: about 20% increase in the speed of sequential reading and reading of 512 KB fragments. Small files are read almost twice as fast! But, as in the case of the ADATA drive, the data write results differ slightly: any noticeable increase is observed only with sequential writes, which are about 10% faster than when working with the Intel USB 2.0 controller.
Kingmax ED-01
Since this model was originally designed to work with the USB 3.0 interface, the sharp increase in reading speed when switching to its native mode is not surprising. But the problems of the drive with data recording are obvious: the native mode is faster than the “legacy” one only with sequential recording, and for 512 KB data blocks in USB 3.0 mode, there is a frank failure even in comparison with the completely unimpressive results of this test when working with a USB 2.0 controller.
Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0
The second USB 3.0 drive in our testing turned out to be slower in read speed when working with a USB 2.0 controller than its counterpart discussed above. But when connected to a USB 3.0 port, it outperformed its competitor, and in terms of write speed, especially for small files, it left far behind all rivals in testing.
Now let's move on to the FC-test results. For each of the tests, we compiled two tables (for reading and for writing) with the results of all drives controlled by both a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 controller.
As you can see, reading a single file of 900 MB when connecting drives to a USB 2.0 connector demonstrates almost complete parity of devices - only the notorious outsider, the ADATA flash drive, lags behind the rest, but even its result cannot be called a crushing defeat.
Connecting to an EtronTech controller brings speed gains to all drives, but in very different proportions. The increase in performance of the ADATA drive is purely symbolic, the USB 2.0 model from Corsair adds a little more (but also not too much), and both USB 3.0 drives, once in their own element, approximately double their results.
When writing a similar file, even with a USB 2.0 controller, the results are already far from the dense group observed in reading. In the top three, the Kingston drive is somewhat behind, and the budget ADATA loses to faster rivals many times over.
When switching to a USB 3.0 controller, the picture changes again: the Kingston drive becomes the undisputed leader. The second place is expectedly occupied by the second drive with a new interface, but its gap from the leader is almost one and a half times. It is followed by a fast Corsair USB 2.0 flash drive (and also with almost a 1.5-fold lag), while ADATA is hopelessly behind all rivals.
On medium-sized mp3 template files, the situation with reading data via a USB 2.0 controller is almost the same as observed in the first test - except that the spread between places has slightly increased. Again, the Kingston drive is slightly behind Corsair and Kingmax, again behind all (but not by a critical margin) ADATA.
With the transition to the USB 3.0 controller, the similarity with the previous test becomes almost absolute.
But on the record, the picture changes quite significantly.
First of all, the complete and absolute failure of the Kingmax drive in interaction with both versions of the USB interface is striking. When working with a USB 2.0 controller, it managed to lag behind even a cheap ADATA flash drive, and the transition to the "native" third version of USB only allowed it to catch up. The backlog of this pair from Corsair and Kingston drives turned out to be simply hopeless.
Secondly, Corsair's excellent USB 2.0 performance and simply excellent performance of the Kingston model in USB 3.0 mode.
In the test for reading the folder template with the installed package Microsoft Office 2007, where there are a lot of small files with a certain number of larger ones (only 3384 files per 450 MB of volume), in USB 2.0 mode, the ADATA flash drive scored the second “prestige goal” in the test. This time, she managed to get around the Kingston drive, which does not read too quickly in USB 2.0 mode. Leading with almost equal performance in this mode are Corsair and Kingmax drives.
With the USB 3.0 controller, Kingmax remains the leader in reading, but Kingston takes the second place in speed, overtaking the Corsair model, which is unable to take advantage of the newer interface, although it noticeably gains speed when working with the EtronTech controller ..
Writing a large number of small files has traditionally been the most difficult test for flash memory. In this test, the pairs of winners and underdogs were clearly identified. Trailing behind are the ADATA and Kingmax models, which did not even reach 1 MB / s of average write speed. Kingston and Corsair models are among the leaders (already expected in terms of the previous recording results), and even in USB 2.0 mode, the Kingston drive is almost twice ahead of the opponent, and with the transition to USB 3.0, its advantage increases to almost five times.
Summarizing
As we found out, the compatibility between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 controllers and devices is really excellent. In most cases, USB 3.0 drives when connected to USB 2.0 show top scores performance than devices specially designed for use with USB 2.0 (an unpleasant exception is the Kingmax drive, which failed to write medium and small files - but its results are no better with a USB 3.0 controller). Moreover, even drives designed for USB 2.0 interface, when connected to a USB 3.0 port, often add performance (which was especially noticeable on the example of the “fast” Corsair drive). An excellent result for an EtronTech controller, even without taking into account the fact that working with USB 2.0 is not a priority for it, and Intel's USB controllers have always had a reputation for being fast enough.As for the operation of USB 3.0 drives with a USB 2.0 controller, the reading parameters of both reviewed models with a fresh interface turned out to be on the whole at the level of one of the fastest USB 2.0 drives - Corsair Survivor GTR. True, it is worth noting that Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 is somewhat inferior to its rivals, most noticeably lagging behind in reading small files.
As for recording, the alignment turned out to be different: the Kingston drive, which did not shine when reading via USB 2.0, turned out to be out of competition when writing small files, twice outperforming the Corsair Survivor GTR, which confidently took second place. The Kingmax ED-01 drive, which showed excellent results in reading from the "legacy" interface, performed adequately only in writing large files, in other respects it was hopelessly inferior to Kingston and Corsair drives (and even a modest ADATA flash drive overtook it on medium-sized mp3 template files) .
If we consider the operation of Kingmax and Kingston drives in "natural conditions", i.e. when connected to a USB 3.0 controller, the speed of reading large and medium files is ahead of Kingston, but Kingmax reads small files a little faster. On the record, Kingston is simply beyond the reach of its current rival: even when working with a single large file, its advantage is close to 50%, and on small and medium files, the gap in speed is already measured dozens of times!
In general, Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 shows excellent results when writing files of any size, which can be confidently called its main advantage. The disadvantages (in addition to those noted at the first meeting of indecent heating during operation and immodest dimensions) can be attributed only to relatively small high speed reading files (especially small ones) when working via USB 2.0, as well as potential problems with the need for additional power when connected to USB 2.0 ports. Carrying along with you, in addition to a rather big flash drive, a splitter cable is clearly one of the pleasures of a level below average.
However, the second generation of drives in this line is already available - DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 G2 - for representatives of which no additional power is required when connected to USB 2.0, and the declared speed characteristics are even more impressive: up to 100 Mb / s for reading and up to 70 Mb / s for record.
The Kingmax ED-01 drive has a different set of advantages: on its side there are no failures in any reading modes (including quite confident work with the USB 2.0 interface), as well as much more convenient dimensions for carrying. The price, presumably, should also be more affordable (at the time of testing, this model has not yet appeared on sale). However, the extremely low performance when recording medium and small files casts doubt on the feasibility of purchasing this model.
Summing up, it remains only to act as Captain Obviousness: although the USB 3.0 interface itself, without a doubt, is significantly superior to USB 2.0, the actual performance of flash drives designed for it is determined not only by the interface, but also by the speed of the flash memory used, as well as " rationality "of the controller - a flash drive, on which, when writing small files, the speed drops below a megabyte per second, changing the interface will not help in any way. In this way, USB usage 3.0 uniquely allows you to achieve high read and write speeds large files, but when working with small ones, everything may turn out to be not so clear. Unfortunately, the fiercest price competition between flash drive manufacturers may lead to the situation with USB 2.0 flash drives repeating itself on the USB 3.0 flash drive market after some time, where for one fast model there are two dozen slow ones that are not able to fully load even the interface more than a decade ago.
Other materials on this topic
USB 3.0: does it make sense for a card reader?
USB 3.0 - theory and practice
USB 3.0 technology appeared in 2008. Nowadays, all new computers or laptops come with USB 3.0 support. But how much more profitable is this technology? How much faster? Can I see an improvement in speed when using USB 3.0-enabled media?
USB 3.0 devices are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports. They will function normally, but only at the maximum USB 2.0 speed. The only drawback is that they are more expensive. In this article, we will look at the difference between usb 2.0 and usb 3.0. And also why the latest technology is so much better.
USB is a standard, and it defines the maximum signaling rate for a port. The USB 2.0 standard provides a theoretical maximum signal transfer rate of 480 megabits per second. While USB 3.0 allows you to transfer data at a speed of 5 gigabits per second. In theory, USB 3.0 is ten times faster than USB 2.0.
If that were all, then the issue of upgrading could be considered closed: who would not want a USB drive to be 10 times faster than it is now? But not everything is so simple. The standard only defines the maximum data rate. Different devices may have other bottlenecks, for example, for many drives, the data transfer time will depend on the speed of the flash memory.
Real speed indicators
Theory is good, but let's see how USB 3.0 flash drives actually work. Everything here will depend very much on the drive. We took the test done by tomshardware.com. The test also includes USB 2.0 drives, they are at the bottom of the diagram. And we can see a really interesting result.
USB 2.0 drives are capable of write speeds from 7.9 to 9.5 Mb/s, while USB 3.0 drives from 11.9 Mb/s up to 286.2 Mb/s. We see that the worst USB 3.0 drive is faster than all USB 2.0 drives, but not by much. And the best one is more than 28 times faster.
The slowest drives were the cheapest, while the faster ones were the most expensive. The fastest media achieves this speed thanks to quad-channel flash memory, which requires some investment from the manufacturer.
Technical features
Despite the fact that USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0 standards are compatible with each other, they have some differences in structure. To support older devices, USB 3.0 still has the same four pins. One pair for receiving and transmitting data, and the second for power. But here begins the difference between USB 2.0 and 3.0. To organize a high speed of work, fast charging and other advantages, four more contacts were added, which are designed to operate with a current strength of up to 1 ampere.
Because of this, two more twisted pairs were added. Now the cord itself has become thicker, and its maximum length from five meters has been reduced to three. Thanks to the increase in current, it is now possible to quickly charge smartphones and connect more devices to a single USB connector. In addition, protection against magnetic fields has been added to the cable.
What is the difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 externally? First, it is the number of contacts. Secondly, manufacturers release USB 3.0 ports in blue or in some cases red. Therefore, it will not be difficult to determine which connector is in front of you.
Device price
Price is still a very important factor. Many USB 2.0 flash drives can be obtained very cheaply. For example, you can find an 8 GB flash drive for no more than $ 10, and for 4 GB, even for $ 5.
To see a significant speed boost with USB 3.0, you'll have to spend over $40. Ask yourself how much you are willing to spend and what you will use the drive for. Do you just need a small, cheap tool to move documents around? Then USB 2.0 is perfect. On the other hand, if speed is more important, especially for transferring heavy files, you'll probably need USB 3.0.
USB 3.0 Drive Selection
USB 3.0 allows higher speeds. But before you buy the right device, pay attention to other parameters that will be crucial, such as the speed of flash memory.
If you're looking for a good, fast USB drive for transferring large files, five dollars won't be enough. You need to look at various tests and determine in advance how fast the selected carrier of a particular brand will work. This can play an important role when choosing USB 2.0 or USB 3.0.
conclusions
In this article, we looked at the difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. As you can see, there are a lot of differences, but everywhere there are nuances. Now you know how to tell USB 2.0 from USB 3.0. Please note that not all devices will be faster just because they use USB 3.0.
If you have a USB keyboard or mouse, then naturally you won't notice any speed changes when you upgrade to USB 3.0. Of course, sooner or later all devices will switch to this standard. There is nothing wrong. But it makes no sense to pay more for them now either. You can connect a USB 2.0 device to a USB 3.0 port as they are fully compatible.
USB 3.0 is the latest version of the Universal Serial Bus standard, released in 2008. It offers increased data transfer rates of up to 4.8 Gbps, increased maximum bus power, improved power management, and new connectors and cables that deliver faster transfer rates and additional performance. The introduction of this technology began in 2009 with USB adapters 3.0 (PCIe and ExpressCard), which allowed new 3.0 ports to be installed in modern computer systems. Hubs was followed by an additional 3.0 extension. To achieve high data transfer rates, cables and devices must support 3.0. Currently, most 3.0 devices are external hard drives, docking stations for hard drives and flash drives.
What is the difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0.
The USB 2.0 standard was released in April 2000. It is capable of supporting a maximum signal speed of 480 Mbps. This is the theoretical maximum that you won't actually get. USB 2.0 is also capable of transmitting electricity up to 0.5A to charge or power devices.
The USB 3.0 standard was released in November 2008 and its changes have taken the technology to the next level. It is compatible with USB 2.0 and even USB 1.0 with transfer rates up to 5Gbps. USB 3.0 compatible devices can handle up to 0.9A for fast charging. If the device is compatible with USB 3.0, charging with this increase in throughput is reduced by at least 25%.
USB 3.1, which was released in 2013, gave us a USB-C connection cable. USB 3.0 is fast and can transfer more power. With the new dual bus architecture, USB 3.0 can work well with older specifications as well as USB 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 low, full and high speed buses. This is the reason why you can plug a USB 2.0 device into a 2.0 port on a 3.0 device and it will all work correctly.
backward compatibility
Since its inception, the USB protocol has gone through three major revisions: USB 1, 2.0, and 3.0/3.1. The main difference is that the 3.0 specification requires full backward compatibility with USB 2.0 devices. However, not all 3.0 ports, or the computers they are connected to, will provide backwards compatible with USB 2.0 properly. Here are a few ways to identify and fix USB 3.0 related issues:
- Determine if your computer has USB 3.0 ports.
Look at the physical ports on your computer. Port 3.0 will be marked either in blue on the port itself or by a label next to the port. either "SS" (Super Speed) or "3.0".
- Check the system properties of your computer.
For Windows PCs: Go to Device Manager, find the list of Universal Serial Bus controllers at the bottom of the list, and expand it. If the list shows 3.0, XHCI, or Super Speed, you have 3.0 ports.
For Mac: Open About This Mac - More Information - System Report. Under Hardware, select USB. If the device supports the latest standard, there will be selection(s) for USB 3.0.
An update may be required depending on the operating system and computer model latest versions chipset drivers for 3.0 architecture compatibility. For example, Windows 7 and earlier are not compatible with USB 3.0, so drivers are required for any 3.0 ports on your computer. To find the USB 3.0 chipset, open Device Manager, expand the list of Universal Serial Bus controllers, and expand it. Find a list of Host Controller and/or Root Hub. Check with the chipset manufacturer (such as Intel) and visit their website to make sure you're up to date with the latest drivers.
IMPORTANT. If you're using Windows 8 or 8.1, USB 3.0 should already be supported by default. However, if you experience problems, it is recommended that you update or reinstall your USB 3.0 chipset drivers using the same method as above.
- Last option for Windows users, which can only be done with detailed instructions from your computer manufacturer, is to disable the xHCI controller in your system's BIOS.
This will effectively disable the USB 3.0 feature, so Windows will see all ports as USB 2.0. Connecting a USB 2.0 device to a USB 3.0 port using a USB 2.0 hub can be an effective workaround for any issues you find that are only due to the 3.0 port.
Increase in performance
The maximum theoretical information transfer rate in version 2.0 is 480 Mbps, and in USB 3.0 - 5 Gbps. This is considered the theoretical maximum because there are other obstacles that must be taken into account. The main reason is the quality of the device you are using. For example, a top quality 3.0 memory card is usually faster than a cheap one. It is slower than the internal bus and flash memory inside the flash drive. The transfer speed can vary greatly - on average, a 2.0 flash drive can reach 8-9.5 Mbps. USB 3.0 device - 11-286 Mbps. As you can see, the difference between them is enormous. Another difference between USB 2 and USB 3 is that 2.0 is capable of charging a device at 0.5A, while 3.0 is capable of charging at 0.9A. Although the difference seems small, it can be important. If you use a compatible USB 2.0 cable to charge your smartphone, charging your Samsung Galaxy from minimal to full will take about 8 hours. Using a USB 3.0 port and a USB 3.0 cable, charging takes only 5 hours. But it's still longer than charging with the native charger, but still a very convenient way to keep the gadget working.
Technical features
There are several significant differences between 2.0 and 3.0. First, the data transfer speed: USB 2.0 offers a transfer rate of 480 Mbps, and 3.0 - from 4.8 Gbps - that's 10 times faster. Please note that the transfer speed also depends on the device used, bus type, USB ports and wire quality. The second major difference is the addition of another physical bus - doubling the number of wires, from 4 to 8. The extra wires require more space in both cables and connectors. Finally, the last major difference lies in the available power and power management of the 3.0 products. USB 2 provides up to 500mA, while version 3 provides up to 900mA, allowing power-saving devices to be bus-powered. In addition, version 3.0 technology allows you to improve energy efficiency while consuming less power in standby mode or turn off the power completely when not in use.
External differences
A quick visual check of the USB port will tell the difference and help you determine which port you are dealing with. The 2.0 should have a gray stripe inside while the 3.0 will have a blue stripe. This solution has been approved as an international standard. Therefore, wherever you buy any components, these colors should be the same. If possible, always use version 3.0. They are fast and can handle more power.
What are the differences between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 cables
3.0 cables provide a higher data rate of 4.8Gbps as well as an additional 900mA power transfer, doubling the number of wires per cable from 4 in 2.0 cables to 8 in 3.0 cables. USB 2.0 cables transfer data at 480Mbps and provide up to 500mA of power. USB 3.0 cables also have different connectors that are blue on the inside. This means that any device using different connectors cannot use 2.0 equivalent cables. Also, although the 2.0 slot physically fits into the 3.0 port, the other wiring configuration still does not allow data to be transferred correctly.
Device price
Modern manufacturers continue to release flash drives and other devices of the old generation 2.0 in parallel with the new versions 3.0 and 3.1. The former typically cost less than $10, while USB 3.0-enabled drives can cost up to $40. If your computer doesn't have USB 3.0 ports and isn't too old, then you're probably in luck. If you need to upgrade your desktop PC or laptop, there are many adapter cards available with one or more USB 3.0 ports. Adapter cards usually have two USB 3.0 ports.
If you have a PC, you will need PCI card Express or PCIe and your computer must have a free slot PCI Express to install it. If you're brave enough to open up your computer, do so by unplugging the system and inserting the card into an empty PCIe slot. When you turn it on again, the computer should detect new card and automatically install the drivers, or ask for a disk containing the necessary drivers. If you don't feel comfortable opening the case, you can always buy a card and find someone more qualified to install it.
If you have a laptop, it must have an ExpressCard slot. The ExpressCard is a high-capacity expansion slot commonly found on laptops manufactured no later than 5 years ago. If you have an older laptop with a PC Card (also called PCMCIA) or a Cardbus slot, you won't be able to use the latest peripherals expresscard.
There are two form factors for ExpressCard slots and peripherals. ExpressCard/34 slots and peripherals are 34mm wide, while ExpressCard/54 slots and peripherals are 54mm wide. The 34mm slot only accepts 34mm cards, while the 54mm slot accepts both 34mm and 54mm cards. In any case, all USB 3.0 ExpressCard adapters are at least 34mm wide, so if your laptop has an ExpressCard slot, you can plug in one of these adapters. For your safety, insert the ExpressCard adapter into your computer while it is turned off. After turning on the computer, it should detect the adapter and automatically install the drivers or request a disk with the necessary drivers. That's all there is to it. This way you can breathe new life and speed into an old computer.
How to choose
In order not to get confused by the variety of standards and slots, check out the most popular USB connector formats:
- A-Type is a standard rectangular port on computers and other devices.
- Type-B - Most cables for USB 2.0 printers, scanners, and some external hard drives are Type B connectors. They are small and square.
- C-Type are the latest connectors on the market. They have a symmetrical design that eliminates the problem of cable connection. Most likely, connector C will be found on the device, since most computers stick with type-A. The exception is latest macbook Pro, which is equipped with Intel-designed Thunderbolt 3 ports that support Type-C. There are many A-C cables that work on both 2.0 and 3.0 versions. Just remember that charging speed will eventually be limited by the USB version.
- Micro B-Type - used on phones, tablets, external drives, some cameras and many other devices. Due to its small size and relatively cheap production, this port is already being built in everywhere and is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
- Mini-b (5-pin) - if the cable is too big for your mobile phone, it can be Mini-b 5-pin. It's found on digital cameras, GPS devices, some DV cameras, external drives and similar equipment. This connector is being phased out in favor of the Micro B-type.
- Mini-b (4-pin) - Smaller even than the Mini-B 5-pin, the Mini-B 4-pin has also been replaced by the newer Micro B-Type.
As you can see, the difference between USB 2.0 and 3.0 versions is enormous - from external parameters to information transfer speed. You can get more detailed information about the version supported by your gadget or PC (laptop) on the manufacturer's website or in the instruction manual.
Surely, every computer user has heard of such concepts as USB ports version 2.0 and 3.0. But not everyone understands exactly what it is. In this article, I will tell you about USB 2.0 and 3.0: differences, interface compatibility, and what it is all about.
Logically, USB 3.0 is newer than 2.0 and therefore better. Let's figure out why it is better, and start with the question of where it all came from.
USB and its versions
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus, and translates into Russian as Universal Serial Bus. Universal - it means that you can connect anything, any device to it. USB are different versions, the main difference of which is in the speed of work.
Manufacturers went to the property of universality for a long time. As many people remember, at first the computer had a lot of different ports, some of which have remained to this day, for example, bulky COM with thick cables, PS / 2 with fragile contacts, and others. Now printers, keyboards, mice and other equipment can be connected via USB.
The first USB began to appear in 1994. In 1996, version 1.0 was released, which worked at a meager speed of 1.5 Mbps. Then in 2000, version 2.0 came out with a speed of 480 Mbps. This is quite an acceptable speed, which made it possible to connect different equipment to the port. In 2008, USB 3.0 was released, theoretically operating at a speed of 5 Gb / s.
The development of USB 3.0 was funded by many global computer brands that were interested in standardizing connectors and improving hardware performance.
USB 2.0 and 3.0: Differences
Finally, let's look at USB 2.0 and 3.0: the differences between these ports from each other and compare them. Here are the signs by which they differ:
- It is very easy to visually distinguish USB 2.0 from 3.0 - 3.0 connectors are painted blue.
- The second difference, which is easily felt in practice, is the transmission speed. In version 3.0 it is much higher. It may be inferior to the declared theoretical speed (5 Gb / s), but still remains higher than version 2.0.
- The difference between USB 2.0 and 3.0 is in the current strength. In the early version, it was 500 mA, in the new it reaches 900 mA. Thus, the new USB can power more powerful devices.
- AT old version USB had 4 wires, the new one has 4 more. Thus, another difference between USB0 and 3.0 is that the second one has a thicker cable. It also limited the maximum length of the 3.0 cable to 5 meters and made it more expensive.
- Windows XP does not support USB 3.0, even if the computer hardware is physically capable of it, it will work as 2.0. Only the older ones Windows versions able to work with 3.0 fully.
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USB 2.0 and 3.0 compatible
If you plug a USB 2.0 device into a 3.0 port, it will work at the 2.0 level. If you connect a USB 3.0 device to a 2.0 connector, then it will also work at the 2.0 level. Thus, if these interfaces are compatible, the smaller version determines the quality of work.
Devices are capable of running on other versions of USB, but they may become less efficient.
So, let me summarize. USB 2.0 and 3.0: differences primarily in the quality of work - more a new version better, albeit a bit more expensive. Modern equipment is produced with interface 3.0, so it is advisable to purchase a computer with this version as well. Devices of different versions are compatible with each other and work acceptable, although their performance drops.
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1) The usb 2.0 specification was introduced in 2000 and usb 3.0 in 2008, so version 3 is more recent than version 2.
2) Theoretical, maximum speed usb 2.0 - 60 megabytes per second.
Theoretical, maximum speed usb 3.0 - 625 megabytes per second
3) Approximate, maximum, real usb speed, taking into account losses as a result, various factors and features, is:
up to 25 - 40 megabytes for usb 2.0
up to 400 - 450 megabytes for usb 3.0
4) Current usb 2.0 - 500ma (milliamp)
Current usb 3.0 - 900ma (milliamp)
Large current, allows you to use more volatile devices, charge faster mobile devices, also connect more devices, for example, through a usb splitter.
5) USB 3.0 uses asynchronous data transfer, that is, data is transmitted simultaneously in 2 directions, if very simplified, then data is simultaneously read and written ...
How to distinguish usb 2 from usb 3 visually
Externally, you can visually distinguish usb 2.0 from usb 3.0 by the following features:
1) USB 2.0, looks different from USB 3.0, plastic color and wire color.
USB 2.0 plastic can be black, gray, white,
Usb 3.0 has light blue or dark blue, the wire sheath, connector housing can be painted in similar colors.
2) Number of pins usb 2.0 - 4, usb 3.0 - 9. You can see them by looking inside the connector, in fairly bright light. (In the top photo (1), the connectors have been opened to show the difference.)
3) Thickness. The wire on version 3 is usually thicker than version 2 due to the number of wires. The thickness is not always a reliable sign, due to the different section (thickness), each wire and its insulation, which varies depending on the manufacturer and the materials used.
usb 2.0 and 3.0 compatibility
USB 3.0 was designed to completely replace USB 2.0 and is therefore backwards compatible with devices that support USB 2.0.
When connected usb devices 3.0 to port 2.0, or vice versa usb 2.0 devices to port 3.0, => the maximum, real speed will be about 25 - 40 megabytes per second, that is, at the usb 2.0 level.
When connecting usb 3.0 devices to port 3.0 and usb 2.0 devices to port 2.0, => the maximum allowed, real speed will be equal to usb speed 3 for the first case and usb 2 for the second case.
You can also distinguish ports version 3 from version 2 on a computer or other device by the color of the plastic inside the connector.