External hard drives offer a convenient way to expand storage and back up important data. But with a wide range of drive speeds available, you may wonder whether transfer rate should factor into your buying decision. This article will examine how external hard drive speeds work, when faster rates matter, real-world speed considerations, and recommendations for getting the performance you need.
What is External Hard Drive Speed?
External hard drive speed refers to how fast data can be read from or written to the drive. It is measured in megabytes per second (MB/s) or gigabits per second (Gb/s).
There are two main types of external drives: hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs). HDDs have spinning platters and moving read/write heads, while SSDs store data on flash memory chips. This means SSDs are much faster, with maximum speeds around 550 MB/s compared to 150 MB/s for HDDs. Seagate
Two key metrics determine the real-world speed of an external drive:
- Transfer rate – The maximum theoretical bandwidth the drive can read or write data. For example, USB 3.0 supports up to 5 Gb/s.
- Read/write speed – Measured sequential read and write performance based on the drive’s specs. For HDDs this is affected by platter RPM and for SSDs by the type of flash memory.
So an SSD with a fast transfer interface like USB 3.2 and high read/write speeds around 500 MB/s will provide very snappy performance.
Why Faster Speeds Matter
Faster external hard drive speeds provide several key benefits when transferring or working with large files:
First, they allow for faster transfer of large files like high-resolution photos, videos, and game installs. For example, a 5GB video file would take around 40 seconds to transfer at 125MB/s, compared to over 5 minutes at 25MB/s (based on Seagate’s speed estimates)1. The faster the transfer, the less downtime spent waiting.
Second, faster drives can boot operating systems quicker. Running an OS from an external drive is convenient for troubleshooting computers or using different environments on the go. But slow drives increase wait times during bootup and app launches.
Finally, faster speeds deliver a snappier overall performance for common tasks like file management, loading programs, and multitasking. The differences are most noticeable when frequently accessing large files. With faster drives, you spend less time waiting on file transfers and more time being productive.
In summary, faster external HDD speeds provide a big boost to workflow efficiency when working with large files or running systems from the drive.
When Faster Speeds Don’t Matter
For basic file transfers and backups, most users will not notice a significant difference between a faster or slower external hard drive. Copying documents, photos, music and other common files to an external drive for backup purposes does not require fast speeds. Even large file transfers like movies and videos can be copied to a slower drive without major lags or delays.
External hard drives used primarily for media storage and playback also do not require the fastest speeds. Once movies, videos or music files are transferred and stored on the external drive, the playback experience will be the same regardless of whether it is a fast solid state drive or slower mechanical drive. Even 4K video files can play directly from a slower mechanical drive without issue.
According to a Quora discussion, for basic backups and storage, transfer speed is not a significant factor. The experience will be roughly the same on USB 2.0 mechanical drives compared to USB 3.0 solid state drives. Faster speeds provide more benefit for active editing directly from the external drive or transferring extremely large files.
Recommendations by Use Case
When selecting an external hard drive, it’s important to consider the intended use case. This will help determine the performance factors that matter most.
Media Storage
For storing photos, music, and video, most mainstream external drives with USB 3.0 provide sufficient speeds. Models like the Seagate Backup Plus (www.seagate.com/products/external-hard-drives/backup-plus/) or WD My Passport (www.wd.com/products/portable-storage.html) are popular, affordable options.
Gaming
Gamers need drives with very fast read/write speeds to load games quickly without lag. Top recommendations include the Samsung T5 SSD (www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/portable/t5/) which offers up to 540 MB/s transfer speeds.
Transferring Large Files
For quickly moving large files like 4K video, a high-performance SSD like the SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD (www.westerndigital.com/products/portable-drives/sandisk-extreme-pro-portable-ssd) is ideal. Models with USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 can reach 2000+ MB/s.
Boot Drives
Using an external drive as a bootable OS drive requires the fastest speeds to operate seamlessly. NVMe SSDs with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity like the G-Technology G-DRIVE (www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive) offer up to 2800 MB/s for the best performance.
How to Check Drive Speeds
There are a few methods to test the speeds of an external hard drive. The simplest way is to run benchmark tests that specifically measure drive performance. Two popular free benchmark tools for Windows are HD Tune and CrystalDiskMark. These utilities run a series of read and write tests using different file sizes and then provide metrics for transfer speeds, access time, burst rate, and CPU usage [1]. For Mac users, Blackmagic Disk Speed Test is a free app that measures read and write speeds in real-world scenarios like opening Photoshop files [2].
In addition to running benchmarks, you can check the technical specifications of an external hard drive like the interface type, RPMs for a mechanical drive, or flash technology for an SSD. These specs determine the maximum theoretical speeds. For example, a 7200 RPM desktop drive will have faster rated speeds than a 5400 RPM portable drive, while a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface is faster than USB 3.0. Comparing the specs can give you an idea of performance differences between drives.
Increasing External Hard Drive Speeds
There are several ways to increase the speed of an external hard drive:
- Use faster connection interfaces like USB 3, USB 3.1, USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 instead of older/slower ones like USB 2.0. The newer interfaces have much higher maximum bandwidths.
- Use solid state drives (SSDs) instead of traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). SSDs have no moving parts so they are much faster for reads and writes.
- Use external RAID drive enclosures that allow multiple drives to be configured in a RAID 0 array for increased bandwidth. However, RAID 0 provides no redundancy.
- For traditional HDDs, use drives with higher RPM speeds like 7200 RPM or even 10,000 RPM models. The faster the platters spin, the faster data can be accessed.
- Use external drives with large cache sizes, which allow frequently accessed data to be stored for faster retrieval.
Upgrading to the fastest modern connection interface available is usually the best way to dramatically increase external hard drive speeds. Switching to solid state drives also provides a significant speed boost but at higher per-gigabyte costs.
Real-World Performance Factors
In real-world usage, the actual transfer speeds you experience from an external hard drive can vary quite a bit from the marketed specs. There are several key factors that impact performance:
File Sizes and Number of Files – When transferring large files like movies or disk images, external drives can reach closer to their maximum throughput. But for many smaller files, like documents, photos, or music, the drives have to work harder to locate and transfer each file. This causes slower effective speeds. As one Reddit user notes, “There is no ‘real speed’ of a hard drive transfer. Small files are slower and large files like videos are faster” (source).
Computer and Port Specifications – The transfer interface and port on your computer also impact speeds. For example, older USB 2.0 ports limit speeds to about 30-40 MB/s. Upgrading to USB 3.0, USB 3.1 or USB-C enables faster potential drive speeds. Internal SATA ports can also bottleneck peak external drive performance (source).
Drive Fragmentation – As external hard drives fill up, data gets spread across the drive platters in fragmented chunks. This requires more physical seeking and rotation to access each file, slowing down effective speeds.
Purchasing Considerations for Speed
When shopping for an external hard drive, it’s important to set realistic speed expectations based on your intended uses. Many average consumers may not need the fastest drive speeds available. Consider how you plan to use the drive – will you be transferring large files like videos regularly, or just backing up documents and photos? The fastest SSD drives with maximum transfer speeds come at a high price premium. For basic backups and storage, a more affordable hard disk drive may suffice.
In general, SSDs will provide faster speeds but lower capacities per dollar compared to HDDs. If you have a limited budget, you may need to balance desire for faster speeds with the need for more storage space. Analyze your personal needs and determine the optimal balance between speed and drive capacity for your budget. Slower budget HDDs around 100MB/s can be sufficient for lightweight uses like document storage, while faster SSDs are better for gaming, video editing or frequently transferring large files.
Always check the advertised manufacturer speeds like MB/s when comparing drive models. Pay attention to details like whether speeds are for sequential or random access. Real-world speeds may vary based on factors like the computer/port used. Consider the interface too – Thunderbolt 3 for example provides faster potential speeds than USB.
Conclusion
In summary, external hard drive speed does matter in certain situations. For example, when transferring large files like movies or backing up huge amounts of data, a faster drive will complete the task quicker. Speed is also important for tasks that access the drive frequently like gaming or video editing. However, for basic document storage or occasional transfers, most average drives will provide sufficient performance.
When shopping for an external drive, consider your intended uses and expected file sizes. Check the drive specs for maximum transfer speeds. Higher RPM drives tend to be faster, as do solid state drives, but real-world speeds vary. Test your drive’s actual read/write speeds if performance matters. Consider Thunderbolt/USB 3/eSATA connections for speed over USB 2.0. With the right combination of drive capabilities and interface, you can achieve fast external storage.
In the end, choose a drive that fits both your speed and storage needs. While faster drives cost more, the productivity and time savings can justify the price for performance-intensive tasks.