Can anyone please recommend the fastest USB-C external hard drive

[TheRealAlex]

I am looking for hands down the fastest external USB-C hard drive capacity is not an issue but speed is.
Obviously the 2018 MBP is using some type of Samsung M.2 NVME drive. USB-C caps out at 30Gbps nothing will be that fast fastest is 3500Mbps.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Thysanoptera]

USB-C is a connector type, has nothing to do with transmission speed. SSD speed is usually marketed in MB/s which is a little different than Mbps. And 2018 MBP doesn’t have m.2 connector.

If you still want the fastest external ssd, you need external Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, working at full 40 Gbps. And fast NVMe ssd.

 

[1096bimu]

I am looking for hands down the fastest external USB-C hard drive capacity is not an issue but speed is.
Obviously the 2018 MBP is using some type of Samsung M.2 NVME drive. USB-C caps out at 30Gbps nothing will be that fast fastest is 3500Mbps.

Any help is appreciated.

Samsung X5
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-SSD-Thunderbolt-MU-PB1T0B/dp/B07GBWZJFG

 

[jpn]

Sandisk Extreme SSD (either Pro model or non-Pro model) comes in storage capacities up to 2TB.
fast, compliant. native USB-C connector.
dont be fooled by its micro size and portability.
its the way to go.

 

[jerryk]

Samsung X5
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-SSD-Thunderbolt-MU-PB1T0B/dp/B07GBWZJFG

Only thing is it so darn ugly and big. I wish they would make a T7, with the T5 housing and TB speed. But I guess the faster chips get hot and need the massive heatsink of the X5.

 

[SDColorado]

I really like my Samsung T5. It helps that I got a really good deal on it at Microcenter over the summer, but it is a really nice drive.

 

[Painter2002]

I really like my Samsung T5. It helps that I got a really good deal on it at Microcenter over the summer, but it is a really nice drive.

+1 on the T5. They are reasonably affordable and one of the faster external USB-C SSD drives out there. I have the 500GB and love it. I can transfer 140GB of RAW photos in 5 minutes from my 2017 MBP to this drive.

 

[Stephen.R]

I am looking for hands down the fastest external USB-C hard drive capacity is not an issue but speed is.
Obviously the 2018 MBP is using some type of Samsung M.2 NVME drive. USB-C caps out at 30Gbps nothing will be that fast fastest is 3500Mbps.

Any help is appreciated.

If you want strictly USB (i.e. USB 3.1Gen2 with a Type-C plug/socket), that protocol tops out at 10Gb/s so you're going to be limited to about 1GB/sec transfer speed.

If you want an external device for use with a MacBook Pro that has USB-C ports on it, you probably want a Thunderbolt 3 device. That protocol tops out at 40Gb/s, so has a theoretical max of 5GB/s but probably a realistic transfer speed of 4 to 4.5GB/s.

Barefeats did a comparison of TB3 portable SSDs last year - http://barefeats.com/hard232.html

Since then a couple of newer models have come out I believe.

 

[TheRealAlex]

If you want strictly USB (i.e. USB 3.1Gen2 with a Type-C plug/socket), that protocol tops out at 10Gb/s so you're going to be limited to about 1GB/sec transfer speed.

If you want an external device for use with a MacBook Pro that has USB-C ports on it, you probably want a Thunderbolt 3 device. That protocol tops out at 40Gb/s, so has a theoretical max of 5GB/s but probably a realistic transfer speed of 4 to 4.5GB/s.

Barefeats did a comparison of TB3 portable SSDs last year - http://barefeats.com/hard232.html

Since then a couple of newer models have come out I believe.

Thank you for correcting me I meant to say thunderbolt 3 was 40Gb/s but looks just like USB-C that’s what I want there exists no faster interface period.

 

[Stephen.R]

but looks just like USB-C

Well its not just looks like - it is. TB3 uses the USB-C connector specification, and passive (i.e. <= 50cm) TB3 cables will also work as USB 3.1Gen2 Type-C cables.

If you get a recent device, Intel's Alpine Ridge (I think that's what they called it?) TB3 controller for peripherals also supports USB-C "fallback" mode, so the same device (let's say a flash storage device) can work over TB3 if it's available on the computer, or via USB 3.1-Gen2 (or presumably Gen 1) if that's all the host computer supports.

 

[Bodie CI5]

I’d ‘third’ the Samsung T5. Recommended by some good folk to me in another thread. Awesome performer.

 

[TheRealAlex]

I’d ‘third’ the Samsung T5. Recommended by some good folk to me in another thread. Awesome performer.

I looked at it, the T5 is just an external SSD enclosed in a unique case. As long as you have USB 3.1 Gen 2
You can get the same results with any bare SSD and this cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...id=1549982391&sr=8-3&keywords=usb+ssd+adapter

I will be adding in a Titan-Ridge Pciexpress card to my PC to get full bi-directional 40Gb/s and power as well.

 

[Painter2002]

I looked at it, the T5 is just an external SSD enclosed in a unique case. As long as you have USB 3.1 Gen 2
You can get the same results with any bare SSD and this cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...id=1549982391&sr=8-3&keywords=usb+ssd+adapter

I will be adding in a Titan-Ridge Pciexpress card to my PC to get full bi-directional 40Gb/s and power as well.

I have an 2.5” Sandisk SSD in a Satechi USB-C enclosure, and it is fast, but not as fast as the T5. A lot of external enclosures can’t sustain the high transfer speeds of prebuilt SSD drives. That’s not saying they aren’t fast still, but I can say from personal experience the T5 has provided the most consistent high speed transfers on 50GB + data transfers.

But that’s just my experience. You’ll save a few bucks buying a Samsung EVO sand tossing it into a quality USB-C enclosure, but honestly for the consistency and smaller footprint/portability I favor the Samsung T5.

 

[dwig]

USB-C is a connector type, has nothing to do with transmission speed. SSD speed is usually marketed in MB/s which is a little different than Mbps. And 2018 MBP doesn’t have m.2 connector.

If you still want the fastest external ssd, you need external Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, working at full 40 Gbps. And fast NVMe ssd.

Correct, all USB-[letter] designations specify the connector. There are USB-C cables that only support PD and USB-2.0 data (e.g. the Apple "charging" cable supplied with the new iPP).

... it should also be noted that the cable in use must support the desired protocol(s). A TB3 capable host connected to a TB3 capable drive will not deliver TB3 speeds unless a TB3 capable cable is used. If a docking station is added to the mix, it and its connecting cable must also support TB3.

 

[estabya]

I looked at it, the T5 is just an external SSD enclosed in a unique case. As long as you have USB 3.1 Gen 2
You can get the same results with any bare SSD and this cable.
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-...id=1549982391&sr=8-3&keywords=usb+ssd+adapter

I will be adding in a Titan-Ridge Pciexpress card to my PC to get full bi-directional 40Gb/s and power as well.

If you go with an enlosure that supports NVME and of course an NVME drive, it will be about twice as fast as the adapter you linked (it should saturate the 10Gbps bandwidth that USB 3.1 provides). The links I listed below will get you a 1TB drive that’s capable of about 1000MBps read and write for $200.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-Enclosure-NVMe-EC-NVME/dp/B07K4TZQ7D

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-1TB-NAND-NVMe-PCIe/dp/B07J2Q4SWZ/

 

[TheRealAlex]

If you go with an enlosure that supports NVME and of course an NVME drive, it will be about twice as fast as the adapter you linked (it should saturate the 10Gbps bandwidth that USB 3.1 provides). The links I listed below will get you a 1TB drive that’s capable of about 1000MBps read and write for $200.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-Enclosure-NVMe-EC-NVME/dp/B07K4TZQ7D

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-1TB-NAND-NVMe-PCIe/dp/B07J2Q4SWZ/

Yeah this is pretty much it, because no NVME drive can saturate USB 3.1 Gen 2. At 10Gb/s fastest is about 3.5Gb/s
This looks like a very decent combo.

 

[Thysanoptera]

Yeah this is pretty much it, because no NVME drive can saturate USB 3.1 Gen 2. At 10Gb/s fastest is about 3.5Gb/s
This looks like a very decent combo.

Fastest consumer NVMe is ~3500 MB/s = 28 Gbps. Almost 3 times faster than max data transfer speed of USB 3.1 Gen 2. You're off by an order of magnitude.

 

[Clix Pix]

Samsung X5 is fast, fast, fast as a Thunderbolt 3 device connected to a computer that uses Thunderbolt 3.

For somewhat slower, but not all that much slower, speeds, the Samsung T5 USB devices work also very well in a machine with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports. I have and use both and so speak from experience. I've been shifting over from using platter/spinner external HDDs for a couple of years now and the next step will be to gradually move to X5 Thunderbolt 3 external SSDs as prices eventually drop down and become lower, and these become more affordable. I just wish that the manufacturers would increase the capacity available on their external SSDs!

 

[TheRealAlex]

Fastest consumer NVMe is ~3500 MB/s = 28 Gbps. Almost 3 times faster than max data transfer speed of USB 3.1 Gen 2. You're off by an order of magnitude.

I get that conversion mixed up.
[doublepost=1550029135][/doublepost]

Samsung X5 is fast, fast, fast as a Thunderbolt 3 device connected to a computer that uses Thunderbolt 3.

For somewhat slower, but not all that much slower, speeds, the Samsung T5 USB devices work also very well in a machine with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports. I have and use both and so speak from experience. I've been shifting over from using platter/spinner external HDDs for a couple of years now and the next step will be to gradually move to X5 Thunderbolt 3 external SSDs as prices eventually drop down and become lower, and these become more affordable. I just wish that the manufacturers would increase the capacity available on their external SSDs!

My current conversion and investment is In Non-platter spinning hard drives. Started using a M.2 NVME drive 500GB Samsung 970 Pro as my main boot drive and a 500GB WD Black NVME M.2 on a PCIe card.
Getting rid of all 2.5” SSDs and 3.5” hard drives. Switching to all M.2 NVME. Maybe a few SSDs as back ups have so many they feel like old school floppy disks. Just wish M.2 drives were more enclosed and robust without having to buy an enclosure.
Looking forward to running Windows 10 from a external Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, 40Gb/s should be fast enough.

 

[Markdc]

sandisc extreme SSD