Saturday, 23rd April 2011
USB 3.0 – Some Facts on It
Text by Richie Setiawan
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. For all these years, it has turned out to be the de facto standard when it comes to computing. This can be seen from the evolution process that has taken place so far and that brings us USB 3.0. Yet, what can this version offer us and what are the advantages compared to the previous version?
Well, for one thing, USB 3.0 is way faster compared to USB 2.0. While the second version is capable of achieving a maximum data transfer rate of 480Mbps, theoretically speaking, the latest version is capable of achieving a maximum data transfer rate of 5Gbps which is ten times as fast USB 2.0. However, the transfer rate may also be affected by other aspect of the computer configuration. For example, compared to a standalone hard drive that connects via USB 3.0, an SSD – which stands for Solid State Drive – or hard drives used in RAID mode is likely to have a faster data transfer rate. Yet, the performance of USB 3.0 is on par with an eSATA device. However, it is more beneficial than eSATA because it does not need any external power supplies.
USB 3.0 also comes offering several other advantages than the previous version in addition to the faster data transfer rate. This new interface uses less power, only one-third that of the previous version. When not in use, the new USB 3.0 compatible devices will enter a low power mode because the interface will deliver signal only to the devices needing it.
This new interface is also more advantageous than the previous one in that it comes in high speed only. This was not the case with the previous version. According to Jeff Ravencraft, the President and Chairman of the Universal Serial Bus-Implementers Forum (USB-IF), USB 2.0 was comprised of low, full and high speed version when it was transitioning from USB 1.1. With that being said, not all computer users may enjoy the true speed that USB 2.0 can offer. However, this will not happen with the latest version of the interface.
Ravencraft claims that there are no ways for a computer vendor to call their interface USB 3.0 unless it is really capable of achieving a data transfer rate of up to 5Gbps. He also adds that in case there is any vendor found guilty for using the new interface logo without being officially certified, that vendor is going to face a legal lawsuit.
However, when can we expect to have SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface on our computer? Well, it seems that we won’t have to wait for long. There are already some computer vendors – such as Gigabyte with its P2532 notebook PC – out there that are already offering this latest USB interface.
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