A Digital Age Deserves A Digital Leader

Thunderbolt 3

Thunderbolt 3

Postby shreader » Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:56 pm

A few weeks ago I purchased a Lenovo T480 Laptop it included a Thunderbolt 3 (compatible) port.

USB-C connector (Thunderbolt™ 3 compatible) The USB-C connector on your computer supports both the USB Type-C standard and the Thunderbolt 3 technology. With an appropriate USB-C cable connected, you can use the connector to transfer data, charge your device, or connect your computer to external displays.
The USB-C connector also works as the power connector. Use the shipped USB-C power adapter and power cord to connect the computer to ac power through the USB-C connector.


I checked the specs & more information on Intel Thunderbolt 3, pretty exciting stuff.

So far I have not purchased any additional cables or a hub as finding hardware that runs @ 20Gbps or 40Gbps is difficult or not-available, even a external SSD drive only will read @ around 520Mbps.

Here's how Thunderbolt 3 is different from its predecessors:
•The Mini DisplayPort connection type has been ditched in favor of a USB-C connection type.
•All Thunderbolt 3 cables will work as USB-C cables.
•All USB-C cables will work as Thunderbolt 3 cables as long as they are good quality cables.
•Thunderbolt 3 has a top data transfer speed of 40Gbps as long as the cable is 0.5m (1.6 ft.) or shorter.
•For 1m (3.2 ft.) or longer cables, Thunderbolt 3 supports passive (cheaper) ones that have a top speed of 20Gbps, and active cables (more expensive) that retain the 40Gbps speed.
•Thunderbolt 3 is backward-compatible with earlier versions of Thunderbolt, but due to the new port type, adapters are required to use legacy Thunderbolt devices.
•Any USB-C device (like a Google Pixel) plugged into a Thunderbolt 3 port will function normally.
•Since Thunderbolt 3 devices use discrete Thunderbolt chips to function, they will not function if plugged into a USB-C port.

All versions of Thunderbolt allow for daisy-chaining up to six devices together to a host and in addition to data, can also carry Hi-Def video and audio signals.

:moreat:
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/usb-type-c- ... -them-all/
Software Director
User avatar
Posts: 6715
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:25 am
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: Thunderbolt 3

Postby shreader » Sat Nov 24, 2018 3:18 pm

Since I am lacking on something to test on my Lenovo T480 Laptop (PCI Express Gen3 x4) w/ a Thunderbolt 3 (compatible) port.

Not wanting to spend money on something I wouldn’t use much I decided on a Samsung 970 EVO M.2 SSD & 10Gbps USB 3.1 (Gen 2) to M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure w/ a JMicron USB 3.1 Gen 2 to PCIe Gen3x2 Bridge Controller (JMS583).

The enclosure comes w/ a Type C to Type C cable for the Thunderbolt 3 connection.

Now the results:
Spec speed of M.2 SSD is 2,800 MB/s
Actual speed of above setup was: 626 MB/s

*Comments: Although the actual speed I am getting is definitely faster than a SATA 3 Samsung SSD 860 plugged into the Same Thunderbolt 3 port (401 MB/s) I was not overly excited w/ these testing results. The speed is NTL respectable.
Software Director
User avatar
Posts: 6715
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:25 am
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: Thunderbolt 3

Postby shreader » Mon Aug 30, 2021 3:35 pm

Which is better, USB-C 3.1 gen 2 or Thunderbolt?
New Macs and some PCs come with combined Thunderbolt 4/USB-C 3.1 gen 2 ports. They both claim a stunning 40Gb/sec of bandwidth. But is their performance actually the same? Yes, and no. Here's what my testing several external SSDs on an M1 MacBook Air found.

>snip<

THE TAKE
Based on these tests, which is better: USB-C or Thunderbolt? Given the similar performance of the 2TB OWC Envoy Thunderbolt drive and the old Apple SSD in a different OWC USB enclosure I have to conclude: neither.

Today, with 40Gb/sec USB peripherals scarce, Thunderbolt 3 and 4 will reliably give you two to four times the bandwidth if you commonly work with large sequential files.

Since both USB-C 3.1 gen 2 and Thunderbolt have plenty of bandwidth for common use cases, what counts is the performance of the SSD. True, the Crucial P5 1TB SSD improved in the Thunderbolt enclosure, but not enough to notice in daily use.

:moreat:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/which-is- ... underbolt/
Software Director
User avatar
Posts: 6715
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:25 am
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Return to Hardware and Customizing

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests

cron
cron