Is an external USB to m.2 adapter slower than an internal m.2 slot on the motherboard?

ThrashZone · Dec 12, 2023

Hi,
M.2s complicate cloning

What you're down to is creating a system image to a usb device nearly as large as the data on the existing os disk.
Cheap hard drive but you'll need to know how much data is on the current os disk.

ratrotator_1616 · Dec 12, 2023

Well I’m upgrading from a 256 GB SSD to a 1 TB so I do believe I have enough space for the OS, but when you say USB device, you do mean an external usb to M.2 adapter?

ThrashZone · Dec 12, 2023

ratrotator_1616 said:
Well I’m upgrading from a 256 GB SSD to a 1 TB so I do believe I have enough space for the OS, but when you say USB device, you do mean an external usb to M.2 adapter?

Hi,
Yeah pretty much a device that's in your original topic a m.2 enclosure.
You could clone then

Or a hdd at least 250gb
USB 3.5" or 2.5" hdd/ ssd enclosure

SPDIF · Dec 14, 2023

Yes this is slower because it passes the USB controller, the chip-set and then go to the CPU, the M.2 closest to the CPU has lanes directly connected to the CPU. So the latency of USB is higher and the speed is lower. You can expect something like 900 to 1250 MB/s max with at USB3.2 Gen 2 external drive. With an USB2.0 connection max speed is around 40MB/s... While USB1.1 is max. at 1.5MB/s. With an USB-C to USB-C connection you have speeds with an USB 3.2 Gen2x2 controller of Max. 2500MB/s.

USB devices with USB3.0 connectivity have a typical speed of Max. 625MB/s. With an old HDD the max speed on USB3.0 and higher is about 80MB/s.

USB1.1 Max. speed= 1.5MB/s
USB2.0 Max. speed= 40MB/s
USB3.0 Max speed= 625MB/s
USB3.1 Gen1 Max. speed= 625MB/s
USB3.1 Gen2 Max. speed=1250MB/s
USB3.2 Gen2 Max. speed= 1250MB/s
USB3.2 Gen 2x2 Max. speed=2500MB/s

For example an M.2 SSD;

PCIE3.0 at 4x4 has Max. speed= 3500MB/s
PCIE4.0 at 4x4 has Max. speed= 8000MB/s

System Name	Ghetto Rigs z490\|x99\|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor	10900k w/Optimus Foundation \| 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
Cooling	oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block \| Blk D15
Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 \| Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 \| 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

System Name	Ghetto Rigs z490\|x99\|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor	10900k w/Optimus Foundation \| 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
Cooling	oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block \| Blk D15
Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 \| Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 \| 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

System Name	Prometheus
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme Gaming Wifi
Cooling	AIO Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360
Memory	32GB DDR5 6000Mhz CL30
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 OC Edition 12GB
Storage	Samsung 970PRO 2TB, Samsung 990PRO 4TB, WD SN850X 2TB, Samsung 980PRO 2TB. WD GOLD HDD 8TB
Display(s)	Corsair XENEON 32UHD144 32" 4K UHD gaming monitor
Case	Cooler Master HAF
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster AE7 + Logitech Z-5500 500W 5.1.
Power Supply	Corsair AX850 Titanium.
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB Platinum Cherry MX
Software	W10-11 Enterprise- Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon Edition.

Is an external USB to m.2 adapter slower than an internal m.2 slot on the motherboard?

ThrashZone

ratrotator_1616

New Member

ThrashZone

SPDIF