What dictates transfer speeds? at DVinfo.net

Michael B. McGee · April 20th, 2009, 03:54 PM

I had this post on another thread but haven't had a response yet. below you will notice some transfer tests i performed last week and the results were alarming to me. basically i'm wondering what components dictate fast transfer speeds? ie: processor speed, interface connection, and/or hard drive speed? i kind of already know the answer from analyzing my test results, but i guess i just want some conformation.

here was my test:

ok, i just performed some tests and the results are unbelievable/confusing. i used a 16GB SxS card filled exactly to 8.0GB of footage with about 30-1 minute clips. Two different computers were used. MacBook Pro circa 2007 and a Dell desktop with the Sony USB reader. with the MBP I used a Western Digital 500GB 7200rpm FW800 external HDD as well as the internal HDD. here are the results.

MacBook Pro
2.33GHz Intel Core Duo
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
150GB 5400rpm HDD

using Clip Browser version 1 with ExpressCard slot:
8GB-MBP= 6:30 minutes
MBP HDD-WD HDD= <10 minutes
8GB-WD HDD= <8 minutes

Drag & Drop method with ExpressCard slot:
8GB-MBP= 5 minutes
MBP-WD HDD= 4:50 minutes
8GB-WD HDD= 4:10 minutes

Dell desktop
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad
3GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
500GB 7200rpm HDD

using Clip Browser version 2.5 with Sony USB reader:
8GB-Dell= 5:30 minutes
8GB-Dell= 10 minutes with Data Protection & CRC turned on

using Clip Browser version 1 with Sony USB reader:
8GB-Dell= 5:15 minutes

Drag & Drop with Sony USB reader:
8GB-Dell= 4:45 minutes

so, what i found confusing was that my Dell with a USB reader was faster then a MBP with an ExpressCard slot. my results tell me that its not so much the interface/connection you use to dump/transfer footage its the processors and/or hard drive speeds that determine quick transfer times.

am i wrong or right?

-Mike

Keith Moreau · April 20th, 2009, 07:31 PM

The speed and sometimes the interface of the destination drive has a lot to do with the transfer speed, perhaps more so than processor speed.

When I transfer from my MacBook Pro SxS expresscard slot to a NAS Gigabit Ethernet RAID I've seen up to 70MB/second transfer speed. The NAS is just an old Powerbook G4 with Gigabit ethernet and attached via a Firewire 800 but the RAID is fast.

Going to my Drobo with similar setup I max out at 20MB/second, though it has a FW800 interface as well.

Probably if you did some tests with some disk benchmarking software you'd find similar results.

April 20th, 2009, 03:54 PM	#1
Michael B. McGee Major Player Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Santa Monica, CA Posts: 318	What dictates transfer speeds? I had this post on another thread but haven't had a response yet. below you will notice some transfer tests i performed last week and the results were alarming to me. basically i'm wondering what components dictate fast transfer speeds? ie: processor speed, interface connection, and/or hard drive speed? i kind of already know the answer from analyzing my test results, but i guess i just want some conformation. here was my test: ok, i just performed some tests and the results are unbelievable/confusing. i used a 16GB SxS card filled exactly to 8.0GB of footage with about 30-1 minute clips. Two different computers were used. MacBook Pro circa 2007 and a Dell desktop with the Sony USB reader. with the MBP I used a Western Digital 500GB 7200rpm FW800 external HDD as well as the internal HDD. here are the results. MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Intel Core Duo 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM 150GB 5400rpm HDD using Clip Browser version 1 with ExpressCard slot: 8GB-MBP= 6:30 minutes MBP HDD-WD HDD= <10 minutes 8GB-WD HDD= <8 minutes Drag & Drop method with ExpressCard slot: 8GB-MBP= 5 minutes MBP-WD HDD= 4:50 minutes 8GB-WD HDD= 4:10 minutes Dell desktop 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 3GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM 500GB 7200rpm HDD using Clip Browser version 2.5 with Sony USB reader: 8GB-Dell= 5:30 minutes 8GB-Dell= 10 minutes with Data Protection & CRC turned on using Clip Browser version 1 with Sony USB reader: 8GB-Dell= 5:15 minutes Drag & Drop with Sony USB reader: 8GB-Dell= 4:45 minutes so, what i found confusing was that my Dell with a USB reader was faster then a MBP with an ExpressCard slot. my results tell me that its not so much the interface/connection you use to dump/transfer footage its the processors and/or hard drive speeds that determine quick transfer times. am i wrong or right? -Mike

April 20th, 2009, 07:31 PM	#2
Keith Moreau Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane, California Posts: 530	The speed and sometimes the interface of the destination drive has a lot to do with the transfer speed, perhaps more so than processor speed. When I transfer from my MacBook Pro SxS expresscard slot to a NAS Gigabit Ethernet RAID I've seen up to 70MB/second transfer speed. The NAS is just an old Powerbook G4 with Gigabit ethernet and attached via a Firewire 800 but the RAID is fast. Going to my Drobo with similar setup I max out at 20MB/second, though it has a FW800 interface as well. Probably if you did some tests with some disk benchmarking software you'd find similar results.