In order to further illustrate the performance level obtained from USB2.0, we have run a test wit ha new MacBook Pro and an external HD featuring a triple interface: USB2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800, thanks to an Oxford bridge. Results obtained from benchmarking with the SpeedTools suite are available below:
As shown on those graphs there are almost no difference in reading and writing speeds between USB2.0 and FW400. The clear winner is the FW800 offering up to 53 MB/s in writing mode and stable 60MB/s in reading mode.
We then performed a second test based on duplication of a 156 MB folder include 2000 small files, it will demonstrate the impact of the interface of the HD access time. In USB2.0, it to
