Solved Need help with new external USB SSD

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

Hello guys,
I have bought a new 8TB Samsung external SSD (T5 EVO USB 3.2). The device is USB 3.2 Gen 1 and not as fast as most recent SSD but has a speed of "Up to 460MB/s" advertised. The problem is that when I connect it to my laptop the transfer speed is very slow (a stable 100mb/s) which is even slower then a usb3 mechanical drive. ONLY if I reboot the PC with the drive connected, after restart I will get around 360MB/s which is the normal expected speed.

Could someone help me understand why this is happening and if there is a way to fix this problem?

Berton · Jul 2, 2024

Does the computer have both USB 2 [black] and USB 3 [blue] ports or are they the newer combination port or USB-C ports? By rebooting the computer/BIOS is recognizing the port and device correctly.

FreeBooter · Jul 2, 2024

This is not recommended, but you can enable Better Performance for your external driver from Device Manager which can help.

Also install latest version of USB and Chipset drivers.

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

Berton said:
Does the computer have both USB 2 [black] and USB 3 [blue] ports or are they the newer combination port or USB-C ports? By rebooting the computer/BIOS is recognizing the port and device correctly.

The laptop has Thunderbolt™ 4 (usb c) ports which I am using with the original usb c cable that came with the drive.

You can see the laptop's specs here
USB Drive Page

antspants · Jul 2, 2024

FreeBooter said:
This is not recommended, but you can enable Better Performance for your external driver from Device Manager which can help.

View attachment 100516

Also install latest version of USB and Chipset drivers.

You beat me to it. Could help.

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

FreeBooter said:
This is not recommended, but you can enable Better Performance for your external driver from Device Manager which can help.

View attachment 100516

Also install latest version of USB and Chipset drivers.

This did not bring any change

FreeBooter · Jul 2, 2024

Have you installed newest USB driver?

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

FreeBooter said:
Have you installed newest USB driver?

I am running windows 11 with latest updates. The device was automatically detected when I connected it to the laptop and no device driver installation was required. I checked the device in device manager and click on update driver, but windows told me that the best driver is already installed. I don't know if there is any other driver I need to install?

FreeBooter · Jul 2, 2024

You can found the newest version of USB and chipset driver from laptop or chipset manufacturer website.

hsehestedt · Jul 2, 2024

Sometimes the cable can make a big difference. I know that you said that you are using the original cable that came with the drive, but you might try another cable just to be sure.

My suggestion would be to try as high a quality cable as possible.

Try a thunderbolt cable if you have one.

If not, try a cable rated for USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds (10Gbps) if you have one.

Last, try a USB 3.2 Gen 1 cable (5Gbps) if none of the above are available.

In addition, the shorter the cable, the better. I would recommend no longer than about 3 feet or 1 meter.

Anibor_11 · Jul 2, 2024

Connect the external SSD to a Gen. 1 or Gen. 2 port [port 4, 5 or 7], not to a Thunderbolt 4 port. You won´t get better performance with the Thunderbolt port, and it can be compatibility problems.

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

Anibor_11 said:
Connect the external SSD to a Gen. 1 or Gen. 2 port [port 4, 5 or 7], not to a Thunderbolt 4 port. You won´t get better performance with the Thunderbolt port, and it can be compatibility problems.

I tired all ports and still the same result! if the PC is ON and I connect the SSD to any of the ports, my speed is limited to 100MB/S. If I connect it to any of the ports first and then reboot, the speed is normal @360MB/s

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

hsehestedt said:
Sometimes the cable can make a big difference. I know that you said that you are using the original cable that came with the drive, but you might try another cable just to be sure.

My suggestion would be to try as high a quality cable as possible.

Try a thunderbolt cable if you have one.

If not, try a cable rated for USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds (10Gbps) if you have one.

Last, try a USB 3.2 Gen 1 cable (5Gbps) if none of the above are available.

In addition, the shorter the cable, the better. I would recommend no longer than about 3 feet or 1 meter.

I tried with other cables, including one that came with my WD external SSD and it's only 20cm long. I still get the same result. Same cable works at max speed with the other WD SSD drive. Also if the problem was from the cable or USB port it should not work fine after a reboot!

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

FreeBooter said:
You can found the newest version of USB and chipset driver from laptop or chipset manufacturer website.

The latest chipset driver for my laptop on manufacturer site is from 2022 and already installed.

dacrone · Jul 2, 2024

SSD slows in minutes, resets on reboot

I have a Windows 7 Pro HP z200 system with an MTFDBAK256MAG-1G1 (Micron RealSSD C300 240 GB). I notice that the drive's performance is fine when the disk is booted, then during the course of a Win...

superuser.com

Read the last reply on that post

antspants · Jul 2, 2024

I clicked on the first few reviews I found. All said the T5 EVO is slow or the write performance is weak, but reliable.
Personally, I buy EVO SSD’s (Samsung QVO or EVO drives) and place them into an external casing.

Samsung T5 Evo (8TB) Portable SSD Review: Spacious but Slow

Roomier and faster than a portable HDD, but the street price needs to be much lower than MSRP.

www.tomshardware.com

https://www.digitec.ch/en/page/samsung-t5-evo-slow-but-packing-plenty-of-memory-30755

Samsung T5 EVO Portable SSD Review: QLC Sets Sane Expectations, Insane Pricing

www.anandtech.com

Samsung Portable SSD T5 EVO USB 3.2 8TB Quick Look Review - PC Perspective

Samsung Portable SSD T5 EVO USB 3.2 8TB Quick Look Review The Portable SSD T5 EVO from Samsung is available in capacities up to a mammoth 8TB, and we have

pcper.com

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

antspants said:
I clicked on the first few reviews I found. All said the T5 EVO is slow or the write performance is weak, but reliable.
Personally, I buy EVO SSD’s (Samsung QVO or EVO drives) and place them into an external casing.

Samsung T5 Evo (8TB) Portable SSD Review: Spacious but Slow

Roomier and faster than a portable HDD, but the street price needs to be much lower than MSRP.

www.tomshardware.com

https://www.digitec.ch/en/page/samsung-t5-evo-slow-but-packing-plenty-of-memory-30755

Samsung T5 EVO Portable SSD Review: QLC Sets Sane Expectations, Insane Pricing

www.anandtech.com

Samsung Portable SSD T5 EVO USB 3.2 8TB Quick Look Review - PC Perspective

Samsung Portable SSD T5 EVO USB 3.2 8TB Quick Look Review The Portable SSD T5 EVO from Samsung is available in capacities up to a mammoth 8TB, and we have

pcper.com

Yes I was aware that this drive was slower then most ssd. But it has 8TB of storage space and It is still 3 times faster then a mechanical usb 3 device.
There was a promotion here in France were Samsung would give you a 300Euros discount. So I thought that it was a great deal to buy 8TB SSD for 300 euros (full price was 600).

rezpower · Jul 2, 2024

I just tried and instead of rebooting, I put my PC to sleep and then back to windows and this also fixes the speed problem.
SSD jumps back to full speed and remains at full speed until I unplug and reconnect it again.

dacrone · Jul 2, 2024

Did you try either
Raxco's Perfect Disk "SSD Optimize" or "Free Space Consolidation” mentioned? Link is there

hsehestedt · Jul 2, 2024

I am under the assumption that this is a new drive and not heavily used yet. However, if that drive has been used heavily check this:

Right click that drive in File Explorer and select properties. Go to the Tools tab, select Optimize, select the SSD, and finally select Optimize. Click OK.

This will ensure that previously used blocks are all TRIMmed.

NOTE: After doing the above, wait several minutes before you test speed to allow the drive some time to TRIM at least some of the drive in the background, if it even needs it.

Although it is not really likely, I'm asking you to try this "just in case" because blocks that need to be TRIMed can severely slow down the performance.

Again, I don't think this likely, especially in view of some of your other symptoms, but it's worth a shot since this is such a simple operation.