not getting USB 3.0 speeds with multiple USB 3.0 sticks on my laptop

Question

My Core i5 laptop is behaving strangely on windows 8.1 - I think on windows 8 it didn't have this problem.. but I have 8.1 now.

My USB3.0 flash drives are all copying at 10 to 13MB/s a second , it seems very slow.

And also when doing these file copies the USB mouse (I have a logitech with a wireless usb receiver), stutters... when the file transfer is over the mouse works fine...

The BIOS for the Inspiron 17R SE 7720 is very basic. Not much I could change in there. I did turn USB Emulation off.. since I did that, I think the mouse stuttering may have disappeared or been reduced.

But the slow slow transfer speeds still remain. Not entirely sure if that is MBps or mbps but whatever it is, it just feels really slow and is 10-13 constantly.

anyone have any suggestions? I tried finding newer drivers but windows says I have latest, and no drivers from the dell site helped. In the device manager it does show some intel USB 3.0 driver.

Answer 1

There is a Windows KB for this dealing with Enhanced power Management changes between win8 and 8.1
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2900614

To resolve this issue, install an updated device driver. To check whether an updated driver is available, follow these steps:

    Open the Windows Update item in Control Panel. To do this, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. Or, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, and then click Search.
    In the search box, type Windows Update.
    Tap or click Settings, and then tap or click Install optional updates.
    Tap or click Check for updates, and then wait while Windows looks for the latest updates for your computer.

If updates are found, tap or click Install updates.

Answer 2

Some USB3 devices aren't actually that fast. Many usb flash drives are slow at writing and fast at reading.

For example:

DataTraveler® Micro 3.1 is an ultra-small, capless, lightweight Flash drive that delivers extreme USB 3.1 speeds of up to 100MB/s read and 15MB/s write.

http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/DTMC3_en.pdf

Conclusion: check the specs for your device, and if it looks like mine, then your 10-13 MB/s is actually normal, even though they advertise "Extreme USB 3.1 speeds" which is meaningless without numbers.