I have no need for a docking station but I want to try out the USB-C port and see what if any all of the fuss is about. In the past I never really paid to much attention to the controllers on the flash drives I have purchased which if I am not mistaken vary wildly and are responsible for the read/ write speeds. Any recommendations appreciated. Looking for 128GB range.
USB-C (or USB type C) is the physical plug form factor.
USB 3.0 and 3.1 is the version of the USB specification that determines the data transfer speed and power specifics, most notably file bandwidth and how much power can be delivered.
The two are not linked together, so you can have one without the other.
USB-C vs. USB 3.1: Whats the difference? - ExtremeTech
>The two are not linked together, so you can have one without the other.
OK. Thanks for the clarification. I should have been more specific. The specs of my Lenovo P51 indicate
- 4 USB 3.0, 1 Always-on and
- Intel® Thunderbolt™ 3
Sooo...Are you saying in order for me to take full advantage of USB-C 3.1 I should be looking for USB-C 3.1 flash drives and connecting them to the Thunderbolt port and not to the USB 3.0 port? TIA.
Here is documentation of USB specifications https://thunderbolttechnology.net/si...NBZ03_102f.pdf
Thunderbolt 3 is the fastest transfer speed. If your video card has DisplayPort on it, you can get the highest resolution available. As well as data transfer from USB devices UP TO 40Gbps. Your laptop also has 4 USB 3.1 ports that transfer data at UP TO 10Gbps. The 3.1 USB ports are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices. But Only the newest devices will transfer files UP TO 40Gbps
Unfortunately the USB type C connector is being used for many different things aside from USB - see "alternate modes."
Thunderbolt uses the USB type-C connector but has nothing to do with the USB protocol. If you plug a USB device into the Thunderbolt-capable type-C port then the port will operate in USB-only mode. If you plug a Thunderbolt device into that port then it will operate in Thunderbolt mode.
The P51 has 4 USB 3.0 type-A ports and one USB 3.1 gen 2+Thunderbolt type-C port.
No reasonably-priced USB flash drive is going to come close to saturating even a USB 3.0 connection (10Gbps). So you would have no benefit to getting a type-C drive over a type-A drive.
Flash drives are very expensive for fast ones, and even then won't even tax a USB 3.0 port.
A and C are the connecting socket type.
USB is only as fast as the slowest device in the system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB
Depending on your definition of "USB flash drive" you can get external SSDs, like the Sandisk Extreme 900, that can push 800MB/s write speeds over USB 3.1 gen 2. They start at ~$250, which is a bit pricey in my opinion for just testing out your interface speed.
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