Will 3.0 and 3.1 USB interface

Last question: not necessarily.

First question: probably if ALL parts are rated USB 3. USB 3 cables have different device-end plugs but still will plug into the USB 2 or 3 ports on a computer. I don't have a computer new enough with the USB 3.1 or USB-C ports.

1ThursdayJC said:

Will my external hard drives work faster when I start using a computer with a 3.0 or 3.1 interface? Both of my external harddrives and com native with the 3.0 interface. ... I know that using the 2.0 USB interface bus is also a delay factor. ...

Yes.

I got some USB3 external HDDs that I used with my USB2 computer. When I bought a new computer that had USB3, my first few file transfers were completed so quickly that I thought something must have gone wrong - I worked through manually checking everything had been copied. I really could not believe the speed of file transfer.

Denis

Be aware you need to also use the correct cables. A USB 3/3.1 device needs a USB 3 cable. If you use a USB 2.0 cable with a USB 3.0/3.1 device you'll only get 2.0 speeds. It's why it's important to use the cable that came with the device.

Also, let's not overlook the fact that manufactures use the term "up to" as opposed to guaranteed speeds. That's because there know there are too many factors that can impact said speed to include hardware, files/file size, system resources, cables, etc... Thus there's absolutely no guarantees your devices will see top speeds all the time unless you're in laboratory perfect conditions, and even then....

Just something to be aware of. And yes, I've got USB 3.0, 3.1, and USB Type C ports and devices and none has ever maxed out.

Good luck.

1ThursdayJC said:

My concern is startup or wakeup times. It just drives me batty waiting for the hd to wake up and start.

Well if you want faster startup times put the OS on an SSD drive. In fact its the biggest improvement you can make to a PC - upgrading the SSD drives.