CONNECT WITH US
eCommerce

eCommerce

I turned off USB4 power management, and my transfer speeds jumped from 500Mbps to 2,400Mbps

MakeUseOf logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
I turned off USB4 power management, and my transfer speeds jumped from 500Mbps to 2,400Mbps

Oliver has been writing about mobile and the wider technology space for more than a decade with bylines on TechRadar, CNET, Inverse, and more.

With experience covering breaking news, writing in-depth product reviews, and sharing more than a few opinions, Oliver has been the go-to expert for some of the biggest publications both online and in print.

It's fair to say that the current state of USB naming conventions can be confusing. But if you want the fastest connection, USB4 is where it's at. USB4 cables generally support speeds of up to 40Gbps, and USB4 v2 supports up to 120Gbps, but the standard requires 20Gbps as a minimum.

However, there's a good chance that you'll plug your high-speed SSD into a USB4 port and experience terrible performance, no matter the specs on your drive, device, or cable.

But that disappointing performance probably isn't down to a subpar cable or a failing SSD. Even with a brand-new high-spec SSD and a great-quality cable, your PC might be the problem. An aggressive power management setting could be throttling your USB connections by as much as 80%.

Modern computer operating systems, and especially Windows 11, make aggressive use of two power management features that can be a death knell for performance. Link Power Management (LPM) and PCIe Active State Power Management (ASPM) are regularly used across USB4 and Thunderbolt controllers with the aim of preserving battery life on laptops. The theory makes plenty of sense — laptop battery life has gotten better in recent years, but it can always be better.


Source link

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.