SuperSpeed USB 3.0 gets speed tested at IDF

The USB 3.0 specification was released only this month on the 13th and already a company by the name of Fresco Logic has managed to run a live and very working demonstration during the Intel Developer Forum.

The company said it used a self-developed software development platform specifically designed for the show allowing it to demonstrate the performance of SuperSpeed USB or USB 3.0. Our computers have been powered by USB 2.0 for almost nine years now and next year is when we should start to see serious adoption of USB 3.0 products.

As a recap, USB 2.0 Hi-Speed is capable of a maximum theoretical speed of 480Mbit/s (or 60MB/s) and USB 3.0 kills it with a spec offering up to a maximum theoretical speed of 4.8Gbit/s (or 600MB/s) - yep, it is on paper ten times faster.


In the real-world though, the true story is hold and while far from disappointing, Fresco Logic's self-developed software development platform was measured transferring at up to 350MB/s (or 2.8Gbit/s). It still has some way to go to make up that extra 2Gbit/s (will it ever?) but considering this was a pre-production beta test, it's still pretty impressive.