USB 3.1 to thunderbolt

[garmp]

Is there an economical way to connect my OWC external USB 3.1 to my iMac with thunderbolt?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello.

-Which exact model is the iMac?
-Which version of OS X/macOS?
-Which exact model is the OWC external enclosure?

C

 

[garmp]

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) OS14.6. But now am switching to a WD 2tb external. I found that I have a Firewire cable 400 to 800 and just ordered a Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 AND a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. Didn't really want to spend $80.00 for adapters, but did. But now I wonder if this pricey adapter will increase the transfer speed over a USB cable. I had this drive hooked up to my older iMac with the Firewire and it ran like a champ.
So I think I have answered my own question. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

The speed will be limited the bandwidth of which generation USB 3.1 the drive has - kinda like attaching a standard 5/8" garden hose to a 3" fire hose...water will only flow at the max for the garden hose. There may be a slight speed decrease due to the adapter.

Approximate theoretical maximum data transfer speeds, not accounting for interface overhead or cabling:

FireWire 400: 400 Mbits/s = 50 MB/s
USB 2.0: 480 Mbits/s = 60 MB/s
FireWire 800: 800 Mbits/s = 100 MB/s
USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1): 5 Gbit/s = 625 MB/sec
USB 3.1 (USB 3.1 Gen 2): 10 Gbit/s = 1.25 GB/s
Thunderbolt: 10 Gbit/s = 1.25 GB/s
Thunderbolt 2: 20 Gbit/s = 2.5 GB/s
USB-C (Thunderbolt 3): 40 Gbit/s = 5 GB/s

Hope that helps,

C

 

[garmp]

Yes it does. Thank you so much for your time. At least now I don't feel as though my purchase, in haste, was totally wasted.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

Let us know how it goes.

Happy Easter!

C

 

[garmp]

Finally got the adapters. Amazon put them on the slow boat because they are critical during this crisis.
Any way things work fine, just not as fast as I thought. All is good and fine, but not worth the $80 in my opinion.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries...glad it is working for you.

Which way did you end up going (which adapters)?

C

 

[garmp]

1.) Thunderbolt to FireWire Then 2.) Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2.
Or so the boxes say.

 

[Howard Brazee]

I have that adapter that allows me to plug in a Thunderbolt 1 cord into my wife's Thunderbolt 2(?) iMac. I looked all over to find an adaptor to allow me to plug a Thunderbolt 2 or 3 device into my Thunderbolt 1 iMac. I gave up. I plan on upgrading my iMac and am awaiting the new models right now.