Bus speeds and HDD speeds (real world, not theoretical)

Needed: real world specs for USB 3.1 gen. 1 (G-Technology 5TB G-DRIVE mobile USB-C Portable Hard Drive) for TimeMachine backups with M1 MBP 14.

I read that if a drive is limited to 5400 RPM then a USB 3.0 would be as fast (or slow) as the fancier 3.1 gen 1 or gen 2, ie 60-80 mbs. The HDD is the limiting factor, not the potential (theoretical) transmission speed. Is this true?

But the specs for this drive show “Fast transfer rates (up to 140MB/s)”. Is that even possible on this particular HDD?

Long and short: am I wasting money on the faster-looking drive? Should I just stick to 3.0? Or will the 3.1 drive be in fact faster?

3.1 gen 2 drives (external portable) are hard to find; 3.2 impossible. Thunderbolt, ditto (and very expensive). SSD for this size is prohibitive.

Thanks.

Hi @jipnet,

Please contact the WD Technical Support team for best assistance and troubleshooting:
https://support-en.wd.com/app/ask