Hello, this is my first post. I just ordered the WD_Black P10 4TB. It is the process of shipping to me. I know it’s USB 3.1 Gen 1 according to the specs. I’m assuming the included USB cable meets this spec? I’m only asking this silly question because I just watched a YouTube unboxing and the guy claims it is a USB 2.0 cable which I don’t believe is true. I think that is because the “SS” super speed designation isn’t molded onto the cable end, nor a “5” denoting 5 Gbps. I have USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports on my PC and I know the WD_Black P10 will just use the 5 Gbps maximum for USB 3.1 on higher speed ports. Anyway, I am just using this for periodic incremental data file and photo backups based on a simple xcopy parameter based script to only overwrite changed files when backing up my PC. The drive will only be used during periodic backups and then removed and stored until the next time. I’ve been using this method just fine with my old 2011 WD My Book Essential 2TB external drive.
Any suggestions for a WD_Black P10 compatible “USB 3.1, 5 Gbps” cable, preferably one that has actually been tried and works full speed with the WD_Black P10:
The WD_Black P10 4TB comes with a USB 3.1 Gen 1 cable, even if the connector doesn’t have the “SS” or “5” marking. The cable supports the full 5 Gbps speed of USB 3.1 Gen 1, and on a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, the drive will run at its maximum speed. Using it for periodic incremental backups with your xcopy script works fine, and the drive can be connected only during backups and then stored. The included cable is not USB 2.0, and your setup will work as expected.
Thanks, but I may have answered my own question. I was just wondering because after some research even a USB 3.0 cable (blue end) supports up to 5 Gbps same as USB 3.1 Gen 1 does. I’m reading USB 3.1 Gen 1 is the new name of USB 3.0 so that is what confused me. USB 3.1 “Gen 2” (and rebranded as USB 3.2 Gen 2) is what goes up to 10 Gbps.
So I’m thinking the WD_Black PIO cable is USB 3.0 Micro-B to USB-A. One good thing is I can use the Micro-B to USB-A cable (USB 3.0) from my old WD My Book Essential external drive since that is also USB 3.0/5 Gbps, plus it’s like 4 feet long instead of 18 inches!
I got my WD_Black P10 a couple days ago and did the big couple hour first backup of all my PC data. The next backups will be quick 1-2 minutes for just the new and changed files. I ended up using the included 18" cable. It just reached to my USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port. Originally I was going to use my other USB 3.2 Gen 1 port but that was father away just out of cable length range. All is good. I had also contacted WD support because my purchase from their web store offered an extra year warranty but warranty status only showed the default 3 years. After sending them my invoice, photo of the bottom drive label, and website product screenshot with the warranty offer, they fixed that and my status now shows a 4 year warranty!
One small thing that wasn’t mentioned yet is that with the WD_Black P10 the cable type doesn’t actually change the real-world speed much because the drive inside is a mechanical HDD. Even though the interface supports 5 Gbps, the disk itself typically reads and writes around 120–140 MB/s, which is far below the USB 3.x bandwidth. So even a normal USB 3.0 Micro-B cable that’s a few feet longer will perform exactly the same as the short bundled cable as long as it’s a proper USB 3.0 cable and not a USB 2.0 one. In practice the only thing to watch for is avoiding very cheap cables that drop the connection during long transfers. Otherwise your longer WD My Book cable is perfectly fine for backups and won’t slow the drive down at all.
