I have an older hard drive with these connectors on the back. Is there a way to connect it to my MacPro USB-C port that would be faster than the USB3.0 port I am now using?
The interfaces on your drive have theoretical data rates ranging from 49MB per second (Firewire 400), 98MB/s (Firewire 800), 300MB/s (eSATA) to 500MB/s (USB 3.0). So the USB 3 port is the fastest option you have.
If the installed hard drive is a 7200rpm high performance model it would be throttled by the Firewire 400 port and perhaps the Firewire 800 port, but both the eSATA and USB 3 ports have more than enough bandwidth to pass data at the drive’s maximum rate.
In the real world there are more factors involved, including specs of the cable, capability of the interface circuitry of the computer, whether or not a hub is used, etc.
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Scott, thanks very much for your comments. I’m delighted to know I won’t lose any transfer speed with USB3! Found this old 6TB drive that has been little used, and it will make a great backup drive for my MacBook Pro!