Monerod - inital sync running for 7 days with 27% to go. Is this normal?

Question

Running an initial node sync with Monerod on Windows 11 for testing purposes. Very log disk and CPU usage all the way through. Now 7 days into the download. The process is continuing to slow with 27% to go.

What is a reasonable length of time for an initial download sync? Is the time taken dependent on the length of time taken to verify the hash on each block? Obviously I mean verify and not discover.
Should I use the block sync size parameter? Something like: E.G --block-sync-size 4 --db-sync-mode fastest:sync:8750

./monerod --no-zmq --out-peers 64 --in-peers 32 --add-priority-node=p2pmd.xmrvsbeast.com:18080 --add-priority-node=nodes.hashvault.pro:18080 --disable-dns-checkpoints --enable-dns-blocklist --data-dir 'E:\xxxxx\MONERO'

2023-10-03 14:06:32.506 I Synced 2193172/2987790 (73%, 794618 left) 2023-10-03 14:07:26.365 I Synced 2193192/2987790 (73%, 794598 left, 20% of total synced, estimated 19.1 days left) 2023-10-03 14:08:57.386 I Synced 2193212/2987791 (73%, 794579 left) 2023-10-03 14:10:51.393 I Synced 2193232/2987794 (73%, 794562 left, 20% of total synced, estimated 19.1 days left) 2023-10-03 14:12:04.970 I Synced 2193252/2987794 (73%, 794542 left) 2023-10-03 14:13:53.537 I Synced 2193272/2987795 (73%, 794523 left, 20% of total synced, estimated 19.1 days left)

Answer 1

1. With default settings and using an internally attached SSD, synchronization typically takes less that 12 hours, though this obviously varies based on your internet bandwidth and machine spec.

2. If you're using a spinning HD or an external (e.g. USB attached) disk for the blockchain, it's going to take a lot longer.

3. When you are past the last available checkpoint and as there are more transactions to verify, synchronization slows down.