USB 2.0 > USB 3.0
August 21st, 2013
I’m sure you can buy a usb 3.0 adapter..
Just buy 3.0 USB adapter…
i bought PCI 3.0 works fine and fast too cause 100HK$ 2 port
If you don’t have USB 3.0 device you wouldn’t benefit from USB 3.0.
Edit: Btw Koutech makes the best USB 3.0 cards.
This sort of thing fits a small PCI-E slot..
http://www.antonline.com/p_PCUSB3PCIE-NX_894584.htm?sID=NX
Desktop or laptop? Specify the exact model.
As already been pointed out,USB2 drives will still run slow,You need to actually have USB3 ones to benefit.
Great replies, and thanks for each. The dell desktop is a inspiron 530 and xfers to portable drives is like a turtle with a broken leg. (Portable drives are USB 3 compatible)
You’ll need a device compatible with USB 3.0 to achieve the highest potential write speed.
You can upgrade your ports by adding a USB 3.0 PCI Express Card like this one http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CC-014-SR
Don’t get a pci-e x1 card, go for pci-e x4 which has more bandwidth if you can.
I got one with a SATA 3 controller (which I don’t use) as well, for a 7 year old Dell XPS, works great (it was cheap on E-bay).
If you have USB 3.0 compatible devices, you will certainly notice the difference, especially with large/multiple small transfers.
*Edit – this is the one I got, but certainly didn’t pay anyway near that, have a look on E-bay. It’s discontinued, dunno why.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-U3S6-USB-SATA-PCIe/dp/B002VVQ58M
Don't get a pci-e x1 card, go for pci-e x4 which has more bandwidth if you can. PCI-E 2.0 1x is 500MB/sec (1GB/sec symmetrical). It’s enough imo for USB as USB 3.0 itself is 5Gb/sec which translates to around the same speed when you omit the overhead.
I hope this doesn’t count as threadjacking since it’s on a related note, but are external harddrive enclosures made before the advent of USB 3.0 compatible, or are there special ones now?
-paroxysM^ replied: Don't get a pci-e x1 card, go for pci-e x4 which has more bandwidth if you can. PCI-E 2.0 1x is 500MB/sec (1GB/sec symmetrical). It's enough imo for USB as USB 3.0 itself is 5Gb/sec which translates to around the same speed when you omit the overhead.
That’s fine if you only want to transfer stuff through one port at full speed surely ?
*edit – I forgot to add, if you want to upgrade a lappy with a USB 3.0 expresscard, go for this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Express-Expresscard-Adapter-Compatible-Windows/dp/B004EXNXJ4
I know it looks tacky, but it’s actually got an NEC chip in it (Renesas), I’ve done all of our’s at home. If you want to use more than one device at a time, you may need a 5v power supply or power it from one or two USB 2.0 ports (cable included). I would point out that they are a tight fit so can be awkward to remove.
A 3 years old PC would only have PCI-e x1 v1 ports so a x1 slot would not provide full speed. Therefore gilly’s suggestion for using a PCI-e x4 device would be the only way of doing it if full speed was wanted. That’s if the PC has any x4 slots which many do not. Although a x16 slot could be used for a x4 device but it would mean sacrificing a slot which would usually be used for a video card. Fine if there are two x16 slots and one is unused.
I have the same situation with my motherboard. A x48 chipset which is about 3 years old. It has two x16 v2 slots but the remaining x1 slots are all v1 so fitting a USB 3.0 card to them would not provide full speed.
I did see that Asus card myself.
I would also say that you do not get 10 times faster speed as advertised (they must get those speeds on optimised equipment in a lab), it is more like 4 or 5x, but it’s definately worth it IMO.
@ Hot Tuna – what spare slots do you have available on your mobo ?
Girobane replied: I hope this doesn't count as threadjacking since it's on a related note, but are external harddrive enclosures made before the advent of USB 3.0 compatible, or are there special ones now?
They (older USB 2.0) are not forward compatible, but will work at USB 2.0 speeds if connected to a USB 3.0 port (backward compatible).
*EDIT
There are also other bottlenecks with USB 3.0, the main one being USB 3.0 hubs, most of them are only single lane, so pointless using them for more than one device.
gilly replied: I would also say that you do not get 10 times faster speed as advertised (they must get those speeds on optimised equipment in a lab), it is more like 4 or 5x, but it's definately worth it IMO.Depends on the speed of the NAND or disk. I’ve seen over 350MB/sec on USB 3.0 with SSD RAID0.
I have the same situation with my motherboard. A x48 chipset which is about 3 years old. It has two x16 v2 slots but the remaining x1 slots are all v1 so fitting a USB 3.0 card to them would not provide full speed. But do you have any devices that require more than 250MB/sec of throughput?
Mighty_Marvel replied: A 3 years old PC would only have PCI-e x1 v1 ports so a x1 slot would not provide full speed. Therefore gilly's suggestion for using a PCI-e x4 device would be the only way of doing it if full speed was wanted. That's if the PC has any x4 slots which many do not. Although a x16 slot could be used for a x4 device but it would mean sacrificing a slot which would usually be used for a video card. Fine if there are two x16 slots and one is unused.
I have the same situation with my motherboard. A x48 chipset which is about 3 years old. It has two x16 v2 slots but the remaining x1 slots are all v1 so fitting a USB 3.0 card to them would not provide full speed.
I did see that Asus card myself.
Which is a bit immaterial as the Dell has only one PCI-e x1 v1 slot and one PCI-e x16 slot with onboard graphics.
Therefore it would either be a case of using a USB 3.0 PCI-e x1 card and being satisfied with only about 1/2 speed USB 3.0 which would still be a lot faster than USB 2.0 or using the PCI-e x16 slot and adding the Asus card for full speed USB 3.0 and getting 2 extra SATA connectors.
-paroxysM^ replied:
I have the same situation with my motherboard. A x48 chipset which is about 3 years old. It has two x16 v2 slots but the remaining x1 slots are all v1 so fitting a USB 3.0 card to them would not provide full speed. But do you have any devices that require more than 250MB/sec of throughput?
Not ATM but who knows in the near future. However many of those USB 3.0 expansion cards have multiple USB 3.0 ports and they would all share that 250MB/s bandwidth so it could be met easier than just one device.
However for HOT TUNA’s usage it would probably be enough for USB 3.0 external storage.
He does have a choice, use a x1 slot card or get the x4 slot Asus if he isn’t using the x16 slot for a video card.
Mighty_Marvel replied:
Which is a bit immaterial as the Dell has only one PCI-e x1 v1 slot and one PCI-e x16 slot with onboard graphics.
Therefore it would either be a case of using a USB 3.0 PCI-e x1 card and being satisfied with only about 1/2 speed USB 3.0 which would still be a lot faster than USB 2.0 or using the PCI-e x16 slot and adding the Asus card for full speed USB 3.0 and getting 2 extra SATA connectors.
I only bothered sticking one in this 7 year old Dell XPS as it had a x4 (v1) slot free
Btw the ASUS card is discontinued. You might be able to find excess stock somewhere though. Oh and the SATA 6Gbit controller on the card is trash but the USB controller works well. I can’t find any recent reviews on it mostly due to it being EOL. It would be great to know the motherboard model HOT TUNA got.
-paroxysM^ replied: Btw the ASUS card is discontinued. You might be able to find excess stock somewhere though. Oh and the SATA 6Gbit controller on the card is trash but the USB controller works well. I can't find any recent reviews on it mostly due to it being EOL. It would be great to know the motherboard model HOT TUNA got.
Yeah, I mentioned earlier the Asus one is discontinued, I’m not sure what the Marvell SATA controller is like on it, never used it lol.
I had a look at the owners manual for Hot Tuna’s pc
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/inspd530/en/OM/PDF/om_en.pdf
p110/111 it shows a x16, a x1 and two pci slots, but doesn’t say what version they are. I’m just getting ready for work and don’t have time to search for the service manual or better spec sheets.
Mistake on my part for missing HT’s post stating the model he got. Well it’s a G33 chipset motherboard meaning only PCI-E 1.0.
-paroxysM^ replied: Mistake on my part for missing HT's post stating the model he got. Well it's a G33 chipset motherboard meaning only PCI-E 1.0.
I have had a look at the PCI-e bus and the different connections and it turns out that it wouldn’t make any difference if it was a PCI-e v2 motherboard because it’s Intel and Intel only makes their x16 16 lane PCI-e graphics card connections v2. If it had been AMD then things are better and they implement v2 PCI-e much more widely.
However, some motherboard makers have gotten around this using a few methods to increase the speed. But by default Intel PCI-e x1 connections are never v2. If more speed is needed then more lanes can be used, ie use a x2 or x4 connection instead of a x1 link.
Okay so it’s TH but there could be some truth in it. Covered on the 2nd page.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3.0-sata-6gb,2583.html
My x48 motherboard has PCI-e v2 but it’s only on the dual x16 connections, everything else works as v1.
You can get a e-Sata to USB-3.0 adapter if you can’t put a pci-e card inside that.
Heres one that I found on a google search:
https://www.pricelover.com/product/3_FT_SUPERSPEED_USB_3.0_TO_ESAT_CABLE_ADAPTER/USB3S2ESATA/
edit: it’s 300mbps
huzibizi replied: You can get a e-Sata to USB-3.0 adapter if you can't put a pci-e card inside that.
Heres one that I found on a google search:
https://www.pricelover.com/product/3_FT_SUPERSPEED_USB_3.0_TO_ESAT_CABLE_ADAPTER/USB3S2ESATA/
edit: it's 300mbps
That looks like the other way around. It’s a USB 3.0 to e-SATA cable which is not what HOT TUNA needs. He wants USB 3.0.
-paroxysM^ replied: Btw the ASUS card is discontinued. You might be able to find excess stock somewhere though.
Just thought I would bump this, there has been a sudden influx of these cards on E-bay UK ranging from £32-£33 including postage if anyone is after one. They are £40+ on Amazon UK.
I’ve also been using the Marvell SATA controller for a few weeks on 2 storage drives, and have had no issues
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-U3S6-USB3-SATA-6GBs-CARD-/290655865527
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-U3S6-USB-3-0-SATA-6Gb-s-PCI-E-x4-Controller-Card-/120838861165
hm i will buy 3.0 man