USB 3.0 on an Asus P6T..?

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JYeager11

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Nov 15, 2006
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Hi guys,

I currently own a PC built on an Asus P6T motherboard (regular P6T rev.1.xx)

I am running out of room in my backup unit, and was thinking of getting a 2TB My Book or Passport or whatever external storage device to replace it with. Most of today's large backup devices are USB 3.0.

The Asus P6T was one of the last ones limited to USB 2.0.

A friend of mine told me to buy this card to enable my PC to transfer at USB 3.0 speeds.

My question is this : Will this card allow me to access USB 3.0 speeds with my new backup unit (like I said, a My Book or Passport with USB 3.0 compatibility) or was it simply designed to add more USB 3.0 ports to PC's that are ALREADY USB 3.0 compatible?

Thanks!
 
That should let you transfer at around 3.0 speeds.
 
That will just add in USB 3.0 capability to you existing motherboard. You do not need to previously have USB 3.0 to use that card. It looks like it uses the same NEC chip that a lot of motherboards use for USB 3.0 connectivity.
 
Thanks, guys. So just to confirm, there should be no transfer speed differences between a USB3 PCI card installed on a USB2 motherboard... and a USB3 motherboard?
 
JYeager11 said:
Thanks, guys. So just to confirm, there should be no transfer speed differences between a USB3 PCI card installed on a USB2 motherboard... and a USB3 motherboard?
Click to expand...

I don't know offhand what the theoretical bandwidth limit of transfers on PCIe x1 are, but I think you'd be limited more by the mechanical hard drive than the bus bandwidth.
 
kirbyrj said:
I don't know offhand what the theoretical bandwidth limit of transfers on PCIe x1 are, but I think you'd be limited more by the mechanical hard drive than the bus bandwidth.
Click to expand...

If the mechanics of a USB 3.0 external drive can keep it from doing USB 3.0 speeds, why would I bother getting this card, then?

Doesn't a USB3 device have an obligation to make sure none of its mechanics are keeping it from attaining USB3 speeds?
 
You don't understand how these transfer protocols work. When speeds are rated, they're rated at the maximum speed of the connector. Actual connection speeds depends on the quality of the USB 3.0 processor chip (some will be slower than others), and how fast the device can actually transfer data. There is no obligation to make sure the device can transfer at maximum USB 3.0 speeds, or the USB 3.0 chip for that matter. You can attach a device that will never get speeds above USB 2.0 to a USB 3.0 controller if you wanted to, and that device will never surpass USB 2.0 speeds. It's like putting SATA 6 capabilities on regular hard drives.
 
JYeager11 said:
Doesn't a USB3 device have an obligation to make sure none of its mechanics are keeping it from attaining USB3 speeds?
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. Realistically, the 480Mb/s rate of USB 2.0 equates to ~60 MB/s transfers. I guess you might achieve that with a 7200 rpm drive. What I doubt you'd see is a 600 MB/s transfer rate out of a rotating mechanical drive.
 
I have a P6T, and have a usb 3.0 card just like that one with a 3TB Seagate USB 3.0 drive plugged into it.

I can't speak for whether or not the the bandwidth is reaching actual 3.0 speeds, but it is definately faster transferring large files to it as opposed to the drive being plugged directly into the motherboard, it was one of the first things i tested when i got the card/drive.

In short, using a card like one above and a USB 3.0 drive took less time to transfer large files to said drive than using the onboard 2.0 port.

edit: let me do a test real quick actually....
 
Both ran using the same USB3 Seagate External drive

USB 2.0 onboard
crystaldiskusb2.JPG


USB 3.0 card
crystaldiskusb3.JPG



So its about 4-5 times faster when transferring files, which seems correct using only the drop and drag method of testing when I moved 10GB of data.
 
Exactly the info I was looking for. I understand that you won't get full USB 3.0 capability when transferring every time, but to suggest that you might experience USB 2.0 speeds between a USB 3.0 device and a USB 3.0 PCI card just read to me like going too far in the opposite extreme just to make a point.

The speeds you posted are well-worth the expense (and the sacrificing of a PCI slot).

Thanks.
 
In all fairness, the one I posted was from a Canadian website. Here in Canada, everything is a bit more expensive than your American listed prices (like Amazon.com). Once you factor in shipping charges, the price difference isn't enough to offset the convenience of being able to physically bring the product back yourself the next day if there's a problem. But thanks! The intention is appreciated.
 
JYeager11 said:
Exactly the info I was looking for. I understand that you won't get full USB 3.0 capability when transferring every time, but to suggest that you might experience USB 2.0 speeds between a USB 3.0 device and a USB 3.0 PCI card just read to me like going too far in the opposite extreme just to make a point.

The speeds you posted are well-worth the expense (and the sacrificing of a PCI slot).

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It can happen if the device is slow enough. For example, using a Class 2 SD card in a USB 3.0 SD adapter will probably net speeds slower than the max capabilities of USB 2.0.
 
Tsumi said:
It can happen if the device is slow enough. For example, using a Class 2 SD card in a USB 3.0 SD adapter will probably net speeds slower than the max capabilities of USB 2.0.
Click to expand...
Wow, you're really not letting this go, huh? ;-) The actual specs were posted, they're considerably faster than USB 2.0, and well worth the investment. But thanks for the warning.
 
JYeager11 said:
Wow, you're really not letting this go, huh? ;-) The actual specs were posted, they're considerably faster than USB 2.0, and well worth the investment. But thanks for the warning.
Click to expand...

Like I said, it depends on the device. A high speed USB 3.0 flash drive can possibly max out a USB 3.0 interface if transferring to a fast SATA6 SSD. Some USB 3.0 controllers are faster than others.
 
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