PCA Forums

Are the USB 3 cards like this
ASUS Model U3S6 USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb/s Add-on card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813995004&cm_re=ASUS_U3S6-_-13-995-004-_-Product

and a USB 3 external drive case for a Sata 3 drive a good fast option now?

I am thinking not all computers have the Esata connections but they all have USB 2 . So instead of going Esata on my external drives for my main system maybe if I go USB 3 then I could have the best speeds when on my main box and use the USB 3 and then I could also use the drive easy on other systems at normal USB 2 speeds.

I suppose to use USB 3 I would also need a specail new USB 3 cable? Or do they have USB 3 setup to work well on a standard USB 2 cable?

Actually ESATA is electrically the same as SATA, it's just a different connector. Most mobos nowadays come with a SATA to ESATA cable that ends in a slot bracket with an ESATA jack mounted on it, and some PC cases like mine even have a front mounted ESATA jack.

You can order an ESATA to SATA cable like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

The only issue is whether your mobo supports SATA hot-swapping. My work bench PC doesn't so I have to put the PC to sleep before plugging in an ESATA drive, but most modern mobos do support it.

Vantec makes some external enclosures with both ESATA and USB connections.

Not sure how much or how easily available USB 3 enclosures are, and yes you do need a USB 3.0 cable (which are also reverse compatible with USB 1.1 & 2.0).

Keep in mind that if you want to install that Asus USB 3.0 card that you need a free PCI-E x4 (or higher) slot. Most run of the mill mobos usually only have a single x16 and a few x1 slots. An SLI mobo will have two x16 slots and you can use one of them if you're not using two video cards, otherwise you need to be sure you have an x8 or x4 slot to spare.

The nice thing about using USB 3.0 is that since it's reverse compatible, you can plug it into ANY PC that has slower USB ports and it'll still work at slower speeds.

Wasn't this new USB 3 standard available 2 years ago? I'm surprised that its just now that we are seeing cards for it.

Thanks.

I was looking at the USB 3 external drive cases. Since all computers have the USB ports but some older systems don't have Sata. I could add a PCI Sata card if it's my system.

I think I need some new external cases and more drives, trying to decide what is most usable in the future also. I dought for now I would be looking for any Sata 6gig a second drives though.

I think the specs say USB 3 is 5gig a second, the drive cases are supposed to support that speed, though I don't expect the rated speeds.
Most PC's have Sata 3gig a second controllers or cards.
So I am thinking if I end up getting Sata drives rated for 6 gig then all the PC's out now none of them will run the drives above 3gig anyway.

Laptops are another thing I am kinda thinking about. The cheaper ones like I would buy I don't think have Esata, the one I had and gave my Daughter did not have any Estata. So if I used a USB 3 case then I could connect to the laptops also.

Real world performance test:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-star- ... ller-test/

Surprised I haven't seen more tests & earlier. Well, looks like 3.0 does a pretty good job.