Dynamode 2-Port PCIe USB 3.0 card
Ancient IDTV
Posts: 10,173 Forum Member
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I installed one of these cards in my PC, and it's working. It doesn't seem to be much faster than using USB 2.0, though, and I'm wondering why it's like that.
I'm using a SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 32GB flash drive. I tried writing and reading the same 2.5 GB file using both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 (ie The new card):-
USB 2.0 - Write 27 MB/s - Read 32 MB/s
USB 3.0 - Write 32 MB/s - Read 37 MB/s
Not really much faster. I'm wondering if that's down to the limitations of the flash drive itself, or the new card? That flash drive is the only USB 3.0 device I currently own, so I don't have anything else to try it with.
Also, I'm not quite sure what the four pin connector on the card is for
http://static.scan.co.uk/images/products/super/1453126-l-a.jpg
At the moment the card is drawing all of it's power from a PCIe socket.
I'm using a SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 32GB flash drive. I tried writing and reading the same 2.5 GB file using both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 (ie The new card):-
USB 2.0 - Write 27 MB/s - Read 32 MB/s
USB 3.0 - Write 32 MB/s - Read 37 MB/s
Not really much faster. I'm wondering if that's down to the limitations of the flash drive itself, or the new card? That flash drive is the only USB 3.0 device I currently own, so I don't have anything else to try it with.
Also, I'm not quite sure what the four pin connector on the card is for
http://static.scan.co.uk/images/products/super/1453126-l-a.jpg
At the moment the card is drawing all of it's power from a PCIe socket.
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Comments
A good USB2 write speed would be say 30MB/s. For USB3, that could be around 300 MB/s. To get close to that sort of write speed, you would have to be reading from a fast ssd to a fast ssd. USB sticks are at least an order of magnitude slower than an ssd. Your particular usb3 stick gets pretty poor ratings in the lowest 25%.
I have a san cruzer extreme which is a very fast usb stick (250/100 read/write), and writing to it from usb2 from a fast ssd maxes out at around 30 MB/s (usb2 limit). On usb3 it maxes out at 100 MB/s (but reads at 250 max so stick is limiting not usb3).
So don't worry, you tests are not that meaningful. Actually, for the vast majority of usb devices, the benefit of usb3 is not that great. You would see a bit of a difference with a fast hard drives which typically max out at say 60 MB/s on a usb3, but would only get to say 30MB/s on usb2. usb3 is fast but most of the connecting devices are not.
it'll be used to provide extra power because the pci express slot on the motherboard only has enough power for usb 2.0 otherwise it'll limit itself to usb 2.0 instead of 3.0.
When I buy my next flash drive I'll opt for the Extreme range, rather than the Ultra.
n_a1. I am seeing an increase in speed using the USB 3.0 card, though, even if it is only about 20% faster. That suggests that I do have USB 3.0 connectivity without the card using any additional power.
I doubt you will really need to internally power card for usb flash drive. It is probably easier to buy a powered usb hub than connecting internal power to card unless you are sure of what you are doing.
This card is extremely similar, and shows the 4 pin connector more clearly
http://www.kenable.co.uk/images/USB_3.0_PCI_Card_Super_speed_2ports.jpg
I've noticed that it doesn't appear to work at all without power - or at least, it won't power anything that needs it, not even low current devices
I bought an USB 3.0 external hard drive (Toshiba Canvio Basics), and it's working fine via the USB 3.0 ports on the card. Write speeds vary from file to file, but larger files usually settle down to a steady 70MB/s or better.
I also ran a few benchmarks on my USB flash drives using CrystalDisk, and compared them with results published online. That SanDisk Ultra really is a slow USB 3.0 drive. It's still about eight times faster than one of my other drives, a SanDisk Cruzer Balde, though. That is really slow (typically 4.5 MB/s write speed for a 2GB file).
Truth is usb3 on real world is normally 2 or 3 times faster than usb2 not x10.