SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is here and it’s going to eventually replace the again USB 2.0 specification just like USB 2.0 did with USB 1.1. If you want to get UBS 3.0 you’ve got limited choices right now, really only two ways to go. The first is finding a motherboard that is equipped with USB 3.0, they’re rather expensive right now and there aren’t really many to choose from. That route is costly in both time and money really. The second route you could take to adopt USB 3.0 is with something like I have for review today, a USB 3.0 PCIE card that will quickly and easily add USB 3.0 capabilities to your system. Today for review I’ve got the USB 3.0 Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3 PCI Express Card, model GA-USB3.0. This card utilizes the small PCIE slot or X1 slot on your motherboard and will give you two UBS 3.0 ports on the back of your computer. It’s easy easy to install, just a few minutes really and you’re ready to go. So the question of course is how much faster is it? Well read on to learn about it…
Specifications:
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 PCI Express Card (GA-USB3.0)
GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 PCI Express Card boosts your USB 3.0 device performance to 5Gb/s and provide 3x USB power that delivery for greater compatibility and extra power for USB device.
Price: US$53.00
Feature:
-2 x USB 3.0 ports
-3x USB power delivery for greater compatibility and extra power for USB devices
-PCIE x 1 interface
-NEC USB 3.0 controller
-Ultra Durable 3 – Technology with 2oz copper PCB design
-4 pin power
Package Contents:
-GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 PCI Express Card GA-USB3.0
-4 Pin Convertor Cable
-Driver CD
Unboxing:
The box is bright and colorful with information all over it, opening it up you’re greeted with the PCIE card.
Inside you’ll find the card, driver disc, manual and a Molex power cable.
The card itself is rather plain really, it’s a blue PCB with a Molex power connection on the top or front edge.
This card uses the NEC chipset.
On the PCI slot side you’ll find the two blue USB 3.0 connections.
Installation, Performance, Comparison
Installation is easy, you just need a free small X1 PCEI slot and a free molex power connector. Plug it in, then just install the drivers, took just a couple minutes and I was up and running.
If you’ve got a nice new USB 3.0 card you’re going to need something that is USB 3.0 capable in order to take full advantage of it, and I’ve got a USB 3.0 enclosure on hand for just such things.
Inside the enclosure is a 500GB 2.5” 5400RPM Samsung drive.
For the testing I used Atto Disk Bench Mark and HD Tach RW.
My testing here is basic, we’re just comparing USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 to see the differences that one could expect. The card itself though seems well made, but let’s find out how it works.
First up is Atto:
As you can see we’ve almost tripled the speeds when going to the USB 3.0 interface from the USB 2.0. I’d say that’s a nice increase in speed.
The next test is HD Tach RW.
The Random Access Time is about the same, and we’ve slightly more than doubled the Average Read Speeds. The Burst Speed though went from 37.5 MB/s up to 130.5 MB/s. The Sequential Read speeds are similar to those that we saw using Atto.
Conclusion:
Obviously we see a nice increase over USB 2.0, but you’ve got to remember with this new interface you’ll have to also buy USB 3.0 specific products to fully take advantage of the speeds.
The Gigabyte card is smaller than other PCIE USB 3.0 cards I’ve got, which I don’t think makes that much of a difference. If you believe the specs of the card then it’s one of the better ones on the market today, but still it’s based on the same NEC USB 3.0 chipset that most every other one out there is.
Not many motherboards are USB 3.0 equipped and the ones that are seem to be on the expensive side. An add-in card like this is the inexpensive and quick way to get USB 3.0 on your system.
At this point in time you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to move to USB 3.0 or not. I’m sure most of you out there don’t know many people with USB 3.0 capable computers, and if you’ve got more than one computer and plan to transfer stuff between them you’ll need to have two USB 3.0 computers to take advantage of it. If you have more computers you’ll of course need more of these add-in cards or USB 3.0 equipped motherboards.
The cost of the card is low when compared to the money, time and effort it would take to replace the motherboard in your computer, but you’ll need to buy enclosures like the one I have and they aren’t exactly inexpensive right now. Like all new technology though, USB 3.0 will drop in price as it is more widely adopted.
So are you going to make the move to USB 3.0 with a whole new system or is it just easier to grab an add-in card like this one? Is it worth it really though at this point in time?
Pros:
+Nicely made card
+Much faster than USB 2.0
+Easy installation
Cons:
-Not much is USB 3.0 just yet
-Must buy rather expensive enclosures etc to take advantage of speeds
-You might need more than one for multiple computers
Ratings
Overall: 4 out of 5
Performance: 5 out of 5
Aesthetic: 4 out of 5
Build Quality: 5 out of 5
Disclosure: This product was given to Bona Fide Reviews for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products.
