USB3 ... who's using it?

dualmeister

dualmeister

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Hi,

So who else is reaping the benefits of USB3 so far?

Personally, I'm loving it!

Needed to add some extra HDD space so decided to get a cheap 2 bay external USB 3 enclosure. Was going to just connect it via USB2 for now (no USB3 ports on motherboard) and get a USB3 PCI-Express card later. But, then I picked up a PCI-Express USB3 card for less than R150 as I am not that patient :p

Thought I would run a few quick benchmarks to try and see if I get the same performance I've seen in reviews.

Firstly, I took tried a 500GB Seagate 7200.12 (ST3500418AS) in the enclosure connected to the onboard USB 2 port.
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php?photo=22513
Pretty much what you would expect. 34MB/s read and 32MB/s write speed.

Next I connected it to the USB3 PCI-Express card.
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php?photo=22515
118MB/s read and 93MB/s write!

But, wait :D

Then I got my new Seagate 2TB "Green" LP (ST2000DL003) which is the cheapest 2TB HDD I know of locally at the moment.
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php?photo=22517
144MB/s read and 139MB/s write on a USB port! That is just insane. My Velociraptor new even did anything near that (access times aside). And the HDD is SATA3, but the enclosure only supports SATA2.

Die USB2 and give us nothing but USB3 I say :D
 
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I'm with you on this one. I have a few Corsair USB3 flash drives which I use. Insanely fast! I installed Windows 7 from that flash drive and it literally took no longer than 10 minutes (Around 5 when the system I was installing it onto had an SSD)
 
NomNom, prices have come down, Flash drives are selling almost always cheaper then their USB 2 counterparts. Check out the bargains thread, there was a one for less than R400 for a 16GB i think it was (link it here later :p). That i would say has come down by a large margin.

PCi Express card below R200.00 cheap.

What did you pay for that 2TB drive?

I picked up 4x 2TB Samsung drives external for R799.00incl last month. (none of our distributors could match that i knew off)
 
Anyone know of a Laptop USB3.0 adaptor? PC card/Express Card or whatever they're called.

There're a few online but they all stick out too much, reducing portability and ability to pack into a bag.. I'd like one that sits flush with the side of the laptop, or sticks out less than a couple of cm.

Then it's worth getting a new external :D
 
Can't give exact price of 2TB as I get direct from distributor, but was just over R700 inc VAT (so I got 2 :p )
 
Seen the 5900rpm, 64MB cache LP 2TB for R720. Do these come with the 3 or the 5yr warranty?

Next to impossible to get the drive at that price though, so R799 (esp. for last month) ain't too bad...
 
Pricelist says 3 year warranty.

Was going to go for the Western Digital AV drive even though it cost more, but then I saw this Seagate get such a good review HERE

I should have tested 2 drives in RAID 0 via USB3 since the enclosure supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 as well.
PS - the PCI-Express USB card is this one.
 
Yuu said:
NomNom, prices have come down, Flash drives are selling almost always cheaper then their USB 2 counterparts. Check out the bargains thread, there was a one for less than R400 for a 16GB i think it was (link it here later :p). That i would say has come down by a large margin.
Click to expand...

bleh, will take a look around, last time I checked it was higher
 
i had 1 tb verbatim(2.5inch) usb3 to play , think actually ran usb 2 speeds, not sure why, only had 1 day was to lazy to sort it out :p

yes it was plugged into a usb 3 port on mobo
 
Guys I'm looking into getting the proper front panel USB3 cable with the correct motherboard header. Thing is I suspect the company I'd get it from will want a minimum order. Would anyone be interested? Otherwise I'll happily wait until some ebay sellers start selling the things.
 
What chassis do you have, because some case manufacturers have released them as upgrades for their cases.
 
If, in your dealings for those connectors, you see any low profile laptop adaptors- pls let me know :)
 
dualmeister said:
What chassis do you have, because some case manufacturers have released them as upgrades for their cases.
Click to expand...

Corsair one is made specifically for their cases, so kinda useless unless you have their case. CM is selling them as a 5.25 bay adaptor. May buy that if its cheap enough. Last time I looked it was not listed anywhere yet. And Lian Li has some nice ones but they cost R500 :/ No ways I'm paying that much!
 
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All have siff bulbous extensions that stick out. Looking for low profile adaptor, Google can't find any. Not even sure they exist :(
 
I might just try to make one of those front panel ones myself by using a rear expansion slot USB3.0 bracket. The USB3.0 bracket with my MSI board is a sold black plastic effort attached via screws to the metal plate. So I think I'll try use an old 3.25" plastic bay cover and cut out holes to attach it and then mount in on the front in a 5 1/2 to 3.25 convertor.
 
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