I-O Data Releases USB 3.0 HDDs, Addon Cards

[btarunr]

I-O Data released a trio of products circled around the new USB 3.0 SuperSpeed standard. The first being the HDJ-UT external hard drive that supports USB 3.0, and then expansion cards that provide USB 3.0 support to PCs, desktops and notebooks alike: the USB3-PEX PCI-Express x1 two port low-profile addon card, and USB3-EXC ExpressCard 34 card. The HDJ-UT comes in capacities of 1 TB and 1.5 TB, and is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 systems. When connected using USB 3.0, it offers read speeds of up to 139 MB/s. The HDJ-UT external HDD is priced at US $231 (1 TB) and $279 (1.5 TB), while the USB3-PEX and USB3-EXC are priced at $69 and $93, respectively.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Roph]

Still sad to see only 2 ports on the card. I might be swayed more if they put 4 on it, even if they shared the available bandwidth 2 ports would have to the 4 ports, since full saturation would be rare anyway.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Still sad to see only 2 ports on the card. I might be swayed more if they put 4 on it, even if they shared the available bandwidth 2 ports would have to the 4 ports, since full saturation would be rare anyway.

You already have 4 USB 3.0 devices then? Most devices don't require the bandwidth your mouse and keybour for instance won't work any better. Your USB sticks won't need it either.
Though just having some extra ports never hurt anybody.

 

[Mussels]

i'd like 2x external and 2x for front panel

 

[Baum]

that laptop card would be nice if it would be flatter and AS it is stated there 5V IN holy crap i would lose one 2.0 port to gain 2 3.0? that insane

 

[Static~Charge]

69 dollars for a piddly 2-port USB card? I don't think so.... :shadedshu

 

[Mussels]

69 dollars for a piddly 2-port USB card? I don't think so.... :shadedshu

2 port USB 3.0....

 

[Necrofire]

Hmm, they give you the following choices:
An expresscard version that's extremely bulky, converting USB3.0 (~3.2Gbps) over express card (2.5Gbps)...

or,
A pcie x1 version that only has two ports despite being full height, and converts USB3.0(~3.2Gbps) to PCIe 1.0 X1 (2Gbps)

Expresscard 2.0 will have native usb3.0 support. By the time any usb3.0 flash drives are a decent price, we'll have expresscard 2.0 anyway.

The desktop card is useless unless they decide to move up to 4 ports and pcie 2.0 x1 or pcie 1.0 x4.

 

[Mussels]

Hmm, they give you the following choices:
An expresscard version that's extremely bulky, converting USB3.0 (~3.2Gbps) over express card (2.5Gbps)...

or,
A pcie x1 version that only has two ports despite being full height, and converts USB3.0(~3.2Gbps) to PCIe 1.0 X1 (2Gbps)

Expresscard 2.0 will have native usb3.0 support. By the time any usb3.0 flash drives are a decent price, we'll have expresscard 2.0 anyway.

The desktop card is useless unless they decide to move up to 4 ports and pcie 2.0 x1 or pcie 1.0 x4.

PCI-E 1.1 is 250MB/s, 2.0 is 500MB/s each way.

USB 3.0 is 300MB/s (approx, based on 10x USB 2.0 speeds)

one point would be, is that whats the odds on you using two USB 3.0 devices full speed simultaneously? i rarely use more than one USB storage device at a time (and very, VERY rarely copy from one USB device to another)

if its PCI-E 2.0, its not a problem, and can sustain high speeds to both ports.

 

[Jstn7477]

About a PCIe 2.0 x1 slot not being enough bandwidth, isn't the bandwidth of USB ports split by how many devices are on a Root Hub? Wouldn't the PCIe card in question only have 1 root hub for two USB ports, so that if you use 2 USB 3.0 devices, you get 150MB/s for each device for 300MB/s total for the entire 2 port card? Am I correct?

 

[Mussels]

About a PCIe 2.0 x1 slot not being enough bandwidth, isn't the bandwidth of USB ports split by how many devices are on a Root Hub? Wouldn't the PCIe card in question only have 1 root hub for two USB ports, so that if you use 2 USB 3.0 devices, you get 150MB/s for each device for 300MB/s total for the entire 2 port card? Am I correct?

not sure if its split like that internally, but it should be half each, OR the total amount for one slot.


(and its 250MB/s for PCI-E 1.1, lower than the 300MB/s of USB 3.0)


even with that halved, 125MB/s still shits all over USB 2.0's 30MB/s

 

[twicksisted]

what (CURRENT) external drive is going to use this anyways?

EDIT: raid 0 nas... perhaps... but thats what ESATA is for i guess

 

[Mussels]

what (CURRENT) external drive is going to use this anyways?

EDIT: raid 0 nas... perhaps... but thats what ESATA is for i guess

E-sata and USB 3.0 match speeds. they both have a max of 300MB/s



edit: i just realised, that PCI-E 1x card uses a SATA power plug at the rear of it :S

 

[Roph]

E-sata and USB 3.0 match speeds. they both have a max of 300MB/s



edit: i just realised, that PCI-E 1x card uses a SATA power plug at the rear of it :S

I was wondering what that was. Surely this card can draw its power from the slot?

Or can a PCIE x1 card not still pull the full 75w from the slot?

 

[Mussels]

I was wondering what that was. Surely this card can draw its power from the slot?

Or can a PCIE x1 card not still pull the full 75w from the slot?

i'm not sure, maybe USB 3.0 has the potential for a lot more than the 500ma of USB 2.0....

 

[Roph]

USB3 devices can negotiate to receive up to 900 mA, over the 500mA of USB 2.0.

Can't find what current a PCI-E (or x1 slot, if there is a difference from x16) slot provides. My 4670 for example though runs entirely off the slot, surely it has to be able to provide more than what that draws

 

[twicksisted]

dosent USB have a rather high latency (in comparison to PCI-E)?
if so wouldnt a PCI-E or ESATA based port be better for HDD/SDD's?

I guess if not being used for hardrives you could stream HD video through USB3 perhaps... other than that I cant really see the point of it needing that sort of speed

 

[Static~Charge]

2 port USB 3.0....

I don't care if it is USB 3.0 - $69 U.S. is still way too expensive for two measly ports.

 

[Steevo]

400 MBPS transfer with overhead. So no device will take advantage of it for quite awhile yet, and disks are still too slow, unless you use a SSD in a external case for backups, in very limited storage space.



I feel this will be great in 2012. Untill then, they should have made 2.0 a bit faster and called it good for the time being.