Addonics Announces the Super Fast and Inexpensive USB 3.1 Controller

btarunr · Jun 25, 2015

Addonics Technologies today announced the Addonics USB 3.1 PCIe controller, a simple and economical solution for adding the latest high speed 10 Gbps USB 3.1 port to desktop computers or servers.

Designed to install into any PCI-Express 2X slot, the USB 3.1 controller can handle data rates up to 10 Gbps on the PCIe 2.0, doubling the speed of USB 3.1.
One of the key features is a maximum speed of 10 Gbits/sec, which is twice the speed of USB 3.0 and 20 times the speed of USB 2.0. It is capable of SuperSpeed (10 Gbps, 5Gbps), HighSpeed (480 Mbps), FullSpeed (12 Mbps), and LowSpeed (1.5 Mbps) transactions.

The new USB product is hot swappable, which means a drive can be removed and added without system shut down or restart. It accesses two USB 3.1 ports via the PCI-Express (PCIe) 2-lane slot and supports both PCIe 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0. The USB 3.1 controller is compatible with Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and Windows servers.

The MSRP starts at $29.99. For more information visit this page.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

robert3892 · Jun 25, 2015

Is this item available in Europe?

techy1 · Jun 25, 2015

ah... a nice Fury X alternative for me

Uplink10 · Jun 25, 2015

I don't think 2 port USB 3.1 controller for $30 is inexpensive. If it were $15 then it would be inexpensive.

PLAfiller · Jun 25, 2015

I was just about to buy one similiar for my parent's old PC. But I also need 19 pin connector for the front of the case. So this one doesn't count for me. But these don't come cheap to be fair. I will probably pick 3.0 though, not 3.1 .

hojnikb · Jun 25, 2015

USB 3.1 and no Type C ?

Yeah, no buy for me.

Octavean · Jun 25, 2015

Uplink10 said:
I don't think 2 port USB 3.1 controller for $30 is inexpensive. If it were $15 then it would be inexpensive.

Actually in todays market it is relatively cheap for a a USB 3.1 add-in card.

Empirically speaking prices of USB 3.1 cards from Asus, ASRock and generic ones on Newegg and Amazon are more expensive in the ~$40+ range. Also with the generic ones you have to pay attention to the specs because they may describe it as "USB 3.1 Type-C" but it may only be capable of 5Gbps,....

The thing that I find a bit puzzling is that Asus, for example, seems to stipulate the need for a motherboard BIOS upgrade for proper support for their USB 3.1 add-in cards and they specify supported motherboard models.

I have no need of a USB 3.1 add-in card now but when I do decide to upgrade to one I would probably just go with the one on offer by my motherboard manufacturer rather then to go with a generic or third-party solution.

TheDeeGee · Jun 25, 2015

External Power...why? Always... why?

Doesn't PCI-E give 75 Watts?

PLAfiller · Jun 25, 2015

TheDeeGee said:
External Power...why? Always... why?

Doesn't PCI-E give 75 Watts?

Not the small one (PCIe x1 e.g), I think. And with 3.1 and type-C (complying with USB power delivery 2.0 specification, have to be able to provide up to 100W). It's important to have the required power. Especially if charging something.

The Von Matrices · Jun 26, 2015

TheDeeGee said:
External Power...why? Always... why?

Doesn't PCI-E give 75 Watts?

The external power connector is a way to cut costs.

PCIe only provides 12V and 3.3V, but USB needs 5V. To get 5V on the card, you can either implement a DC-DC converter on the PCIe slot's 12V or 3.3V lines, or you can put in an external power connector and use the 5V produced by the main power supply. The latter is cheaper, which is why you see external power connectors on these cards.

AsRock · Jun 26, 2015

Octavean said:
Actually in todays market it is relatively cheap for a a USB 3.1 add-in card.

Empirically speaking prices of USB 3.1 cards from Asus, ASRock and generic ones on Newegg and Amazon are more expensive in the ~$40+ range. Also with the generic ones you have to pay attention to the specs because they may describe it as "USB 3.1 Type-C" but it may only be capable of 5Gbps,....

The thing that I find a bit puzzling is that Asus, for example, seems to stipulate the need for a motherboard BIOS upgrade for proper support for their USB 3.1 add-in cards and they specify supported motherboard models.

I have no need of a USB 3.1 add-in card now but when I do decide to upgrade to one I would probably just go with the one on offer by my motherboard manufacturer rather then to go with a generic or third-party solution.

Funny i looked on my board and they are all x1 hehe although no worry as this board has tons of USB connections anyways.

Well gotta read the small print

* To achieve the maximum throughput, the PCI-Express slot must be version 2.0 or higher. Older Notebook with PCI-Express 1.0 will limit the speed to 5 Gbps. Performance per port may decrease if both ports are transferring data simultaneously due to the limited throughput of the PCI-Express slot. Please visit following web page for more information of PCI-Express v1.0 and v2.0

Aquinus · Jun 26, 2015

TheDeeGee said:
External Power...why? Always... why?

Doesn't PCI-E give 75 Watts?

The PCI-E bus only provides +12v and +3.3v along with GNDs. PCI-E external power also only provdes +12v + GND. The connector that they're using is one of the only ones that carries all 3 (or 4 if you include ground,) voltages, +12v, +5v, and +3.3v.

All of this makes perfect sense to me. However, I would have wanted 2 more ports and actually have them use those last two PCI-E lanes that are going un-used. :eek:

(Note how specs say they use only 2 PCI-E lanes when the form factor is for 4x.)

Prima.Vera · Jun 26, 2015

Just a silly q. What are those 2 big arse capacitors used for?

Aquinus · Jun 26, 2015

Prima.Vera said:
Just a silly q. What are those 2 big arse capacitors used for?

Probably output caps for 5V VRMs when external power isn't available.

AsRock · Jun 26, 2015

Prima.Vera said:
Just a silly q. What are those 2 big arse capacitors used for?

Looks like they are there for sudden power usage and one for each connection, this way there is no strain on the circuit if done right.

Aquinus · Jun 26, 2015

AsRock said:
Looks like they are there for sudden power usage and one for each connection, this way there is no strain on the circuit if done right.

As I said above, it's probably to smooth out voltage drops when current changes. The cap acts as a reservoir giving the VRM time to respond to the change in demand. It's kind of a fundamental part of creating and using a switched mode VRM.

AsRock · Jun 26, 2015

Aquinus said:
As I said above, it's probably to smooth out voltage drops when current changes. The cap acts as a reservoir giving the VRM time to respond to the change in demand. It's kind of a fundamental part of creating and using a switched mode VRM.

Hey not dis agreeing with you just that your post was mere seconds before mine

.

koaschten · Jun 29, 2015

robert3892 said:
Is this item available in Europe?

It's just another asmedia asm1142 based add-in card.
Alternatives are
Asus 90mc0360-m0eay0
LogiLink pc0080
Asrock
Sharkoon

and the Asrock and Sharkoon cards look pretty similar to the Addonics card in layout with the additional sata power connector to power devices requesting more than 500mA.

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Addonics Announces the Super Fast and Inexpensive USB 3.1 Controller

btarunr

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robert3892

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