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USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
ryderpat said:
http://www.macuknow.com/node/73859
Someone call Stanley already test the Card (AKiTiO USB 3.1 PCIe) and said that speed faster than pcie 3.0
but i don know how to translate because my english bad. only this i got.
Click to expand...

He didn't test with Sierra. It says he tested on a MacBook. Then he tested in a 2008 cMP. The USB 3.1 enclosure he is using only allows one SATA3 SSD which can't achieve the maximum data rate that USB 3.1 can reach.
 
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ActionableMango said:
Are they working as USB 3.1 cards, or still working as USB 3.0 like they did in Yosemite?
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Still 3.0 and won't be more, at least using this particular chipset.

There's a big confusion in naming:
– some USB 3.0 chips since some time are named as 3.1 Gen1, and they're are still 3.0 capable, nothing more
– true USB 3.1 since the same time are named USB 3.1 Gen2 and these weren't released to the market (if I'm missing something feel free to correct me)

ASM1242 is only Gen1, but x2 lane width, what is kinda improvement over all previous x1 chips.
 
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666sheep said:
Still 3.0 and won't be more, at least using this particular chipset.

There's a big confusion in naming:
– some USB 3.0 chips since some time are named as 3.1 Gen1, and they're are still 3.0 capable, nothing more
– true USB 3.1 since the same time are named USB 3.1 Gen2 and these weren't released to the market (if I'm missing something feel free to correct me)

ASM1242 is only Gen1, but x2 lane width, what is kinda improvement over all previous x1 chips.
Click to expand...

I had no idea. That is very misleading.
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rGiskard said:
If Apple bothers to support it. Maybe I'll wait until Apple release a USB 3.1 Mac to decide on a USB PCIe chipset. I'm sick of having to swap in new PCIe cards and WiFi/BT cards with every new OS X release.
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This is probably the best thing. A lot of us went through a lot of USB 3.0 cards until the nMP came out with FL1100 and that sorted things out for most of us.

However, isn't there already a MacBook with USB 3.1? Or is it just USB 3.0 with a USB-C connector?
 
Tried ORICO PA31-AC (ASM1142 chip) with macOS 10.12, showed x2 lane width.
 

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ActionableMango said:
I had no idea. That is very misleading.
[doublepost=1466462107][/doublepost]

This is probably the best thing. A lot of us went through a lot of USB 3.0 cards until the nMP came out with FL1100 and that sorted things out for most of us.

However, isn't there already a MacBook with USB 3.1? Or is it just USB 3.0 with a USB-C connector?
Click to expand...

It's USB 3.1 Gen 1 with a Type-C connector, which uses the same controllers as USB 3.0 and features the same bandwidth. Gen 2 is the 10Gbps version. Why they are both named the same point release is a riddle wrapped in an enigma. Or maybe just clever marketing.
 
CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Plus with USB 3,1 capability has been released and it's sitting in my cMP 5,1 but I don't know what to use it for. There isn't any peripheral device available in 10G speed.
 
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zoomfinder said:
CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Plus with USB 3,1 capability has been released and it's sitting in my cMP 5,1 but I don't know what to use it for. There isn't any peripheral device available in 10G speed.
Click to expand...
If it's Asmedia there's no driver for it in El Cap. We have already been talking about the marketing used by these companies.

In one section they say it install driverless in 10.8.4 and above. In the tech specs section in small type they say 10.8.4 and above supports USB 3.0.
 

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zoomfinder said:
CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Plus with USB 3,1 capability has been released and it's sitting in my cMP 5,1 but I don't know what to use it for. There isn't any peripheral device available in 10G speed.
Click to expand...

Could you check if SATA ports are bootable? And how fast is SATA on the new FASTA-6GU3 Plus?
 
Synchro3 said:
Could you check if SATA ports are bootable? And how fast is SATA on the new FASTA-6GU3 Plus?
Click to expand...

I have checked this and my external eSATA drive boots and the volume appears in Boot Manager on restart once it has been mounted. I have not tested to see if Boot Manager recognise this drive on a fresh start though, when I boot the Mac in the morning for example. The drive's speed has not been determined yet and I will get to that soon.

I have had a good experience with the card's predecessor FASTA-6GU3 Pro in my Mac Pro 3,1 and decided to get this new card to fit my 5,1 for the eSATA bootability and not for the USB 3,1. But of course, the USB port would not boot any external drive, as before.
 
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Synchro3 said:
Could you check if SATA ports are bootable? And how fast is SATA on the new FASTA-6GU3 Plus?
Click to expand...

1GB stress test by BMD Speed Test scored 508/Read and 387/Write. The target disk was a 500GB partition of the OWC Mercury Pro 6G SSD 1TB and the disk was supposedly connected at 6G. These scores are nearly equal to what I got earlier with the FASTA-6GU3 Pro in my Mac Pro 3,1.
 
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Confirmed Orico PA31 series (based on ASM1242 chipset) works with MacPro3,1 and Sierra Public Beta 7 and run on 5GB/s speed
 

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