Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

USB 3.x PCIe Cards for Classic Mac Pro

Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
S

s!ke

macrumors member
Feb 28, 2012
54
1
PianoPro said:
Each external disk volume produces a Disk Not Ejected Properly notice that has a Close "button", but the external disk(s) wake up feeling fine and well rested :)

The Sonnet site FAQ (very nicely organized site with info) addresses this issue:


To minimize power usage during sleep, power is removed from PCIe cards. Because of this power-saving specification, a USB 2.0, 3.0, or 3.1 PCIe card is unable to maintain USB port power during sleep. In macOS, this result in a storage device disconnect upon wake from sleep. The storage device will automatically remount, but the system reports a disconnect message. Because macOS flushes all caches before sleeping, this disconnect should never result in any loss of data.
​
Click to expand...

Phew, this was scaring me after I installed the INateck card. I was worried it was going to corrupt stuff eventually
 
S

Slash-2CPU

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2016
404
268
macjunkie2013 said:
Does anyone use the:

5-Port USB 3.1 (10Gbps) Combo Card | USB Cards | StarTech.com

in a Mac Pro w Mojave? If so, is there any compatibility issues? It seems to me to be the only Mac compatible UBB 3.1 / C card with internal USB 3 ports too?
Click to expand...


That card is a regular ASM1142 chip like the other 2-port cards. They added a VL812 USB hub chip to it. So you have 1 port by itself straight from the ASM1142, and the other 4 ports are running from the VL812 hub. Bet you see a USB 3.1 hub in System Info. Knowing which port has its own dedicated bandwidth would be handy if you move a lot of data through USB. When using two devices, use that port and any other one port for best possible throughput.

The Mac will see it as just another ASM1142 card but with a hub plugged into one of the ports. It won't know or care that the 'hub' is on the card.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reindeer_Games and pastrychef
D

DEMinSoCAL

macrumors 603
Sep 27, 2005
5,076
7,303
abdyfranco said:
I have the same card, and works without any issue. :)
Click to expand...
Does the card work at the full 10Gb/s or only at 5Gb/s?

There is also this card on Amazon which has the ASM2142 chipset that allows it to run up to 16Gb/s (both ports simultaneously), AND has an on-board power supply to convert the 12V on the PCI-e slot to 5V (10W max) but also has the inconvenient SATA connector if you need more juice.

What is the best way to test for throughput on the card/ports? 10Gb/s is about 1.2GB/s...would need something very fast that also has USB port to test?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reindeer_Games
S

Slash-2CPU

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2016
404
268
dmylrea said:
Does the card work at the full 10Gb/s or only at 5Gb/s?

There is also this card on Amazon which has the ASM2142 chipset that allows it to run up to 16Gb/s (both ports simultaneously), AND has an on-board power supply to convert the 12V on the PCI-e slot to 5V (10W max) but also has the inconvenient SATA connector if you need more juice.

What is the best way to test for throughput on the card/ports? 10Gb/s is about 1.2GB/s...would need something very fast that also has USB port to test?
Click to expand...

It won’t hit 16Gb/s on the cMP. It’s a x4 card, but the ASM1142 is a x2 chip. You’ll max out around 775MB/s (6.2Gb/s). Even on a high-end new PC, the ASM1142 tops out at 800-820MB/s since the chip will run at either x2 2.0 or x1 3.0, but will not do x2 3.0.

To test for 10Gb, look in System Information. It’ll tell you “Up to 5Gb/s” or “Up to 10Gb/s.” From what I’ve seen, USB 3.1 5Gb maxes out around 400-450MB/s. If you’re breaking 475+MB/s, then it’s definitely linked up at 10Gb.
 
D

DEMinSoCAL

macrumors 603
Sep 27, 2005
5,076
7,303
Slash-2CPU said:
It won’t hit 16Gb/s on the cMP. It’s a x4 card, but the ASM1142 is a x2 chip. You’ll max out around 775MB/s (6.2Gb/s). Even on a high-end new PC, the ASM1142 tops out at 800-820MB/s since the chip will run at either x2 2.0 or x1 3.0, but will not do x2 3.0.

To test for 10Gb, look in System Information. It’ll tell you “Up to 5Gb/s” or “Up to 10Gb/s.” From what I’ve seen, USB 3.1 5Gb maxes out around 400-450MB/s. If you’re breaking 475+MB/s, then it’s definitely linked up at 10Gb.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. What about the card with the ASM2142 chip? That's the one that is advertised as 16Gb/s. Any advantage to getting the ASM2142 in the cMP? It's only a few dollars more...
 
S

Slash-2CPU

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2016
404
268
I have no idea if ASM2142 will work in MacOS. Knowing how AsMedia does things, it’s the same driver, but will MacOS know that? Quick search will probably answer that one.

ASM2142 adds PCIe 3.0 x2 capability and has two USB channels as you mentioned. cMP can’t take advantage of that since it’s PCIe 2.0. There would be a slight advantage when using 2 USB devices, but you’d quickly max out PCIe 2.0 x2.

What would be great would be a true x4 lane chip, but there’s not much incentive to make one. Four PCIe lanes is a lot for a motherboard designer to commit to a USB chip, and with PCIe 3.0, it would be unnecessary.
 
J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,967
4,260
Slash-2CPU said:
To test for 10Gb, look in System Information. It’ll tell you “Up to 5Gb/s” or “Up to 10Gb/s.” From what I’ve seen, USB 3.1 5Gb maxes out around 400-450MB/s. If you’re breaking 475+MB/s, then it’s definitely linked up at 10Gb.
Click to expand...
ASM1142 chips often mis-report the speed as "Up to 5Gb/s" when they support 10 Gb/s (assuming they have the firmware that allows 10 Gb/s). So you should test the bandwidth of the port to make sure you are using the 10 Gb/s port and not a 5 Gb/s hub port.

Slash-2CPU said:
ASM2142 adds PCIe 3.0 x2 capability and has two USB channels as you mentioned. cMP can’t take advantage of that since it’s PCIe 2.0. There would be a slight advantage when using 2 USB devices, but you’d quickly max out PCIe 2.0 x2.
Click to expand...
Why would there be an advantage to the ASM2142 compare to the ASM1142 with a PCIe 2.0 x2 connection?

Slash-2CPU said:
What would be great would be a true x4 lane chip, but there’s not much incentive to make one. Four PCIe lanes is a lot for a motherboard designer to commit to a USB chip, and with PCIe 3.0, it would be unnecessary.
Click to expand...
The GC-TITAN RIDGE seems to work ok with PCIe 2.0 x4 as a USB 3.1 gen 2 controller at least. I'm using a MacPro3,1 so it doesn't have new firmware which means I need to use a command to change the speed from PCIe 1.0.
 
startergo

startergo

macrumors 603
Sep 20, 2018
5,021
2,283
Does somebody know a non mickey mouse solution for replacing the front USB ports with USB3.1/3.0? Something which will not occupy a PCIE slot?
 
startergo

startergo

macrumors 603
Sep 20, 2018
5,021
2,283
Ok. Not an extra pcie. Let's say there is a card in one of thet pcie's which has esata. Esata conversion to USB? I saw somebody was doing some soldering job on the front USB but it did not look very clean .
 
J

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,967
4,260
There are USB to SATA controllers (as used in almost every USB external hard drive enclosure) which use USB mass storage device class drivers. There are no SATA to USB converters (because there's no such thing as a SATA keyboard or mouse or HID device).

So, if you want to replace the front USB ports then you need to connect them to a USB hub or controller. You'll want at least one USB 3.0 controller somewhere. There appears to now exist USB 3.1 gen 2 hubs.
 
S

stupidassdrumer

macrumors newbie
Aug 20, 2010
25
3
I just bought and installed the Allegro USB-C 4 port and am happy to say it works perfectly! For some reason the two port version didn't work with an Anker USB-C to USB 3.0 hub, so I was on Amazon returning that one, when this one caught my eye.

Sonnet Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe Card (USB3C-4PM-E)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L8KCQPT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't seen the 4 port listed on the forum anywhere and weirdly, it' isn't listed on Sonnet's own web site. But here it is in all it's glory....and according to my Amazon price tracker, it's been available since December 22nd. I wonder why they haven't put it on their site and why they haven't even announced it yet, but yet it's on Amazon and B&H.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thornslack
crjackson2134

crjackson2134

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2013
4,847
1,957
Charlotte, NC
So, the quote below was posted in it's own thread, and I decided it should be included here...

stupidassdrumer said:
I just bought and installed the Allegro USB-C 4 port and am happy to say it works perfectly! For some reason the two port version didn't work with an Anker USB-C to USB 3.0 hub, so I was on Amazon returning that one, when this one caught my eye.

Sonnet Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe Card (USB3C-4PM-E)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L8KCQPT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't seen the 4 port listed on the forum anywhere and weirdly, it' isn't listed on Sonnet's own web site. But here it is in all it's glory....and according to my Amazon price tracker, it's been available since December 22nd. I wonder why they haven't put it on their site and why they haven't even announced it yet, but yet it's on Amazon and B&H.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reindeer_Games, AlexMaximus, h9826790 and 1 other person
S

Slash-2CPU

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2016
404
268
crjackson2134 said:
So, the quote below was posted in it's own thread, and I decided it should be included here...
Click to expand...

That card uses the PI7C9X2G308GP PCIe switch(the bigger chip in the middle). It’s a 3-port 8-lane PCIe 2.0 switch. One x4 PCIe port to slot connector. Two x2 PCIe ports, one to each ASM USB chip(the two smaller chips).

Two USB-C ports per ASM USB chip.

You would get slightly better transfer rates using one USB-C port per chip, if doing simultaneous high-speed transfers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reindeer_Games
Reindeer_Games

Reindeer_Games

macrumors 6502
Nov 29, 2018
286
228
Pueblo, CO
crjackson2134 said:
So, the quote below was posted in it's own thread, and I decided it should be included here...
Click to expand...

I'm on the hunt for a better I/O solution myself and that Sonnet Allegro looks perfect! A bit out of my price range at the minute though...that with two internal standard USB 3.0/3.1's to run up front would truly justify the price....LOL. They always leave us wanting just a bit more.

startergo said:
Does somebody know a non mickey mouse solution for replacing the front USB ports with USB3.1/3.0? Something which will not occupy a PCIE slot?
Click to expand...

But isn't that what this is?
  • One internal 20-pin IDC motherboard header port that can provide two internal USB-A ports (5Gbps)
https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/USB-3.0/Cards/usb-3-1-combo-card~PEXUSB312EIC

Is this the same card?: Part numbers match PEXUSB312EIC.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I39D15...d_r=38031e6c-133a-11e9-b95b-81283083ffec&th=1

Because that would make things a lot easier for me too but I'm unsure of the cable format necessary to connect; I think this is it though:

Vertical Dual USB 3.0 A Type Female to Motherboard 20Pin Header Slot Adapter:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-Vertic...h=item286c158487:g:ET8AAOSwHStb1arm:rk:2:pf:0

USB3.0 MotherBoard 20pin Male to Female Extension Cable 0.5m M/F:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB3-0-Mot...m=263786971176&_trksid=p2047675.c100008.m2219

I would consider that a pretty solid if the vertical USB housing sing can be mounted securely if all my parts are matched correctly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom