Resolved Upgrading from USB2 to USB3

My motherboard, a EVGA X58SLI LE is about 5 or 6 years old and sits in an ANTEC 900 case. It has USB2 ports onboard, which are accessible through the back of the case, plus 2 more that are connected via cables to the top front of the ANTEC case so that they are easily accessible there.
I assume that they are USB2: Under Device manager>USB, I see 8 INTEL ICH10 Family controllers, however the first two are called 'Enhanced ", and the next six are "Universal ".
The MB has several PCI Express 2.0 slots open, as well as a PCI-E(the short one), but the short one is covered up by the double thickness video card.
So, I have two PCI Express slots that are easily accessible for a USB 3 adapter card.
My questions: 1. Can I purchase a USB3 adapter that fits into the PCI Express slot and take advantage of an increase in transfer speed? 2. Is the adapter card all that I need, or do I need to buy USB3-specific cables, as well as USB3 specific slots for the front of the case?
Ideally, I'd like to make the two ports at the front of the case into USB3 ports as I have two external USB3 harddrives that conveniently fit up there.
I'd hate to buy a USB3 adapter card and find that I am still operating at USB2 speed just because of the wrong cables and slots.
I see on a vendor's website that they have quite a collection of USB3 adapters, and the price range is quite broad. Do only some of them require external power, or do they all need a power cable? I see that some are PCI and some are PCI-E(the short slot). None of them are what can be called a "brand name ", so could you recommend one vs another?
Thanks.

 

Hi skaler2k, If you want USB 3.0 - your motherboard needs to fitted with the 19 pin connector block and the plug and wiring to the front panel needs to be USB 3.0 capable.
Currently most of these fittings are BLUE in colour, but having said that, no Standard has been agreed for colour designation.
As I understand it - unless you have USB 3.0 capable M/B and wiring and connectors - any USB 3.0 Device plugged in will operate as USB 2.0 speed as they are BACKWARD compatible.
The USB 3.0 cards you can buy have a disc supplied with the Drivers and require a Power source and the 19 pin connector and with USB 3.0 cable and USB 3.0 connectors on your front panel. Otherwise you will only have USB 2.0.
I may be corrected on this but I feel sure that you need the dedicated software and hardware for it to work properly. Neil.

 

Thanks Neil. I guess that makes it more trouble than it's worth. I don't know what that 19 pin connector is, but more than that, the position of the two USB plugs near the front of my case is such that it would involve way more disassembling than I'm willing to do.
I guess I'll just stick with the slower USB 2.0 speed.
Thanks again.
Vic

 

I just renewed my case and it has 2 USB 3.0 connectors in the front panel and the cables connected from them go into a 19 pin connector.
I had to purchase a new M/B (Asus M5 A97 R2.0) with the 19 pin connector to enable the use of the USB 3.0 connectors on the front panel.
There are 2 USB 3.0 connectors on the Back panel and 6 USB 2.0 connectors.
The USB 3.0 have a Blue plastic strip into which the contacts are positioned.
The USB 2.0 have Black Plastic.
When you have USB 3.0 connected - the transfer speed is RAPID! Neil.

http://www.directron.com/frontusb3guide.html
Have a look at this link where it's all explained and with photos to show the different parts .

 

Thank you, PeteC. That much I knew. Thanks also to retiredlearner for that excellent link to the directron article. I'll just grin and bear the extra seconds it takes me to transfer a file at USB2.0 speed. I'll be marking this thread as resolved. Thanks again.

 

I plugged the following USB 3.0 expansion card into an older i5 Dell that only came with USB 2.0 ports:

Koutech 4-Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCI Express (x1) (3xExt+1xInt) with 15-pin SATA Power Connector - $9.69

• The built-in USB 2.0 ports average 31.4 MB/sec
• The new add-on USB 3.0 ports average 175.3 MB/sec

Zoom, Zoom.

See attached:

 

Hey, that's great! Part of the reason that I wanted to pursue this was a credit I have at a mail order vendor.
Thanks for your reply.

 

You're welcome.

 

Through Google I found a program called USBDeview which supposedly tests the speed of the USB devices. But, once I downloaded it, it looked nothing like what it was described as on the website.
Which program are you using? I assume it's freeware?
Thanks again.

 

It's in the Title Bar of those two attached screenshots. HD Tune 2.55.

 

Got it! Thanks.

 

No problem.