Sharkoon Announces USB 3.0 Addon Card, and Compatible QuickPort HDD Docks

[btarunr]

Ten times faster than the USB2.0, data transfer rates of up to 5 GB/s, enhanced transmission reliability and energy efficient: The new USB3.0 interface now also offers an over abundance of bandwidth for data transfer applications. However, Mainboards and peripheral devices that allow SuperSpeed USB's simply can not wait. Sharkoon is the first provider to immediately offer a PCIe controller so that the Desktop PC can be quickly and efficiently upgraded: The Sharkoon USB3.0 Host Controller Card is equipped with a NEC µPD720200 chip; the two USB3.0 Ports are combined with the PCIe 2.0 so that it can conform to Intel xHCI-rev0.96 specifications. The controller card can connect directly to the PCI-x1 slot and operate a larger PCIe slot with a connection speed twice as fast; it possesses a 4-pin plug to the power supply over the network, and supports the operating systems Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (32 Bit / 64 Bit).

Also, a first peripheral device with the SuperSpeed interface from Sharkoon will soon be made available on the market: As of calendar week 48, the popular hard drive docking station Sharkoon SATA QuickPort with USB3.0 port will be released. The new interface has USB-IF specifications including compatibility with previous USB 2.0, USB 1.1 and USB 1.0 connections.



The "SATA QuickPort" series currently comprises of eight models with different features for different requirements. All Sharkoon QuickPorts allow convenient and direct access to unobstructed SATA hard drives. The compact yet sturdy QuickPort series table adapters are equipped with a slot to accommodate SATA drives in both the 2.5" and 3.5" inch format. A folding mechanism with a suitable slot for the smaller notebook drives offer two types of secure grips; the disks are simply plugged into the QuickPort and the computer immediately recognizes them as an authorized drive. After use, the drive can be easily removed by utilizing the eject button again. With its approximately 575 gram weight, the docking station itself on the desktop is accident proof. Two different LED colors indicate the operation and data access. The latest model of the Sharkoon QuickPort USB3.0 comes with an instruction manual, universal AC adapter (EU, UK, U.S.) and a USB3.0 cable.

End customers will find the Sharkoon USB3.0 Host Controller Card available immediately from authorized retailers for the manufacturers suggested retail price of 39.99 euros.

The Sharkoon SATA QuickPort USB3.0 is available beginning calendar week 48 for the manufacturers suggested retail price of 49.99 euros.

For further information regarding the Sharkoon USB3.0 or other Sharkoon products, please visit this page.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Mussels]

"Ten times faster than the USB2.0, data transfer rates of up to 5 GB/s,"

shouldnt that be Gb/s ?

and like the other ones, it requires external power... interesting

 

[WarEagleAU]

Who cares if it needs a 4 pin molex connector. Obviously it doesn't get enough from the pcie 1x slot which sucks, but if it is the same price stateside, I have found me a 3.0 add in card!!!!

 

[Mussels]

Who cares if it needs a 4 pin molex connector. Obviously it doesn't get enough from the pcie 1x slot which sucks, but if it is the same price stateside, I have found me a 3.0 add in card!!!!

which is weird, cause USB 3.0 is only rated to 900ma per port

 

[BazookaJoe]

Now this is more like it...

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Who cares if it needs a 4 pin molex connector. Obviously it doesn't get enough from the pcie 1x slot which sucks, but if it is the same price stateside, I have found me a 3.0 add in card!!!!

I'm confused! <_<" You note it's major short coming of lack of bandwidth. Then say you'll get one ?_?' um . . if PCIE 1x maxes out at 250mbs, even if you have a USB 3.0 device, external hard drive, USB key ect. You will not see any transfer increase over USB 2.0 , so I'm not understanding the point of having it ?_?'

 

[Mussels]

I'm confused! <_<" You note it's major short coming of lack of bandwidth. Then say you'll get one ?_?' um . . if PCIE 1x maxes out at 250mbs, even if you have a USB 3.0 device, external hard drive, USB key ect. You will not see any transfer increase over USB 2.0 , so I'm not understanding the point of having it ?_?'

because you go from a max of 30MB/s to 250MB/s?

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

because you go from a max of 30MB/s to 250MB/s?

In theory, but still external devices, won't even break 50 MB/s even the fastest USB keys won't come close to 250 MB/s . And if your using a USB device, more than likely speed is not a main concern. It just seems like a waste of money, and a pci slot. If your that concerned about speed spend the money on an eSATA card, most good external hard drives have an eSATA port.

 

[Mussels]

In theory, but still external devices, won't even break 50 MB/s even the fastest USB keys won't come close to 250 MB/s . And if your using a USB device, more than likely speed is not a main concern. It just seems like a waste of money, and a pci slot. If your that concerned about speed spend the money on an eSATA card, most good external hard drives have an eSATA port.

e-sata and USB 3.0 have the same speeds - you contradict yourself.

'the fastest USB keys' would be SSD based, so ummm.. yeah, they could do 100MB/s +



you're mistaking "OMG IT DOESNT USE 100% OF THE BANDWIDTH!" with "who gives a damn, the average external HDD is still 3x faster than USB 2.0"

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

e-sata and USB 3.0 have the same speeds - you contradict yourself.

'the fastest USB keys' would be SSD based, so ummm.. yeah, they could do 100MB/s +



you're mistaking "OMG IT DOESNT USE 100% OF THE BANDWIDTH!" with "who gives a damn, the average external HDD is still 3x faster than USB 2.0"

"e-sata and USB 3.0 have the same speeds"

Um, no.

eSATA 2 runs at 3GBs , eSATA 3 will run at 6GBs , USB 2.0 runs at 480MBs , USB 3.0 runs at 4.8 GBs.

Also, to get the advantage in speeds your going to have to buy all new peripherals. are you really going to spend all that money for a small increase in speed?

A USB 2 key, or external hard drive still have a chokeing USB 2 port on them, hooking up to 10 X the bandwidth is still not going to net you 10 x the speed.

"you're mistaking "OMG IT DOESNT USE 100% OF THE BANDWIDTH!" with "who gives a damn, the average external HDD is still 3x faster than USB 2.0"

I'm simply stating you can already get the same or better performance on external HD's with eSATA right now. eSATA will give you roughly the same performance as having a SATA drive internally.

 

[Mussels]

"e-sata and USB 3.0 have the same speeds"

Um, no.

eSATA 2 runs at 3GBs , eSATA 3 will run at 6GBs , USB 2.0 runs at 480MBs , USB 3.0 runs at 4.8 GBs.

USB 2.0 runs at 480Mb/s - divide by 8 for MB/s and you get 60MB/s.

Show me a single USB2.0 device that runs ast 60MB/s - you cant, they all run at 30MB/s. Why? cause the damn USB specs are like wifi specs, they count both directions.

USB2.0 and 3.0 count up and down into their bandwidth, SATA 1/2/3 doesnt. Therefore, despite USB 3.0 claiming a throughput twice as high as SATA 3, you'll find out they're actually the same in the end.

Also, to get the advantage in speeds your going to have to buy all new peripherals. are you really going to spend all that money for a small increase in speed?

What? USB 2.0 has been limiting hard drives and flash drives for YEARS. throw the HDD in a new USB 3.0 enclosure and you get triple the speed on the spot, for a 3.5" drive

A USB 2 key, or external hard drive still have a chokeing USB 2 port on them, hooking up to 10 X the bandwidth is still not going to net you 10 x the speed.

no shit. you're going to need USB 3.0 devices, which you seem to be ignoring. You're using E-sata a lot, but oh noes - you cant throw a flash drive (or USB key, or pen drive - whatever you want to call them) into an e-sata port now can you?

"you're mistaking "OMG IT DOESNT USE 100% OF THE BANDWIDTH!" with "who gives a damn, the average external HDD is still 3x faster than USB 2.0"

I'm simply stating you can already get the same or better performance on external HD's with eSATA right now. eSATA will give you roughly the same performance as having a SATA drive internally.

yes and i'm telling you that USB 3.0 has the same bandwidth as E-sata, so all your OTHER points are invalid.

 

[BazookaJoe]

The MAJOR glory I see in USB3 is that because the actual Bandwidth is currently so much higher than our devices bandwidth, things like a common 4 port usb hub (for USB3) will probably be able to use 2 or 3 drives simultaneously without affecting the performance of each drive by much, if at all.

And even 4 drives at once (All in USB3 cases on a USB3 Hub) would technically be able to operate at speeds more than 3x that that a current single drive, with it's own dedicated USB2 port, could sustain.

Where as when USB2 launched, a common household HDD was already way faster than the interface could handle, making it a born bottleneck from day one.

Edit : Apologies for bad English today, I normally more careful but today am not up to it.