HighPoint Launches the Industry's First 4-Port 20Gb/s USB 3.0 SuperSpeed HBA

[btarunr]

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., an industry leading HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, unveils the Industry's first 4-Port PCI-E Gen 2 x4, 20Gb/s USB 3.0 SuperSpeed HBA, the RocketU 1144A. Designed for high-performance Desktop PCs, each of the RocketU 1144As four dedicated USB 3.0 ports provides 5Gb/s of throughput, and are optimized for today's fastest USB 3.0 external storage devices. USB 3.0 HBAs that already exist in today's marketplace impose a performance bottleneck on multi-drive configurations, limiting transfer rates to 5Gb/s. Such controllers limit the potential of today's high-speed SSD's and external RAID enclosures.

HighPoint has capitalized on recent advances in USB 3.0 connectivity, and has made 5Gb/s per-port performance a reality. No longer limited to the convenience of plug-and-play, USB 3.0 has emerged as a truly viable option for today's high-speed SSD and hard drives. HighPoint's RocketU 1144A employs the latest USB 3.0 technology to deliver an unbeatable 20 Gb/s transfer bandwidth for under US $100. This optimal balance of cost and performance makes it an ideal external storage solution for high-performance PCs.



High Speed External Storage for Desktop PCs
The RocketU 1144A is the industry's first and only PCI-E x4 USB 3.0 SuperSpeed HBA, and delivers class-leading transfer bandwidth up to 20Gb/s; perfect for high-speed external USB 3.0 SSD's and hard drives. The RocketU 1144A is the ideal upgrade for any Windows or Linux PCs, and is well suited for portable storage devices, external backup solutions, and high-speed SSD's for the ultimate gaming multi-media experience. The RocketU 1144A can be installed into any free PCI-Express Gen 2.0/Gen 1.0 x4, x8 or x16 slot, is fully backwards compatible with USB specifications 2.0 and 1.1, and is xHCI compliant.

Availability and Pricing
The HighPoint RocketU 1144A is available immediately, from a world-wide network of Distribution and Reseller channels. Price is $89.00. For more information, visit the product page.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[AsRock]

I like how they try to make it sound super fast lol. Like hell we should be on USB 8 by now not as if that there fault though..

 

[Necrofire]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they mean that all 4 ports can do superspeed at the same time, without a performance drop.

 

[btarunr]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they mean that all 4 ports can do superspeed at the same time, without a performance drop.

Exactly, in a 2-port USB 3.0 controller, the two ports share 5 Gb/s bandwidth, and are limited by the single PCIe 2.0 x1 link. On this card each port has its own controller, and each of those controllers is assured of its host bandwidth. So all four ports can do 5 Gb/s simultaneously.

 

[pantherx12]

Exactly, in a 2-port USB 3.0 controller, the two ports share 5 Gb/s bandwidth, and are limited by the single PCIe 2.0 x1 link. On this card each port has its own controller, and each of those controllers is assured of its host bandwidth. So all four ports can do 5 Gb/s simultaneously.

Cool, now I just need some USB 3.0 stuff.

Can't wait for SSDs to really be cheap and mainstream USB 3.0 + an external ssd would be nice.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Except that a single USB port can't do 5Gbit/s as that's the theoretical maximum and there are quite high overheads as it happens. So far the fast benchmark shown by any of the host manufacturers is 402MB/s or 3.2Gbit/s and that's Fresco Logic and they're using a special RAID enclosure that you can only buy in Japan to reach that kind of speed with their host controller.

 

[Disparia]

Nice. I could have lived with only two controllers for four ports, but it probably wouldn't have saved all that much money since a PCIe switch would be added anyway.

Time to run some USB 3.0 monitors.

 

[pantherx12]

Except that a single USB port can't do 5Gbit/s as that's the theoretical maximum and there are quite high overheads as it happens. So far the fast benchmark shown by any of the host manufacturers is 402MB/s or 3.2Gbit/s and that's Fresco Logic and they're using a special RAID enclosure that you can only buy in Japan to reach that kind of speed with their host controller.

Even half that is plenty for all but the most recent SSDs.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Saw a couple of USB 3.0 monitors a while back, both bus powered, but one needed two ports and the other one was connected to a port that delivered 1.5A. The downside was that both screens had really low brightness compared to a standard screen, so not really ideal.
There's only one USB 3.0 "graphics adapter" as well so far and it's limited to 2048x1152 which is just plain silly as USB 2.0 can do that http://www.sunix.com.tw/product/vga2728--coming-soon-.html

 

[TheLostSwede]

Even half that is plenty for all but the most recent SSDs.

Sure, but most USB 3.0 host controllers don't go that fast and that's a very unique case where you'll see that kind of performance.
Most manages about 250-260MB/s sequential read speeds, with write speeds hovering around 200-220MB/s, so don't expect near SATA speed, that's all I'm saying.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Exactly, in a 2-port USB 3.0 controller, the two ports share 5 Gb/s bandwidth, and are limited by the single PCIe 2.0 x1 link. On this card each port has its own controller, and each of those controllers is assured of its host bandwidth. So all four ports can do 5 Gb/s simultaneously.

Ahhhhh, k, I thought they meant like you could bond ports or something.