Crucial SSD on Asus U3S6 vs Sata 2

[Obsoleet]

The interface chips of note on my ASUS U3S6 have the following part numbers:

Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2
Nec 0720200F

Your board might have different revisions or slightly different part numbers.



Marvell MV-91xx (88SE91xx) AHCI/RAID Controller for SATA 3.0

FIRMWARE released March 4, 2011
Version v1.0.0.170/2.2.0.1118/1.0.0.1029

http://www.station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm




NEC uPD720200 for USB 3.0

FIRMWARE released November 10, 2010
version 3.0.2.7.0.8

http://www.station-drivers.com/page/nec.htm



I suggest you watch this site for further firmware releases.

Good Luck!

VV

Not to raise a thread from the dead but.. thanks to this guy I've gotten my USB3.0 firmware and drivers up to date (which I use), and my fw/driver for SATA6 on my Asus U3S6 card updated (I don't use).

USB3.0 driver 2.1.28.0
Firmware 3028
Both newer than what he posted at the time.

There's both a driver and firmware update from 1/5/2012 for the Marvell chip. I'm too lazy to benchmark it though using my drives. Intel tends to have very low latency and streamlined performance, which means even more for me because I don't have SATA6Gb drives anyway.

http://www.station-drivers.com/page/marvell.htm

There is probably merit to what was being said here. Marvell makes good stuff, and things are still changing up until 7 days ago(!)

I would have to say, someone should run a benchmark because there have apparently been a lot of changes since the U3S6 was released. For me, it's been a great USB 3.0 add-in for my storage drive.

 

[jcrawfor74]

Hi,

Just benchmarked a Asus U3S6 on a current model Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD. To see the results go here >> http://ntsblog.homedev.com.au/index...benchmark-sata-3-add-on-card-sata-ii-onboard/

Note I have upgrade to the 1028 firmware (which is the latest that would work) and the 1.2.0.1010 driver (which seems the best one for me) and the results are only slightly better than what you see on the review. The bottle neck is still the x1 PCIe connection.
If someone wants to send me a 88SE92xx based card whic runs @ x2 PCIe then contact me ;-)

 

[iluvdeal]

Thanks for the review, I was thinking of getting a SATA3/USB3 card to extend the life of my 1156 board and to get the most out of an SSD since my board only has SATA2 but it looks like it doesn't improve things much.

Are there any other better performing cards out there or on horizon which are reasonably priced and better performing? I wouldn't pay over $50 for such an add on card though, might as well save up for a new mobo if you have to spend more than that.

 

[groberts101]

while these sorts of updates can help some cards/boards more than others.. the major issue with current USB 3.0 models is the need for native mobo/OS boot support.

And more importantly UASP support as that's what really helps these devices sidestep the inherent flaws of this transfer protocol.

http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/the_best_usb3_experience/The_UASP_For_USB3.0.htm

 

[jcrawfor74]

Are there any other better performing cards out there or on horizon which are reasonably priced and better performing? I wouldn't pay over $50 for such an add on card though, might as well save up for a new mobo if you have to spend more than that.

As I say in the blog artilce, marvell released a new chipset the 88SE9220/9230/9235 on the 9th of Jan. I have no idea how long it will take before we see this chipset on any PCIe expansion cards, but that would be the card I would hold out for as it runs on PCIe x2 which should provide better throughput, plus i has some "HyperDuo" technology that is meant to perform some caching and improve performance

I would wait until we start to see some reviews before buying.

Just googled and couldn't find anything although the ASUS Z9PE-D8-WS motherboard is supposed to have this controller on-board.
http://www.aicuxiao.org/the-worlds-first-pci-e-2-0-x2-sata3-born-master/

 

[zilog256]

Hi there.

Just registered as I was a bit flustered to see such bad comments on the ASUS U3S6 I consider being an EXCELLENT CARD.

I'm currently using it on a Gigabyte EX58-UD5, of course on a PCI-E 4x port.

While it is true that card has limitations (number of lanes etc), it performs quite well with my Crucial M4 64 Gb, much more than the built-in SATA2 controller...... and certainly better than crappy usual PCI-E 1x cards :whiste:

Cherry on the cake, the e-SATA controller supports 'port-multiplier' (which is stated nowhere, RIGHT), which was the only solution for me to plug-in my brand new Icy-Box IB-3640SU3 ( supports 4 disks as JBOD with one single SATA3 or USB3 connection). of course the native ICH10R and lousy JMICRON controller didn't support 'port-multiplier' but I digress :awe:

So, NO, the Asus U3S6 is NOT a crappy expansion card, it's probably the best you can get for the price (or else you go for a $120 HighPoint RocketU USB3 card, yes....).

Just my 2 cents

 

[Old Hippie]

Welcome to the forums!

The only one that mentioned port multiplier was you and that's not the reason most/all purchased the card.

The problem with these cheapo cards are that they lower the 4K & 4K-64Thrd range and that's what most people use 90% of the time.

If your tests between an Intel SATA2 port and an Asus U3S6 SATA3 port show something other than the Intel port being superior the SSD isn't set-up correctly.

I had one and tossed it in the trash.

Good Luck!

 

[anwul62]

Allow me to get back on this one: if this card is considered to be 'crap' - what cards aren't ?

TIA
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[Old Hippie]

Allow me to get back on this one: if this card is considered to be 'crap' - what cards aren't ?

TIA
=

I purchased an LSI 9240-4i but if you can do with just RAID 0,1, or 10 you'll get by cheaper with the LSI 9211-4i.

Find a used LSI 9240 series card with the FastPath chip for @ 350.00-400.00 and that will be your cheapest way to go.

 

[anwul62]

Think the use of U3S6 is to get people a USB 3.0 connector.
Coincidentally it has also some SATA connectors.
Considering the price and its purpose, one may not expect too much of the SATA performance.

At about 10x the price the LSI (=3ware) is a different thing, I guess. It is missing USB 3.0, the gap that U3S6 tries to fill in, and is primarily for RAID matters.
People may then also wish to have a look at 3ware 9750-4i having 512MB on board memory, which may improve RAID performance.

The Samsung 840 Pro Kit SSD includes a SATA to USB cable. Tried to find some kind of benchmarks on the performance of this SSD when connected to USB 3.0 using this cable.

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