Fastest USB 3.0 chipset for expansion card?

[david151]

I am currently looking for the fastest USB 3.0 expansion card to place in my old GIGABYTE GAEP45UD3R motherboard. From my research it seems that NEC and Fresco chipsets are the main contenders. The problem is most of the chipsets are very old. A lot of the cards use the NEC uPD720201 chipset. An example of a card using this is the Inateck KT4007. I believe this chipset was released in 2012, however it seems a very popular option even on recently manufactured cards.

The only later chipset I could find by NEC is the µPD720202 (not sure of exact release date), but not many cards seem to use this. Here is one example:

https://www.amazon.com/Express-Adap...UTF8&qid=1479209682&sr=1-3&keywords=uPD720202

Does anyone know how this performs compared to the uPD720201?

Out of all the manufacturers, the newest chipset I can find on a card is the Fresco FL1100SX which I believe was released in 2014. The Inateck KT4006 is an example of a card that uses this. From what I understand the Fresco chipset may not have as much native OS driver support, however It may have the edge in terms of speed. I also read that the Inateck cards using the Fresco chipsets, use higher quality capacitors etc. What are peoples view on this? Does Fresco have the speed edge?

Are there any other serious contenders? Through my testing I have not been very impressed with VIA based cards, such as the Transcend TS-PDU3.

 

[UsandThem]

I'm not sure why you created another thread for the same question that was already answered.

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...rd-for-old-motherboard.2491135/#post-38576392

Hardware sites don't review USB 3.0 cards anymore. Just pick one out with good user reviews, and pull the trigger. If you buy one from a company that allows returns, if for whatever reason it doesn't work for you, simply return it and try another.

 

[david151]

It's not the same question. I asked very different questions here.

 

[UsandThem]

It's not the same question. I asked very different questions here.

Yup, you are correct. You weren't asking about specific USB 3.0/3.1 add-in card chipsets in the other thread. My bad. Oh wait, yes you were.

Anyways, best of luck in your search of the perfect USB 3.0 add-in card.

http://nerdtechy.com/best-usb-3-0-pci-express-card-reviews

 

[david151]

http://nerdtechy.com/best-usb-3-0-pci-express-card-reviews

Thanks for the link. I already saw that, but I did not find it very useful. They give no benchmarks whatsoever. Almost seemed a waste of time for them to write the article.

 

[UsandThem]

It's more a fluff piece, or a sales ad trying to act like an article, but there is just nothing out there. I mean, when USB 3.1 first launched, there were a couple of reviews. But since then, there is next to nothing.

It's a lot like sound cards today. Most people use what's on their motherboard, and many hardware review sites just don't review them anymore. I'd just read some 'verified purchase' reviews on Amazon, pick one, and call it a day.