Need help with PCIE USB 3 and SATA 3 Adapter

[mtl77733]

I bought this from eBay and I'm not sure how to install it...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/283050822203

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PCI-E to External USB3.0 Port Power eSATA Internal USB 3.0 Header 9pin PCIe Card

Product Details

• Package Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Item Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Manufacturer: JiuWu

• Fully compliant with PCI Express Base Specification Revision 2.0
• Compliant with Universal Serial Bus 3.0 Specification Revision 1.0
• Single-lane (x1) PCI Express Throughput Rates Up to 4.8Gbps
• Transfer Rate: 5Gbps 480Mbps, 12Mbps
• NEC uPD720202 Chipset

Features and specifications :
2 x USB 3.0 Port support transfer speed up to 5Gbps ( 1 external + 1 internal )
1 x PeSATA / USB 2.0 Combo Port ( External )
Low Profile bracket to fit HTPC or slim PC case
USB 3.0 :
Support Windows 8 UASP
No driver needed for Windows 8 ( do not install driver in Windows 8 )
Fully compliant with PCI Express Base Specification Revision 2.0
Single-lane (x1) PCI Express Throughput Rates Up to 4.8Gbps
Compliant with Universal Serial Bus 3.0 Specification Revision 1.0
Fully compatible with USB2.0 , USB 1.1
Transfer Rate: 5Gbps 480Mbps, 12Mbps
NEC uPD720202 Chipset
Built-in SATA Power Connector
PeSATA :
This 2 ports can be connected as eSATA, PeSATA, or USB 2.0.
Combine with our Power over ESATA cable ( not included in package ) , both 2.5" and 3.5 HDD can be supported without power supply from other sources.

Specifications :
Connect direct to SATA Hdd
Data transfer up to 6Gbps ( SATA III, depends on your mother board SATA port specification), and 480Mbps (USB 2.0 )
Supports WinXP, Win Vista and windows 7/8

Package contents :
1 x PCIE USB 3.0 / PeSATA adapter
1 x Driver CD
1 x Low Profile bracket

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My mobo is an old Asrock M3A790GXH/128M that supports only USB 2.0 and SATA 2. I thought this product would allow me to use USB 3.0 and SATA 3 so I bought it. And now I have some questions:

1. I want to connect a 3.5" hard drive to the eSATAp port on the card. I will use an external power supply for the hard drive so I don't need to get the power from the eSATAp port. Can I use an ordinary SATA cable to connect the hard drive SATA port to the eSATAp port or do I have to use an eSATA cable?

2. Will I be getting 6 Gbps SATA 3 speed even though my mobo supports only SATA 2?

3. Will I be getting 5 Gbps USB 3 speed even though my mobo supports only USB 2?

4. It says "No driver needed for Windows 8 (do not install driver in Windows 8)." How about for Windows 7 which is my OS?

5. On the PCIE card circuit board itself there seems to be a SATA port and a SATA power connector. What are these for? Are these for connecting an internal hard drive to run it at SATA 3 speed?

Sorry that I have to post these questions here as there is no documentation and the eBay seller is so hard to contact or probably doesn't even know the answers to my questions.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Post a pic or link to card, please. Sounds like it could have two SATA ports on it, one (P)eSATA, and one internal SATA6G. If so, then is the HDD that you want to connect, an internal drive? If so, then just plug it into the internal connector on this card, after installing the card.

 

[mtl77733]

Post a pic or link to card, please. Sounds like it could have two SATA ports on it, one (P)eSATA, and one internal SATA6G. If so, then is the HDD that you want to connect, an internal drive? If so, then just plug it into the internal connector on this card, after installing the card.

Thanks for replying!

The pic is in the eBay listing that I posted. I also have jpeg files but I don't know how to upload pictures to this forum. How do I upload? There's an image icon that I can click but it's asking for a URL and I don't have a URL, just jpeg files on my hard drive.

I want to connect my HDD from outside the computer.

 

[Billy Tallis]

There's a lot happening on that card.

The main chip on the card is a uPD720202 USB 3.0 controller. It connects to the host system over the PCIe x1 link and provides two USB 3.0 ports. There isn't a SATA controller on the card and there's definitely not a PCIe switch to allow for a SATA controller and USB controller to both share the PCIe link, so this card will not give you any new SATA ports. The eSATA port is a multi-purpose connector that can carry SATA or USB 2.0 signals. There's a SATA connector on the card to pass through a SATA link from somewhere else inside the computer (either the motherboard or a SATA controller card on a different expansion card) to the eSATA port that will be shared with a USB 2.0 signal coming off the uPD720202 controller.

The card also has a standard two-port USB 2.0 header and an internal USB port, so it probably has a USB hub built in to provide more than just the two ports that the uPD720202 controller gives you. This might be just a USB 2.0 hub; it's not obvious how everything is wired up.

The SATA power connector is there because the card can't rely on getting all the power it needs from the PCIe slot alone.

On its own, it appears this card will give you two new USB 3.0 ports, and some USB 2.0 ports. If you connect a SATA cable from the motherboard to the card, then the eSATAp port will be fully functional, and you can use it to connect an external hard drive or hard drive dock that has an eSATA connector. You cannot connect an internal SATA drive to the eSATA port with a standard SATA cable. You will need an eSATA to SATA cable. You have the option of using an eSATAp to SATA+power cable so that you don't need an external power supply for your hard drive.

 

[mtl77733]

There's a lot happening on that card.

The main chip on the card is a uPD720202 USB 3.0 controller. It connects to the host system over the PCIe x1 link and provides two USB 3.0 ports. There isn't a SATA controller on the card and there's definitely not a PCIe switch to allow for a SATA controller and USB controller to both share the PCIe link, so this card will not give you any new SATA ports. The eSATA port is a multi-purpose connector that can carry SATA or USB 2.0 signals. There's a SATA connector on the card to pass through a SATA link from somewhere else inside the computer (either the motherboard or a SATA controller card on a different expansion card) to the eSATA port that will be shared with a USB 2.0 signal coming off the uPD720202 controller.

The card also has a standard two-port USB 2.0 header and an internal USB port, so it probably has a USB hub built in to provide more than just the two ports that the uPD720202 controller gives you. This might be just a USB 2.0 hub; it's not obvious how everything is wired up.

The SATA power connector is there because the card can't rely on getting all the power it needs from the PCIe slot alone.

On its own, it appears this card will give you two new USB 3.0 ports, and some USB 2.0 ports. If you connect a SATA cable from the motherboard to the card, then the eSATAp port will be fully functional, and you can use it to connect an external hard drive or hard drive dock that has an eSATA connector. You cannot connect an internal SATA drive to the eSATA port with a standard SATA cable. You will need an eSATA to SATA cable. You have the option of using an eSATAp to SATA+power cable so that you don't need an external power supply for your hard drive.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply, Billy!

My reason for buying this is to get an additional SATA port because I have run out of SATA ports due to having so many SSDs installed internally in my computer. From your description, it's disappointing to find out that I won't really be able to get an additional SATA port because I have to use one of my internal SATA ports and connect it to the card.

Anyway, assuming that I have a free internal SATA port to connect to the card to make the eSATAp port fully functional, will the eSATAp port give me SATA 3 speed or SATA 2 speed only (since my mobo only supports SATA 2)?

How about the two new USB 3 ports given by the card - will they give me USB 3 speed of 5 Gbps even though my mobo supports only UBS 2?

Thanks again!

 

[mtl77733]

Since I don't have a free internal SATA port to connect to the card, I'm thinking of connecting my HDD to the external USB 3 port on the card by using this USB 3 to SATA 3 adapter:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/153021693429?ul_noapp=true

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Features:

• The USB 3.0 to SATA Hard Drive Converter allows you to connect any standard 2.5'' or 3.5'' SATA hard driver to your computer via USB 3.0 port at speed up to 5Gbps.
• Supports OS: Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/8,Mac OS x
• Supports UASP protocol which performs up to 70% faster read speeds and 40% faster write speeds than traditional USB 3.0
  
• Plug and Play, Hot Swapping
• It is ideal for you to backup files or upgrade your notebook hard driver.
• It comes with 12V power supply interface, can connect 3.5" high power drive .

Noted: This item has 12V 2A AC/DC power adapter

Specifications:

• Support speed up to 5Gbps
• Backward compatible with USB 2.0/1.1
• Support all 2.5"/3.5" SATA HDD/SDD, BLU-RAY DVD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RE, DVD-RW, DVD+RW Combo devices
• Color: Black
• Cable Length: 45cm
• Weight: 37g /1.3oz
• Package weight: 0.1 kg

Package Contents:

• 1 X USB 3.0 to SATA Converter Adapter
• 1x 12V 2A AC DC power adapter

*******

My HDD is a SATA 3. Will the above adapter work with my HDD and give me at least SATA 2 speed of 3 Gbps? That's good enough for me, as this drive is just for backup purposes.

I realize that this adapter supports UASP protocol. Will I be able to take advantage of UASP with my SATA 3 HDD on a system running Windows 7? If not, then if I could just get at least SATA 2 speed then I would be happy already.

If I won't be able to get UASP performance with my setup anyway, will I get faster speed and be better off if I buy a USB 3 to SATA 3 adapter that does NOT support UASP?

 

[mxnerd]

Newest Seagate 12TB HDD performance tops at around 200MB/s, you will never saturate SATA 2 / 3Gbps, let alone SATA 3 / 6 Gbps.

Don't think UASP will provide any performance improvement for HDD. But you probably will see improvement for SSD.

When manufacturer claim its products are SATA 3 compatible, it only means the interface/signals, not it's top speed.

 

[mtl77733]

Newest Seagate 12TB HDD performance tops at around 200MB/s, you will never saturate SATA 2 / 3Gbps, let alone SATA 3 / 6 Gbps.

Don't think UASP will provide any performance improvement for HDD. But you probably will see improvement for SSD.

When manufacturer claim its products are SATA 3 compatible, it only means the interface/signals, not it's top speed.

Yeah, according to this review of my 3TB HDD, it can only do 152.57 MB/s sequential read and 154.57 MB/s sequential write:

https://www.storagereview.com/hitachi_deskstar_7k3000_3tb_review_hds723030ala640

So, will the USB 3 to SATA 3 adapter give me at least that sequential read/write speed or will it be limited by some bottleneck other than the speed of my hard drive?

 

[mxnerd]

USB has encoding overhead. Multiply the top speed with 0.8 at least.

 

[mtl77733]

USB has encoding overhead. Multiply the top speed with 0.8 at least.

So you mean 152.57 x 0.8 = 122.06 MB/s sequential read and 154.57 x 0.8 = 123.66 MB/s sequential write is what I can expect with this adapter? I think that's good enough for me.

 

[mxnerd]

So you mean 152.57 x 0.8 = 122.06 MB/s sequential read and 154.57 x 0.8 = 123.66 MB/s sequential write is what I can expect with this adapter? I think that's good enough for me.

Yep. But that's sequential read/write for large files. Random & small files read/write will be a lot slower.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Don't think UASP will provide any performance improvement for HDD. But you probably will see improvement for SSD.

UASP definitely outperforms BOT, even when using USB2. Especially at random I/O. It does run out of steam at about QD4 however.

You will need at least Win8 to use UASP, since most USB3 manufacturers don't supply UASP enabled drivers because of licensing costs.

USB has encoding overhead. Multiply the top speed with 0.8 at least.

You really shouldn't expect USB2 to provide more then half the theoretical throughput (~280Mbit/s / 35MB/s is realistic*) due to various factors. USB3 is different. Mostly because it's full duplex. With a BOT driver you can expect 200-225MB/s, depending on controllers in both ends. With a UASP driver it tops out at around 400-435MB/s. Again depending on controllers and drives.

*With a UASP connection, you can get up to 42MB/s, but if you're using a UASP enabled driver, you're properbly running a USB3 controller anyway.

 

[mxnerd]

I don't even know that my VANTEC 2.5" USB 3.0 drive enclosure got UASP bridge chip.

UAS Mass Storage Device disappeared and reappeared when I unplugged the drive and re-plugged the drive.

 

[mtl77733]

My system is on Windows 7. Is it true that UASP is not available in Windows 7 and you have to have Windows 8 or higher?

 

[mxnerd]

WIndows 7 could be supported but it's probably very complex.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-3-uas-turbo,3215-5.html

Need driver support directly from manufacturer / distributor. If you can't get driver from them, you are out of luck. Not that USB 3.0 won't work, you probably can't take advantage of UASP.

From the 2nd product link from eBay the vendor claims

Supports OS: Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/8,Mac OS x

I would say it's BS.

Windows 7 is old. Upgrade to WIndows 10 and install ClassicShell.

===

Make sure the vendor gives you the link to download driver before buying.

WIndows 7 does not come with built-in USB 3.0 driver support anyway.

 

[mxnerd]

Tested for you. I got Windows 7 bootable partition on the same machine and I boot into it. The laptop does have Intel 3.0 USB driver installed but no UASP driver to be found in storage controller devices.

It's a JMicron USB 3.0 bridge chip used in VANTEC enclosure, but I can't find any driver download on the web. Even JMicron's and Vantec's official websites.

So in my case, UASP is not functional under Windows 7.

 

[mtl77733]

Tested for you. I got Windows 7 bootable partition on the same machine and I boot into it. The laptop does have Intel 3.0 USB driver installed but no UASP driver to be found in storage controller devices.

It's a JMicron USB 3.0 bridge chip used in VANTEC enclosure, but I can't find any driver download on the web. Even JMicron's and Vantec's official websites.

So in my case, UASP is not functional under Windows 7.

Thank you so much, mxnerd!

So, to confirm, Windows 7 does not have UASP but does it have USB 3 or do I have to install a USB 3 driver for Windows 7?

 

[mxnerd]

You have to have USB 3.0 controller chip on your motherboard, PCIe adapter or somewhere else like USB 3.0 enclosure or USB 3.0 to SATA adapter.

You will not be able to install any USB 3.0 drivers for any vendor if you don't have such devices.

 

[mxnerd]

Your motherboard has one eSATA port, why not buy a eSATA to SATA cable and power it up with internal SATA power cable (a long one) coming out the back of your PC if you don't want to buy a eSATA dock? USB will be always slower than SATA interface.

And no driver worries.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So, to confirm, Windows 7 does not have UASP but does it have USB 3 or do I have to install a USB 3 driver for Windows 7?

You always have to install an USB3 driver with 7. This is because it lacks a so called class driver for USB3. USB3 simply wasn't around much back when 7 released.

You f.x. can't install 7 from a USB3 device operating in USB3 mode. Unless you manually add the driver to your install image.

With 8 and newer those drivers are built-in and provided by MS. Who includes the UASP licence.

Intel do provide 7 drivers for their older USB3 controllers, but support only goes up to the 100-series chipset. Anything newer pretty much requires Windows 10.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/65855/Intel-USB-3-0-eXtensible-Host-Controller-Driver

Hope that is helpful.

 

[mtl77733]

You have to have USB 3.0 controller chip on your motherboard, PCIe adapter or somewhere else like USB 3.0 enclosure or USB 3.0 to SATA adapter.

You will not be able to install any USB 3.0 drivers for any vendor if you don't have such devices.

My PCI-E card that was the original subject of this thread has a USB 3 controller with NEC uPD720202 chipset, so that's covered.

 

[mtl77733]

Your motherboard has one eSATA port, why not buy a eSATA to SATA cable and power it up with internal SATA power cable (a long one) coming out the back of your PC if you don't want to buy a eSATA dock? USB will be always slower than SATA interface.

And no driver worries.

I've already done that and I still need one more SATA port. That's why I bought the PCI-E card which is the original subject of this thread.

 

[mtl77733]

You always have to install an USB3 driver with 7. This is because it lacks a so called class driver for USB3. USB3 simply wasn't around much back when 7 released.

You f.x. can't install 7 from a USB3 device operating in USB3 mode. Unless you manually add the driver to your install image.

With 8 and newer those drivers are built-in and provided by MS. Who includes the UASP licence.

Intel do provide 7 drivers for their older USB3 controllers, but support only goes up to the 100-series chipset. Anything newer pretty much requires Windows 10.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/65855/Intel-USB-3-0-eXtensible-Host-Controller-Driver

Hope that is helpful.

Thank you so much! This info is good to know and very helpful.

 

[PingSpike]

I'm a little confused by what you're trying to accomplish. You have an eSata drive that you want to connect and you're already out of SATA ports? There should be some SATA3 pci-e cards that terminate with esata ports available.

If you want USB3+SATA3 in one card with actually controllers and a bridge this exists and only costs $2 more than the passthrough one you linked:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MVTB8TK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You'd need an sata to esata header to tap off these though.

But PCI-e 2.0 only provides maybe ~370MB/s throughput so a single SATA SSD would be bottlenecked under this card.

Are you already using all of the PCI-e 16x slots? You can install 1x pci-e devices in those slots.

 

[mtl77733]

I'm a little confused by what you're trying to accomplish. You have an eSata drive that you want to connect and you're already out of SATA ports? There should be some SATA3 pci-e cards that terminate with esata ports available.

If you want USB3+SATA3 in one card with actually controllers and a bridge this exists and only costs $2 more than the passthrough one you linked:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MVTB8TK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You'd need an sata to esata header to tap off these though.

But PCI-e 2.0 only provides maybe ~370MB/s throughput so a single SATA SSD would be bottlenecked under this card.

Are you already using all of the PCI-e 16x slots? You can install 1x pci-e devices in those slots.

Thank you so much!

Oh man, I should have just bought this product you linked to. What happened is that I bought the wrong product which I thought would give me an additional SATA/eSATA port (I just want to connect a SATA 3 HDD to the port). But this product I bought turned out to be a pass-through and does not give me a new SATA port, so I thought of using its USB 3 port to connect my SATA 3 HDD to. And then I bought a USB 3 to SATA 3 adapter to allow me to do that.

Hmmm. Maybe I should just sell the items I bought and buy the one you linked to.