USB 3.0 Cards

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Megaman0

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What is the difference between USB 3.0 cards with power supply connectors, and those without? When would you need a card with a power supply connector and when would you need one without? Does either or have a speed difference even though they both claim 5gbps?

Why don't they point these difference out when selling the product? As many boxes as I have seen, not once have they mentioned the difference or plus side/lack performance to either one.

Thanks! :sarc:
 

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Are you sure that it's a power supply connector and not just another USB port? I've seen some with an "Internal" USB port or header on them. Can't say as I've seen one with a power connector on them.
 

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USB 3.0 provides more power to connected devices than USB 2.0 did so the power connector is provided to allow for that extra power instead of relying on the bus to provide the extra power. USB 2.0 provided a max of 500ma to all connected devices whereas USB 3.0 provides up to 900ma total.
 

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Based on what Strollin posted, I would say the ones with the extra power connector have more ports than the ones that don't. The ones with lots of USB ports can't get enough power from the motherboard connector to power all the ports so they need an extra power connector. I would think there will not be any performance (speed) difference in the two cards, one just has more ports than the other and needs a little more juice to meet the 900ma per port spec.
 

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AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
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alphanumeric said:
Based on what Strollin posted, I would say the ones with the extra power connector have more ports than the ones that don't. The ones with lots of USB ports can't get enough power from the motherboard connector to power all the ports so they need an extra power connector. I would think there will not be any performance (speed) difference in the two cards, one just has more ports than the other and needs a little more juice to meet the 900ma per port spec.
Click to expand...
It's 900ma TOTAL, not per port. My guess is that the less expensive cards won't provide the connector and will rely on whatever power can be gleaned from the bus while the higher quality cards provide the connector to ensure the card can provide the power the 3.0 spec calls for.
 

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ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming in desktop
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AMD Radeon RX580, RTX 3060, Intel Iris Plus
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IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
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Windows Defender
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Built my first computer (8Mhz 8088cpu, 640K RAM, 20MB HDD, 2 360K floppy drives) in 1985 and have been building them for myself, relatives and friends ever since.
Actually I think it is per port?

A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and was raised to 150 mA in USB 3.0. A maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) can be drawn from a port in USB 2.0, which was raised to 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0.
Universal Serial Bus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

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Windows 10 Education 64 bitAMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 MemoryZotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
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Windows 10 Education 64 bit
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AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
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8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
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Zotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Sound Card
VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
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Crucial M100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
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Both of the cards only have 2 USB 3.0 ports. Some have an extra power connector while some don't. I hate technology sometimes.... You try to get USB 3.0 speed and you don't really get it because companies decide to make all different types of confusing elements in these cards!
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7 64bitIntel Core 2 Quad Q8300 / 2.5 GHz8GIG DDR-2Integrated Intel G45/G43 Chipset
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Asus Essentio CG5270-BP004
OS
Windows 7 64bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 / 2.5 GHz
Motherboard
P5QL-VM EPU CG5270
Memory
8GIG DDR-2
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel G45/G43 Chipset
Monitor(s) Displays
LG-W2361VG
Having or not having an extra power connector shouldn't affect the speed. If it's advertised as being USB 3.0 and has the logo it should operate at USB 3 speeds.
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 10 Education 64 bitAMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 MemoryZotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built
OS
Windows 10 Education 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
Motherboard
Asus M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
Memory
8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
Graphics Card(s)
Zotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Sound Card
VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
Screen Resolution
1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
Hard Drives
Crucial M100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
PSU
Thermaltake TR 620
Case
Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
Cooling
Stock heatsink and fan
Keyboard
Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M570 Trackman Wheel
Internet Speed
80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Browser
Internet Explorer 11
Other Info
HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2

My Computer My Computer

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W10 Pro desktop, W11 laptop, W11 Pro tablet (...3.7Ghz 8700K i7, i7-11800H, i7-1065G716G desktop, 16G laptop, 4G tabletAMD Radeon RX580, RTX 3060, Intel Iris Plus
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built desktop, Dell G15 5511 Gaming laptop,MS Surface Pro 7 tablet
OS
W10 Pro desktop, W11 laptop, W11 Pro tablet (all 64-bit)
CPU
3.7Ghz 8700K i7, i7-11800H, i7-1065G7
Motherboard
ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming in desktop
Memory
16G desktop, 16G laptop, 4G tablet
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon RX580, RTX 3060, Intel Iris Plus
Sound Card
High Definition Audio (Built-in to mobo)
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung U32J59 32" (2x), 15.6", 12"
Screen Resolution
3840x2160, 3840x2160, 1920x1080, 2160x1440
Hard Drives
500G SSD for OS; 2T, 10T & 15T HDDs for Data on Desktop, 1TB SSD laptop, 128G SSD tablet.
PSU
Corsair CX 750M
Case
Antec 100
Cooling
CM 212+
Keyboard
IBM Model M - used continuously since 1986
Mouse
Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse
Internet Speed
400M down 8M up
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Browser
FireFox
Other Info
Built my first computer (8Mhz 8088cpu, 640K RAM, 20MB HDD, 2 360K floppy drives) in 1985 and have been building them for myself, relatives and friends ever since.
Thanks guys. You've been awesome. :geek:
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7 64bitIntel Core 2 Quad Q8300 / 2.5 GHz8GIG DDR-2Integrated Intel G45/G43 Chipset
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Asus Essentio CG5270-BP004
OS
Windows 7 64bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 / 2.5 GHz
Motherboard
P5QL-VM EPU CG5270
Memory
8GIG DDR-2
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel G45/G43 Chipset
Monitor(s) Displays
LG-W2361VG
alphanumeric said:
Having or not having an extra power connector shouldn't affect the speed. If it's advertised as being USB 3.0 and has the logo it should operate at USB 3 speeds.
Click to expand...

Disagree -- a Car will operate at its rated spec BUT ONLY IF YOU PUT GAS IN THE TANK.

I've found even with some external USB 2 devices they won't operate properly - especially through a USB hub unless extra power is supplied -- some external HDD's have a dual USB connector to draw more power from the computer as well.

(Actually you are correct -- My post is merely to say that without sufficient power the device WON'T work -- so this is probably a philosophical difference only. The net result in either case is that the device doesn't work so the speed it should operate at is irrelevant).

Cheers
jimbo
 

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I was assuming the power connector had a power supply cable plugged into it. ;)
So if both cards are certified for USB 3 speeds it shouldn't matter which one you buy. And obviously you need a USB 3 device to plug into it to get the USB 3 speeds. If the OP could post some links to these cards it might help sort some of this out. I'd be interested to see if it's a PCI versus PCIe thing.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10 Education 64 bitAMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 MemoryZotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built
OS
Windows 10 Education 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
Motherboard
Asus M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
Memory
8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
Graphics Card(s)
Zotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Sound Card
VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
Monitor(s) Displays
22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
Screen Resolution
1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
Hard Drives
Crucial M100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
PSU
Thermaltake TR 620
Case
Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
Cooling
Stock heatsink and fan
Keyboard
Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M570 Trackman Wheel
Internet Speed
80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Browser
Internet Explorer 11
Other Info
HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
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