Solved usb 2.0 to 3.0 converter?

[jalnyc]

Hi all

So I just got a couple of external hard drives that are 3.0. While my laptop has one usb 3.0 connection, my desktop does not. I tried searching the forum as I suspect this has been talked about but couldn't find a thread so sorry if this a repeat, but is there some sort of converter out there that converts a 2.0 usb connection to a 3.0? I googled it and got some hits from amazon but the reviews don't look too promising.

Also, if there are converters out there, how good are they in terms of speed? Is it worth it or is the increase in speed marginal?

Thanks in advance.

 

[boohbah]

i have a new external and its a 3 the laptop only has usb 2 ,the cable has a usb 2 plug on the laptop end and a usb3 plug on the external end.

not sure if this is a usb 3 cable or if it is a 3 to 2 cable anyhow it works fine for the laptop.

 

[jalnyc]

i have a new external and its a 3 the laptop only has usb 2 ,the cable has a usb 2 plug on the laptop end and a usb3 plug on the external end.

not sure if this is a usb 3 cable or if it is a 3 to 2 cable anyhow it works fine for the laptop.

Hey boobah

Yeah my external hard drive came with a similar cable to the picture you posted. The cable with the blue end connects to the computer. The thing is, when you connect the cable to a usb 2.0 port you get 2.0 speed, while when you connect it to a 3.0 port you get 3.0 speeds which is way faster...so far I have seen 50mb/s which is great. I want to know if there is a way to convert (through some kind of converter piece) 2.0 speeds to 3.0 speeds.

PS - awesome boobah stuff...reminds me of my college days lol.

 

[stormy13]

Even if there was such a device it would be a waste because you can't make the USB 2 speed any faster than it supports.

 

[Phone Man]

A USB 3 port has both USB 3 and USB 2 connectors as does the cable. If both ends are USB 3 then the deice will use the USB 3 connector and run at USB 3 speed. If one end is USB 2 then it will use the USB 2 connectors and run at USB 2.

They do make USB 3 cards that are PCIe and are really cheap.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Computer Accessories, Add-On Cards, 2x USB Ports, PCI Express to USB Card

Jim

 

[Phone Man]

i have a new external and its a 3 the laptop only has usb 2 ,the cable has a usb 2 plug on the laptop end and a usb3 plug on the external end.

not sure if this is a usb 3 cable or if it is a 3 to 2 cable anyhow it works fine for the laptop.

The SS means Super Speed which is USB 3.0. It has connectors for both USB 2 and USB 3. They used the same 4 pins for USB 2 and added 5 new pins for USB 3.



Jim

 

[jalnyc]

A USB 3 port has both USB 3 and USB 2 connectors as does the cable. If both ends are USB 3 then the deice will use the USB 3 connector and run at USB 3 speed. If one end is USB 2 then it will use the USB 2 connectors and run at USB 2.

They do make USB 3 cards that are PCIe and are really cheap.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Computer Accessories, Add-On Cards, 2x USB Ports, PCI Express to USB Card

Jim

Jim, this is awesome. I didn't know such a device existed. This was what I was trying to get at in my initial post and you somehow deciphered it. Thanks! Will def look into this.

 

[boohbah]

thanks for the info jim, i knew i was getting usb 2 speeds but not why.
waiting to upgrade this laptop so next one will have usb .3 ports.
good to know about the pci cards also, for future upgrades on the desktop