Asus has launched an add-on card with a third-party USB 3.0 controller, as reports have begun circulating that
Intel has pushed out its own integrated USB 3.0 chipset solutions by at least a year.
On Wednesday, Asus launched the ASUS U3S6 PCIe x4 add-on card for PCs, which contains both a 6-Gbit SATA bridge with two ports as well as two USB 3.0 ports. Asus also announced the P7P55D-E Premium motherboard, which also features the 6-Gbit SATA
technology as well as two USB 3.0 connectors. The P7P55D-E Premium motherboard and U3S6 expansion cards will be available at ASUS authorized retailers in early November at $299 and $29 respectively, the company said.
Asus chose to use the NEC UPD720200 USB 3.0 host controller for its board, which it said was the first "true" implementation of USB 3.0. NEC claimed to have the first USB 3.0 controller in the market when it launched the UPD720200 in May of this year. At the time, NEC charged $15 apiece for sample quantities.
"The USB 3.0 controller has been connected to a PCIe 2.0 x1 lane (i.e. bandwidth of 5Gb/s) from [the] X58 chipset directly, hence its theoretical bandwidth should not be limited (considering the top speed required for USB3.0 is 5Gb/s)," an Asus spokesman said in an email. "Also, because of that, there is no need for a PLX [bridge] chip. However, the experimental result may vary depending on the equipment used."
