Asus Releases First Motherboard With USB 3 & SATA 3

When we got the word earlier this year that Intel was going to delay the introduction of its own USB 3.0 chips, the designs of many motherboards were suddenly changed, reflecting the loss of the planned USB 3 ports.

Now, Asus has several motherboards which will include an add-in card that has two SATA 3.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports. It connects through a PCI Express slot and thus is not bandwidth limited.

PC Magazine tells about the Asus releases -

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.

With the price of the USB 3.0 chips at $15, and the card priced at $29 means that this is all about being first to market, and that it will be a loss leader.

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.”

An upcoming refresh of the motherboard line will include the PLX chip, which will free up the PCI Express lane, the spokesman said.

USB 3.0 represents a dramatic step forward for the USB technology, as the data throughput has increased from 480 Mbits/s to about 5 Gbits/s. The USB Implementor’s Forum recently launched a logo and interoperability program to try and speed device adoption into the market. Several USB 3.0 devices – mostly hard drives — were shown off at the recent Intel Developer Forum, and expected to ship before the end of the year. Prices have not been announced.

The devices have launched as Intel has reportedly delayed USB 3.0 support within its PC chipsets until about 2011. An Intel representative declined to comment.

When Intel puts something so substantial off for over a year, one has to wonder what the reason might be. It has to be more than a chip design problem, because that change should be able to be implemented rather quickly.

While a motherboard manufacturer like Asus is free to add a discrete host controller to its motherboards, a discrete chip adds cost and increases the end price. In general, the motherboard and peripheral device industry quickly adopt technologies that Intel or AMD have integrated into their chipsets, and that board makers can use “for free,” without buying additional components.

AMD, however, held out hope that USB 3.0 silicon would be present earlier than Intel reportedly expects. “Unfortunately it is still too early to get into specific product details…but I would say that AMD expects to see USB 3.0 solutions on desktop PCs next year,” a spokesman for the company said via email. He did not say whether AMD would manufacture USB 3.0 host silicon, or whether it too would use a third-party chip as part of its chipsets that it would ship to motherboard manufacturers.

I remember when the first non-Intel chips for USB were released. They came from VIA, and required a special driver to work – otherwise they were dead as a door nail.

The specifications of both the P7P55D-E Premium motherboard and U3S6 expansion card are outlined below.

Specifications

ASUS P7P55D-E Premium Motherboard

CPU Socket

LGA1156 socket for Intel® Core™ i7/Core™ i5/Core™ i3*** Processors

Chipset

Intel® P55 Express Chipset

Memory

DDR3 2200 (O.C.)/1600/1333/1066MHz

Power Phase

48 Hybrid Phase****

PCIex16 Slots

2

Multi-GPU

CrossFireX/SLI

Gbit LAN

x 2

Audio

10-ch HD, DTS

Storage

6x SATA 3Gb/s

1 x eSATA (by bracket)

1 x Ultra DMA

2 x SATA 6Gb/s

USB

10  x USB2.0/1.1

(6 ports at back panel, 4 ports at mid-board)

2 x USB 3.0/2.0 (Rear)

1394a

2 ports (one at mid-board, one at back panel)

ASUS U3S6 Expansion Card

Internal Connectors

2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports for up to 2 SATA hard disk drives

Backward compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s hard disk drives

External Connectors

Interface

2 x USB 3.0 ports.

Backward compatible with USB 2.0/1.1 interface

Interface

Configuration Supported

PCIe x4 interface

Compatible with PCIe x4, x8, and x16 slots

Operating Systems Supported

AHCI Mode

Compatibility

Windows® 7/Vista/XP 32/64bit

Compatible Models

Maximus III Formula

P7P55D Deluxe

P7P55D EVO

P7P55D PRO

P7P55D

P7P55D LE

P7P55D LX

Features and

Accessories

True SATA 6Gb/s and USB 3.0 Throughput: Native support for PCIe Gen2 bandwidth

Supports Hot Plug function

Supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ)

Accessories

2 x Serial ATA 6Gb/s cables

1 x  Support CD

1 x User manual

Form Factor

4.8″ x  3″ (12.2cm x 7.6cm)

This will be a great board for early adopters (both Crossfire and SLI), as Asus tends to be very conservative with production, so that these designs will not be superseded anytime soon, and have the expandability to add the USB 3 and SATA peripherals as soon as they are released.

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