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#1
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure
about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? |
#2
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
On 7/31/2011 8:49 AM, Pimpom wrote:
I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? As I see it, the principle advantage of USB is its ubiquity. It will be a couple of years (at least) before USB3 has that sort of range. Still, though, a USB3 external drive should be markedly faster than the USB2 counterparts, so for some applications there is an immediate payoff. You can get USB3 motherboards + processor for about $160, so that's not far off from the entry-level price on less-equipped boards. |
#3
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
On 7/31/2011 9:49 AM, Pimpom wrote:
I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? I don't have USB 3.0 in a system now although my upcoming build with a Zotac Z68ITX-A-E will certainly have it. Standards like USB are meant to be forward-looking. When each comes out there is little or no use for them. When USB 1.0 first appeared in a computer there was almost nothing on the market to use it. "USB? What is USB. I'm happy with my serial and parallel port. Who needs USB?" When USB 2.0 appeared on computers, most people would have been served just as well by their old version ports but eventually the market grew into the new standard. The same thing will happen with USB 3.0 -- right now there aren't all that many devices which can take advantage of it but give it a year or two and there will be many. If you plan on keeping your computer for a few years and hope that it will remain really useful over its life then taking new standards into account is the practical thing to do. |
#4
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
On Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:19:16 +0530, "Pimpom"
wrote: I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? I have USB 3.0 on two systems. In one it's port is built into the motherboard and for the other I added a PCIe adaptor. I do incremental backups to external drives and the USB 3.0 is much faster when writing large (one gig and up) files. The adaptor is a very inexpensive way to go if your proposed MB doesn't have the capability. |
#5
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
Pimpom wrote:
I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? Thanks for the replies, everyone and sorry about the late response from my side. My ISP went down for several hours just after I finished reading Grinder's post. So the consensus is that USB 3 is not very useful now, but will most likely be in a couple of years. I'm hampered by the fact that I live in a remote part of India where local prices are high and choices are severely limited. Online shops are just starting to take off in India and the choices they offer are also limited. I'll see if I can get a USB 3 mobo within my budget with all the other features I want. These are - AMD AM3 At least 785 chipset, preferably 880G IEEE1394 2 PCI slots At least one PS/2 port, preferably two One PCI-E x16 - may not be used, certainly not SLI/Crossfire HDMI not essential |
#6
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
Pimpom wrote:
Pimpom wrote: I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? Thanks for the replies, everyone and sorry about the late response from my side. My ISP went down for several hours just after I finished reading Grinder's post. So the consensus is that USB 3 is not very useful now, but will most likely be in a couple of years. I'm hampered by the fact that I live in a remote part of India where local prices are high and choices are severely limited. Online shops are just starting to take off in India and the choices they offer are also limited. I'll see if I can get a USB 3 mobo within my budget with all the other features I want. These are - AMD AM3 At least 785 chipset, preferably 880G IEEE1394 2 PCI slots At least one PS/2 port, preferably two One PCI-E x16 - may not be used, certainly not SLI/Crossfire HDMI not essential At the current time, USB3 is implemented by soldering a separate NEC USB3 chip to the motherboard. Soon, a new generation of motherboards will be available, where the USB3 is offered by the Southbridge, so it doesn't cost anything extra to offer USB3. Only the price of the connector on the back of the computer will be (slightly) different. In the interim, if you buy a non-USB3 motherboard, for about $25 USD you can buy a PCI Express x1 card with the NEC USB3 chip on it. So if you really need it, you can get USB3 this way. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815201038 The best deal, a while ago, was the Asus U3S6 card. It was also $25, but not only did it have a USB3 chip on it, it also had a SATA III chip offering 6Gbit/sec ports. That was a limited time offer, and that particular card uses an x4 slot or larger. I wouldn't bother searching for this, because this was only a good thing to have, when it was introduced. A regular USB3 card is good enough now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813995004 Maybe, in two years time, a card like that will be $10, and more affordable. Paul |
#7
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
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#8
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How useful/essential is USB 3.0?
"Pimpom" wrote in message
... I'm putting together a system on a tight budget and I'm sure about what I need or want regarding most of the features except for USB 3. It seems to me that most USB hardware don't use even USB 2.0 to its full capacity. The exception is perhaps an external HDD which I've never used so far. So, to those of you who have USB 3.0, do you find that it gives you a significant advantage over 2.0 in everyday use? You can get a USB expansion card for just a few pounds, so don't worry about it until you have a device that requires it. |
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