SIIG usb 3.0 Superspeed $24.99 Egg promo ends 6/28

[MilesAhead]

I edited the post where I mentioned this card but I guess because of that it didn't pop up as new.  Since the promo only lasts a couple of days I thought I'd post this heads up.  NewEgg USB 3.0 card for $24.99 US shipping included.  More details in this thread:

http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=22848.0

[Innuendo]

SIIG is a good company to buy from *IF* you are buying something that will never, ever, ever require a firmware upgrade. They rebadge another company's product, change the firmware & drivers so you can only use the ones released by SIIG, and shove it out the door.

Their driver release schedule isn't too bad, but you can just about forget any new firmware ever being released. You're almost always better off researching who SIIG is using for an OEM and buy a non-rebadged version. You'll get better support in the long run.

[MilesAhead]

It seems with this USB 3.0 they are licensing this stuff off, then the originator doesn't produce anything you can buy with their own name on it.  I'm not a hw aficionado but so far I've noticed trade show demo with Thermaltake BlacX showing the increased speed of USB 3.0 with large file transfers.  No BlacX ever on the market.  But Sharkoon brand comes out with USB 3.0 where it's the BlacX with a differently shaped eject button.  The unit must be licensed from Thermaltake.

Seems to be the same thing with NEC, at least in the US. I haven't found any way to purchase a single NEC USB 3.0 superspeed card.  But there is Bytecc and SIIG.   They seem to be telling me I can't get there from here.

But if this SIIG card works in the dual core like it does in the quad I'll be very happy.  The Sharkoon docks I consider a mistake.  With USB 2.0 the cooling doesn't matter but with 3.0 you can run drives at their capacity and they get awfully warm.  I'm going to use the Sharkoon dock on the dual core since I don't use that system as much and it will spin down when idle.  It will vastly increase the speed of my image backups without having to lob over the network.

[Innuendo]

No BlacX ever on the market.  But Sharkoon brand comes out with USB 3.0 where it's the BlacX with a differently shaped eject button.  The unit must be licensed from Thermaltake.

I'm not sure Thermaltake originated the design, though. A quick search on eBay results in a handful of different vendors all with very similar designs.

Seems to be the same thing with NEC, at least in the US. I haven't found any way to purchase a single NEC USB 3.0 superspeed card.  But there is Bytecc and SIIG.

Of that I have no doubt. NEC doesn't make their own cards, but it wouldn't surprise me if the SIIG turned out to be a rebadge of the Bytecc, though.

NEC chips are the USB 3.0 chipset on my Gigabyte mobo, btw. I found it odd I couldn't find any drivers on NEC's web site. I had to download them from Gigabyte's site.

[MilesAhead]

No BlacX ever on the market.  But Sharkoon brand comes out with USB 3.0 where it's the BlacX with a differently shaped eject button.  The unit must be licensed from Thermaltake.

I'm not sure Thermaltake originated the design, though. A quick search on eBay results in a handful of different vendors all with very similar designs.

The Sharkoon isn't similar.  It's the same base with a different logo printed in just about the same spot with button in the exact location, just shaped a bit differently.  If you check the patent for USB 2.0 docks then you could satisfy your curiosity. The USB 3.0 Sharkoon dock is a BlacX USB 2.0 dock with different innards.

Whereas if you look at the SIIG USB 3.0 dock it's not the same base at all.