Orico USB3.0 PCIe out of stock everywhere?

Pick your poison......

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1DS0DV6266

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...ci-e-2-usb3-0-adapter-5/326597_745459378.html

Hope that helps

The ORICO card works no better than the other USB3 cards that I have tried (Sonnet Allegro & noname NEC chipset card) & in fact is less convenient to install as it needs to be powered via the Molex connector. It interferes with Bluetooth just as badly as the other cards.

Enrico said:

I still have the NEC card with hacked Lacie kext, but System profile shows 480Mb/s negotiated speed (USB2) on the peripherals I'm connecting.
Which card do you recommend at the end?

Click to expand...

Have you tested using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test? I recall in Snow Leopard that only 480Mb/s was reported (presumably because OS X didn't know about USB3) but reading/writing to a USB3 external disk was at full speed (>100MB/s).

Personally I would use a 3rd party card that is supported by the manufacturers e.g. Sonnet Allegro

You are most likely getting USB 3.0 speed. I had the same issue with hacked Lacie kext. I also had some issue with USB 3.0 devices not detected after a restart so switched to a patched Apple kext later which properly displays 5Gb/s link speed.

Try this kext. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/285157-patched-appleusbxhci-from-os-1082/

nigelbb said:

in fact is less convenient to install as it needs to be powered via the Molex connector

Click to expand...

Well, pick your poison.

With the Orico you have the additional cost of two cables AND an inconvenient modification of one of the cables itself in order to route it, but then you get to use native Apple drivers included with 10.8.2 henceforth. Seems to work great with all those who have tried it.

Or a very straightforward physical installation of a bus-powered card, but then dealing with hacked kexts or third party drivers, and waiting for third party drivers to be updated when they don't work with OS updates. Also I see mention of KPs and lack of support.

ActionableMango said:

Well, pick your poison.

With the Orico you have the additional cost of two cables AND an inconvenient modification of one of the cables itself in order to route it, but then you get to use native Apple drivers included with 10.8.2 henceforth. Seems to work great with all those who have tried it.

Or a very straightforward physical installation of a bus-powered card, but then dealing with hacked kexts or third party drivers, and waiting for third party drivers to be updated when they don't work with OS updates. Also I see mention of KPs and lack of support.

Click to expand...

Also in the case of Highpoint (going on past events) buy a new card when upgrading OSX.

The perfect answer is either an Apple endorsed card (unlikely) or new Mac Pro with USB 3 incorporated (who knows).

The cable install (with the right cable) took 15-20 mins, and required two screwdrivers, one for the card and one to temporarily remove molex pins.
Most of the time was disconnecting and reconnecting the MP.

Given that the whole point of the start of this thread is that the ORICO card is out of stock everywhere it's moot whether the convenience of using native drivers outweighs the inconvenience of having to run a power cable.

Here's the one I'm using:

http://www.amazon.com/Fresco-Logic-FL1009-200-DriveStation-SuperSpeed/dp/B00570PQAC

Enrico said:

Tried the NEC card with other drivers but was unable to get USB3 speeds...
I have ordered the Sonnet Allegro for Mac, for which I see the company provides frequently updated drivers.
Would I need to run power cables to the Sonnet card?

Click to expand...

The Sonnet Allegro USB3 card does not require you to run a power cable. There is a Molex connector so you could run a cable but this is presumably if you have a couple of bus-powered USB3 devices. The ORICO card doesn't even work without connecting a power cable.

somehow wrong - the 2 port Orico doesn't need extra power, it's wired to the PCI-Express.

The card "dwmc" linked to needs power, it's not Orico but Fresco itself

Erlang said:

Also in the case of Highpoint (going on past events) buy a new card when upgrading OSX.

Click to expand...

I'm in love with the design specs tho. Awesome card!

Designed like a fast RAID controller but with 4 USB 3.0 connections instead of eSATA.

Schweeeeet!


.

nigelbb said:

The Sonnet Allegro USB3 card does not require you to run a power cable. There is a Molex connector so you could run a cable but this is presumably if you have a couple of bus-powered USB3 devices. The ORICO card doesn't even work without connecting a power cable.

Click to expand...

texem said:

somehow wrong - the 2 port Orico doesn't need extra power, it's wired to the PCI-Express.

The card "dwmc" linked to needs power, it's not Orico but Fresco itself

Click to expand...

So what card works with native Apple drivers and does NOT require a molex power connection?

texem said:

somehow wrong - the 2 port Orico doesn't need extra power, it's wired to the PCI-Express.

Click to expand...

There are two 2-port ORICO cards. One (ORICO PFU3-2P) based on the Fresco FL1009 chip apparently does not require extra power. The other (ORICO PFU3-2O2I) based on Fresco FL1100 does require extra power. This latter card in fact has an extra internal 20 pin port that is I think for connecting an extra couple of ports although no details are provided with the card nor have I seen any suitable adapter.

The card linked to by dwmc actually looks similar to the ORICO PFU3-2P that does not require extra power.

nigelbb said:

There are two 2-port ORICO cards. One (ORICO PFU3-2P) based on the Fresco FL1009 chip apparently does not require extra power. The other (ORICO PFU3-2O2I) based on Fresco FL1100 does require extra power. This latter card in fact has an extra internal 20 pin port that is I think for connecting an extra couple of ports although no details are provided with the card nor have I seen any suitable adapter.

The card linked to by dwmc actually looks similar to the ORICO PFU3-2P that does not require extra power.

Click to expand...

I've seen some posts saying that the Orico PFU3-2P card doesn't need power to the molex, but that hasn't been my experience with it or the card I linked. Of course it probably depends on how much current is drawn by whatever you plug into it. To me, it's not a big deal to run power to it. I have not tried plugging an iPad into it for charging though. I'm constrained on USB 3.0 ports until I get a hub and hence don't plug any of my iOS or iPod devices into this card.

I wish I had picked up a PFU3-202I when it was available here in the U.S. I could use one to bring USB 3.0 ports to the front of the case.

dwmc said:

..

I have not tried plugging an iPad into it for charging though. I'm constrained on USB 3.0 ports until I get a hub and hence don't plug any of my iOS or iPod devices into this card.

Click to expand...

Using Orico PFU3-2P here.

iPad is not charging but any iDevice is working and a HUB as well.
For charging an iPad it doesn't help to power the card additionally via Molex.
There is no difference and , yes , it works w/o Molex because the power comes from the PCIe.

Enrico said:

How would you connect the USB 3.0 PCI to upgrade the MP's front ones?

Click to expand...

I would hack up an aftermarket USB 3.0 I/O panel to add USB 3.0 ports to the front of the case. I'd leave the existing ones alone.

dwmc said:

I would hack up an aftermarket USB 3.0 I/O panel to add USB 3.0 ports to the front of the case. I'd leave the existing ones alone.

Click to expand...

I managed to add the 2 extra USB3 ports (PFU3-202I) to the rear (second PCI plate), and I have toyed with hacking a plate in the rear chassis like the front.
A front panel hack would be of less interest to me, I like the front uncluttered.

Erlang said:

I managed to add the 2 extra USB3 ports (PFU3-202I) to the rear (second PCI plate), and I have toyed with hacking a plate in the rear chassis like the front.
A front panel hack would be of less interest to me, I like the front uncluttered.

Click to expand...

For 4 ports on the rear, I'd just use the ORICO PFU3-4P. Not that they're any easier to find than a PFU3-202I. :-(

dwmc said:

For 4 ports on the rear, I'd just use the ORICO PFU3-4P. Not that they're any easier to find than a PFU3-202I. :-(

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It was availability or lack of that forced me to use what I did.

After several months' absence, looks like the Orico PFU3-4P and 2P USB3 cards are back in stock at Amazon.com. The 4-port version has a much better value at $19.99 than the $17.99 2-port version.