Are there any hubs these days for connecting via USB 3.0 ports?

[pullman]

Greetings and salutations

I had my eyes on the CalDigit TS3 Plus which ticks all the boxes for my connectivity needs. Then I realised that it can only be connected via Thunderbolt which my Mac Pro 2008 doesn't have.

My computer does have two USB 3.0 ports (USB A connector) on a CalDigit PCI card, however.

So now I'm looking for alternative, price up to 200 Euro but hopefully less. Are there any such hubs around these days or is everything Thunderbolt?

Thank you in advance
Philip

 

[EugW]

What are you trying to add? There are a bazillion USB 3 hubs out there.

BTW, do your drives stay connected when you sleep your Mac Pro? I added USB 3 to my Mac Pro, but I didn't find it helpful because external drives would get disconnected at sleep. Plus mine was a bit flaky.

Also, if you're so inclined, the M4 Mac mini is a stellar machine at US$499 (edu). That's not that much more than the cost of a Thunderbolt 4 dock.

 

[pullman]

Thank you for the quick reply I'm looking to add a 2-4 more USB ports (preferably both C and A type), a fast SD card reader (to transfer 4K video) and also audio in and out, incl. optical port. So it's a mix of everything which makes it tricky.

Unfortunately the Mac mini M4 (as lovely as it is) is 720 Euro here in NL (though less with edu discount, which I might be able to get actually). The thing is I don't need another Mac as I have everything on the cMP3,1.

Yes my drives work with the Mac's sleep. I have the Mercury Elite Pro Dual connected via eSATA to the CalDigit FASTA 6GU3 Pro card. It's got two HDDs in it now, but I also tried with an SSD in a 3,5" plastic adapter case plus an HDD. With either configuration the drives sleep and wake up with the computer. Feels really solid actually.

cheers
Philip

What are you trying to add? There a bazillion USB 3 hubs out there.

BTW, do your drives stay connected when you sleep your Mac Pro? I added USB 3 to my Mac Pro, but I didn't find it helpful because external drives would get disconnected at sleep. Plus mine was a bit flaky.

BTW, if you're so inclined, the M4 Mac mini is a stellar machine at US$499 (edu). That's not that much more than the cost of a Thunderbolt 4 dock.

 

[EugW]

Take a look at what's out there, but for what you describe, it might be easier to add a PCIe card for USB-C and then get a USB-C hub.

 

[pullman]

Yeah that might be true actually. I've got the slots filled now though, but I'll think about whether I need my Blackmagic card installed all the time.

Take a look at what's out there, but for what you describe, it might be easier to add a PCIe card for USB-C and then get a USB-C hub.