Fair priced PCI-e USB card

[big_malk]

I'm looking for a fairly price (aka, cheap) PCI-e USB card for my Mac Pro, but they all seem to be pretty expensive, and most seem to have FireWire as well, pushing the price up.

Does anyone know where I could pick one up cheaply?

I live in the UK, so UK stores are preferable, but it can still be cheaper to buy things from the US and pay a little extra for overseas shipping.

 

[richard.mac]

dont ignore firewire. firewire on a card is usually more stable and faster than onboard firewire especially if its using a Texas Instruments chipset. you only get 2 FW 800 and 2 FW 400 port. if i had a Mac Pro i would get a USB + FW PCI card… unless you dont really use FW.

heres a good site i found searching Google UK http://www.macheaven.co.uk/?page=category&categoryid=249&compatfilter=64

 

[big_malk]

I use FireWire now and then, but 2x400 and 2x800 is plenty for me. Those cards do look good, but I've found a cheap USB only card here http://www.digital-fusion.co.uk/Inu_products/INU_ProdDetailsL9.asp?ref=75643998 , but could someone do me a favour, and check if that's definitely Mac compatible? It doesn't say it is... but it says Linux compatible, and PCI-e is a standard so it should be compatible, right?

 

[richard.mac]

any USB PCIe card will work on a mac. Mac OS X has the USB drivers and the Mac Pro has PCIe slots so its plug and play. its just some chipsets on the cards are better than others. i dont know about USB but as i said Texas Instruments chipsets are the best for firewire cards.

that card looks good. it also has an internal USB port which you would allow you to use a front USB port on a case if you were custom building a PC and your mobo had limited USB ports. but since your Mac Pro already has front USB ports you probably wont use it.

 

[arcsbite]

Can I just bring this thread back from the dead to ask

OP - did you find a good, working cheap card?

I just got one and it has an NEC chipset which according to New Egg is not compatible with the Mac Pro....would explain why it won't work

can't seem to find a good one

 

[big_malk]

Yip, I got one from eBay for £29.03, not including P&P.
Incase it's of use to you this is the eBay shop I got it from, you'll have to check if they have any more or if they ship to your country though 🙂