PCI USB + Kinect

[zebradog]

Hi all,

We're trying to find a PCI-E USB card for an install we're doing using 3 Kinects on one machine. Due to bandwidth constraints across the bus, you can only run two Kinects simultaneously from one machine, but there's been success in the Windows camp by putting each Kinect on a separate bus/PCI-E card.

We tried CalDigit's USB3.0 card to no avail (support told us it doesn't support imaging devices) and another card without any luck, so instead of going on a wild goose chase, we were wondering if anyone had any insights?

 

[ScottishCaptain]

Why are you trying to use a USB 3.0 card?

The Kinect hardware is USB 2.0. There's plenty of cards out there (PCI-e) that handle USB 2.0 only and work in the Mac Pro with OS X.

I wouldn't bother with USB 3.0, you're not getting anything out of it. As you've already found out, USB 3.0 is geared towards storage peripherals and it doesn't support everything USB 2.0 did.

I would assume that if you found a USB 2.0 card that "just worked"- ie, it doesn't need third party drivers or driver installation of any kind to operate, then the Kinect should work off of that just fine. If you're buying cards that have an oddball chipset and require drivers to operate, then you're at the whim of the driver support as to whether or not the Kinect will run.

-SC