USB 3.0 PCI card for A G5?

[Jethryn Freyman]

So, firewire is hard to find and USB 2 is horribly slow, anybody got any links to any USB 3 PCI cards that'll work in a PCI G5 tower? Any word on software support?

 

[alexreich]

So, firewire is hard to find and USB 2 is horribly slow, anybody got any links to any USB 3 PCI cards that'll work in a PCI G5 tower? Any word on software support?

I'm fairly certain that there is nothing available, nor will there ever be. I looked into it myself at one time. OS X Leopard doesn't support USB3.0, and as far as I know (from what I've looked at online) no one has created kexts to add support.

FireWire 400/800 cards are very easy to find by the way. eBay has many of them, as do most Mac hardware sites.

Here's a three-port FW800 card for $60 from Amazon.

Here's a three-port FW800 card for $47 from NewEgg.

Here's a three-port FW800 card from TigerDirect for $45.

Here's a three-port FW800 card for $25 from Other World Computing.

You just have to look. They're there.

 

[VanneDC]

yeah stick with FW on leopard, it HAULS!!!

 

[zen.state]

At this point in time there is no USB 3 solution on PowerPC.

If it's for external storage your best bet is a Firewire 800 or a eSATA PCI card. The minimum transfer speed would be about 60MB/sec with both and reach 80MB+.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Thanks guys

I'll probably go with FW800 or an eSATA card, I already may be able to pick up a nice SSD for a boot drive this month so that'll keep me happy for a bit longer.

It's only recently that it actually hit me how slow USB 2 is these days in the days of 15GB blueray rips

 

[TacticalDesire]

Thanks guys

I'll probably go with FW800 or an eSATA card, I already may be able to pick up a nice SSD for a boot drive this month so that'll keep me happy for a bit longer.

It's only recently that it actually hit me how slow USB 2 is these days in the days of 15GB blueray rips

I agree. I find using USB2 to be painfully slow. I have firewire but I'm getting a USB 3 card (On my Windows 7 box). That's what I love about desktops. If you don't like something, or need something, just pop in a card or other part and you're good to go . Nothing can take their place.

 

[benwiggy]

So, firewire is hard to find and USB 2 is horribly slow, anybody got any links to any USB 3 PCI cards that'll work in a PCI G5 tower? Any word on software support?

Every PowerMac G5 came with FireWire 400 and 800 ports built in. In what way is FireWire hard to find? There are plenty of peripherals that use FW ports. My external hard drive (G-Drive), scanner (EPSON) and Audio/MIDI box (Roland/Edirol) all use FireWire. Even FW400 is faster than USB2.

That's what I love about desktops. If you need something, just pop in a card or other part and you're good to go . Nothing can take their place.

Assuming that your internals can still handle new technology.
In the case of a G5, depending on the age, the bus may not be fast enough to handle USB 3 speeds, even if a card and drivers could be found.