ASUS announces world's first USB 3.1 Gen 2 certified motherboard

[watercooled]

You missed my point. Stuff can benefit from higher speeds but it doesn't mean it is used or needed. The only time it will be of any use is when I buy a device that says in big writing on it, is not compatible with USB 2. Until then USB 3 and it's variants will be something only those in the know will make full use of.

Not really. If you buy a USB 3 device and use it on a USB 3 host port, it is used. And if you want better than about 30MB/s transfer speeds (about the best you can hope to get out of USB 2) then it is needed too. So you can't really claim USB 3 is not used or needed.

USB is backwards and forwards compatible so USB 2 is never going to get entirely 'replaced' by USB 3 as you put it. But in terms of high-throughput peripherals where it will actually make a difference, it's already been superseded in commonly-available products. USB 3 has already 'taken off'; it's not like it's a niche feature you have to hunt down like Thunderbolt or something.

[DanceswithUnix]

You missed my point. Stuff can benefit from higher speeds but it doesn't mean it is used or needed. The only time it will be of any use is when I buy a device that says in big writing on it, is not compatible with USB 2. Until then USB 3 and it's variants will be something only those in the know will make full use of.

USB has always had a split personality: trying to be a replacement for PS/2 connectors for mouse and keyboard where cheap really matters, and being an interface for things like hard drives where speed matters. There will always be cases where extra speed doesn't matter, like webcams. As long as the ports are backwards compatible though, the new ports will get adopted.

[jm101]

How many people use ( or need) that speed on USB ? I use wired Ethernet as much as possible for NAS backups and the like.

[watercooled]

As I said before USB 2 maxes out around 30MB/s for real-world file transfers so even a standard external hard drive will benefit significantly from using USB 3.

[shaithis]

How many people use ( or need) that speed on USB ? I use wired Ethernet as much as possible for NAS backups and the like.

Myself, my brother and about 50% of freinds all use USB 3.0 hard drives and could not go back to USB 2.0. in fact, I have 2 and am about to add a third.

When transfering large files, the difference can be phenomenal. I have had to do a couple of 500GB transfers recently, the difference between USB2 and USB3 for me was: 5 hours vs 1 hour.

[Scow Captain]

I like how we need 10Gbps usb but still use 6Gbps sata....

Well speak for yourself - enthusiasts are moving on from 6Gbps SATA because it's too slow. M.2 with plenty of lanes is becoming a better storage interface.

The problem with M.2 is the lack of cooling. Tests of Samsung's SM951 show a lot of thermal throttling.

[Percy1983]

I am a usb3 user, having to empty 8 64gb sd cards (video work) is much quicker as I can now get the full 90mb/s of the sd cards.

Likewise my external back up drive copies so much faster now its epic.

[kalniel]

The problem with M.2 is the lack of cooling. Tests of Samsung's SM951 show a lot of thermal throttling.

In a laptop environment maybe, but a case with good airflow should be no problem.

[iamlorro]

How many people use ( or need) that speed on USB ? I use wired Ethernet as much as possible for NAS backups and the like.

but NAS' aren't quite as portable as a USB 3 HDD!

[KeyboardDemon]

but NAS' aren't quite as portable as a USB 3 HDD!

Some might argue that a NAS is more portable as the drive can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.

[whatif]

When will we see the 40Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 / Usb 3.1 c type reversable ports?
That will be all we need, one type of port.
Several of those (instead of HDMI, USB 2 and/or 3, charging, display port, etc), and with the right graphics, you have 3x (or more) 4K monitors plus a lot of other things.
Or some sort of easy surround 3d vision (without the big headset they have now, if they are like wraparound sunglasses would be OK) to go with the surround sound.
Adapters would be required to enable backward compatibility.
Think of the external raid set-up full of ssd's attached to one of these.
All we needs then is the games and graphics software and all the other odds and sods to catch up with the larger amounts of data flow that these can take.
I can foresee a expensive future, upgrading everything.

[whatif]

The problem with M.2 is the lack of cooling. Tests of Samsung's SM951 show a lot of thermal throttling.

There are websites showing thermal photos of how hot these can get and these are only the slower Samsung XP941.
"It got to 113 °C" and "weren't doing anything crazy (just making a copy of a bunch of ISO files)" quotes from Puget Systems review with thermal photos.
Not sure if I can put in links, but ask me and I will post the address if I am allowed.
I have copper heatsinks on mine with fans blowing across to help cool a bit, plus I will have a heat sensor on them soon.
There is also the option of a PCI-e adapter with a large heatsink.
Even had a recent conversation with a cpu/fan manufacturer and they said they may be looking into some sort of cooler for them because of in-house tests they had done.
Something along the idea of a clip-on ram cooler with heatsink would be great
Just have to have the M.2 slot in a open spot on the motherboard, not under a PCI card slot

[D-T]

Disappointing it's still Type A. I suppose it's one more step along the road to progress but as far as I can see the only real justification for USB 3.1 are the alternate modes which we only see with the Type C connector.

10Gbps is nice -- given the main consumer alternative is still GbE for us non-thunderbolt users -- but it's not ground-breaking; I certainly wouldn't consider it worth upgrading for. 10Gbps data transfer + 100W power delivery + DisplayPort A/V (up to 8K @ 60fps), all through a single reversible connector... that's another thing entirely.

[qasdfdsaq]

So what does advantage does a SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps certified board have in practice over the dozens of non-certified SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps boards - particularly ones that use the exact same SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps chip and drivers?

[GoNz0]

Why z97 though? I'd have expected this tech to be on x99 or Skylake.

It is all about what's the best seller, and that isn't enthusiast platforms. you can tell that by the diabolical support for X99