Fake USB 3.0 Speeds?

[holygamer]

I was looking for the cheapest PC with USB 3.0 I could find and I saw this for £339:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-BULLDO...item5d32fe5f93

However when I called the seller and asked if it was indeed USB 3.0 he said it wasn't true USB 3.0 and he used a converter (I can't remember exactly what he said).

So what speed do you get with a fake USB 3.0 like that?

[Agent]

Not sure why this is in the Scan section?

It's either USB3, or it's not. There is no 'fake' version of it, only lies peddled by people trying to make a quick quid, which may or may not be the case here.

The motherboard is listed as: http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_...specifications

This board does not have USB3, so unless he has installed a USB3 card (which isn't stated) then it does not have USB3.

[SUMMONER]

The adapter cable connects the front panel USB 3.0 port to USB 2.0 ports on the mothboard, hence you will only get USB 2.0 speeds.

[g8ina]

Moved by me.

[DennisMenace]

The adapter cable connects the front panel USB 3.0 port to USB 2.0 ports on the mothboard, hence you will only get USB 2.0 speeds.

^^ I'm pretty sure that Y-adapter is the proper USB 3.0 jobby. USB 2.x headers have 2x5 pins, with one corner pin blocked.

I worked this out after buying a Bitfenix Colossus case, which has 2xUSB2 + 2xUSB3 (+eSATA/audio) on its front panel, which is actually on the top under a lockable lid. The USB3 sockets have extension leads attached, with a USB2 Y-adapter (?!). If you need USB3 at the front/top, you have to poke the leads through the back of the case and connect to the motherboard I/O panel - hardly an elegant solution. If I could find that USB3 Y-adapter in black it would be the perfect solution.

Apart from that "niggle", the Colossus is an awesome case, if you've got the room and the muscles to lift it. Total bargain for £72 from Scan, and probably worth half that in scrap metal value.

[SUMMONER]

^^ I'm pretty sure that Y-adapter is the proper USB 3.0 jobby. USB 2.x headers have 2x5 pins, with one corner pin blocked.

Yes, the adapter cable is USB 3.0 capable. However the Asus M5A78L-M LX V2 motherboard the eBay seller has fitted only has USB 2.0 ports. The eBay seller should throw in a free PCIe USB 3.0 card to use with the front panel ports.

[Zak33]

I'd get that reported to Ebay as an illegal item description.

USB 3 is USB3 ..... not USB2

And having it in the TITLE AND THE DESCRIPTION is breaking Trading Standards laws twice.

report it to Ebay and move on with your life

[Zak33]

and you gotta love the photo... you can see straight through the PC's side grill and out the back.. so an empty box.

Now.. we all know it's just a case..... and the bloke will fill a case with stuff... but still, the item description should state that it's for illustration only.

however.... life's too short.

Buy a Dell.

[Biscuit]

I wouldnt trust that seller in a million years!

Honestly with PC parts/PCs i believe its worth just buying them new from Scan/Ebuyer/Novatech/Dell/HP etc so that you know you recieve the proper warrenty and service will avoid any dodgy dealings.

Ebay (unless its an official store selling off old stock) is a minefield!

Ebuyer do a range of Zoostorm PCs which are pretty budget friendly, have a look at them:

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?page=1&...filtermfr=1181

[Pob255]

My guess is that the case is a usb3 pass through, not motherboard header, so he's just plugged it into a usb2 on the back.
I love the "gaming" pc but it's just got a "ATI RADEON 5450 1GB Graphics Card" that's really going to rock games

I've not seen that case before, the front bezel looks good . . . I think that's about the best I can say about that.

just added up the bits on scan

LN43190 AMD FX 4170 Black Edition, Zambezi Core, S AM3+, 4.2GHz, 12MB Total Cache, 125W, Retail £10 Cashback £107.29inc VAT
LN39736 Asus M5A78L-M LX, AMD 760G, S AM3+, DDR3, SATA II - 3Gb/s, RAID SATA, PCIe (x16), Graphics On Board, mATX £35.74inc VAT
LN40264 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair XMS DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.5V £34.56inc VAT
LN44506 1GB ScanFX Radeon HD 5450, 800MHz DDR3, 650MHz, Silent, LP, VGA/HDMI/DVI-I £22.25inc VAT
LN42410 1TB Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm 64mb Cache 8ms NCQ OEM £62.15inc VAT
LN41326 Sony AD-5280S-0B 24x DVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 SATA, Black, OEM £13.00inc VAT
Total £274.99 (and -£10 cashback) £264.99 that leaves you £74 for a case and generic psu (which is what I bet he's using)

EDIT: Hang on, he says a 4170 in the description but it's only 4.0 ghz and the 4170 is 4.2ghz
"its 4.0ghz QUAD CORE BULLDOZER FX-4170 CPU"
makes me thing he's using a fx4100 3.6ghz (£88) and overclocking it to 4ghz

[Funkstar]

USB 3 is USB3 ..... not USB2

For once as far as the USB naming convension is concerned, that is correct.

USB1/1.1/2 is a whole other complicated mess. That all now comes under the USB2 banner, with with "Low Speed", "Full Speed" and "High Speed" used to differentiate them. A mouse of keyboard that is in effect USB1, communicating at just 1.5Mbit/sec can still be called USB2, it just has to be called "Low Speed" if they are being specific.

USB3 on the other hand impliments a new connector (which is backwards compatible) and coms protocol (which runs along side USB2) to achieve the higher transfer rates and supply the additional power in the new spec (900mA @ 5v, versus 500mA @5v).

[Agent]

USB1/1.1/2 is a whole other complicated mess. That all now comes under the USB2 banner, with with "Low Speed", "Full Speed" and "High Speed" used to differentiate them. A mouse of keyboard that is in effect USB1, communicating at just 1.5Mbit/sec can still be called USB2, it just has to be called "Low Speed" if they are being specific.

This is the manufactures playing dirty though for marking, it's not officially part of the spec.
There is no provision for "low" and "high" speed USB devices in the USB2 spec, it's purely a USB 1.0 thing (even before 1.1!)

The reason it happens is that they can implement USB2 level features (such as fixed errata from USB 1.1), but use 1.1 speeds to negotiate. This is no bad thing - you don't need full USB2 speeds for a keyboard

In terms of cables / OP related though, it makes no difference. There is no such thing as a USB 2 header for the case - they are the same as USB 1 headers, pin perfect.

USB3 is an entirely different ball game though