Asrock x79 Extreme 4: why did they put USB 2.0 ports on it?

[magellan]

This particular motherboard has only two USB 3.0 ports and the rest are all USB 2.0. The thing is, why would any manufacturer
bother to put USB 2.0 ports on a motherboard when USB 3.0 is the new standard? Is it somehow a limitation of the Intel x79 chipset?

 

[EarthDog]

It was released nearly 3 years ago... would that help you come to a conclusion?

Being serious, I do not believe USB3 was native to X79... not to mention how long ago it really was. So it being a 'new' standard really didn't apply in 2011.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

X79 doesn't have native USB 3.0
Also, X79 is old.

 

[Woomack]

With USB 3.0 driver bug which is happening quite often on Intel chipsets, it's working at max 40MB/s anyway I think that most users don't even realize that.

 

[EarthDog]

With USB 3.0 driver bug which is happening quite often on Intel chipsets, it's working at max 40MB/s anyway I think that most users don't even realize that.

Naa, cause its still 10x faster than what happens on USB2!!!

 

[ninjacore]

I think Windows 8 must auto-install USB 3.0 drivers, but I do recall when I was running W7 on my PCs that I had USB 3.0 issues if I didn't have the right drivers installed. Mouse/KB plugged into the USB 3.0 port wouldn't even be recognized. Compatibility issues like that and (probably more important to the manufacturer) cost are the likely reasons.

Naa, cause its still 10x faster than what happens on USB2!!!

 

[magellan]

I just looked up the x79 express chipset specs and it doesn't have any native USB 3.0 support. So I guess I should be glad I have any USB 3.0 ports at all.

Even though "In 2007, Intel demonstrated SuperSpeed USB at the Intel Developer Forum. Version 1.0 of the USB 3.0 (confusing, isn’t it?) specification was completed on November 17, 2008. " the x79 chipset didn't have any USB 3.0 connectivity designed into it. A
marketing decision?

 

[Woomack]

I've never had issues with USB 2.0 and it's working at ~30MB/s max. On Intel chipsets there is a bug in chip/driver which is causing to slow down or drop connection. On Win8 you can't even fix it reinstalling drivers cause USB 3.0 driver is built-in the system.
There are various fixes in the web depends from issue. From system registry changes to reinstalling drivers, forcing constant power up for USB ports etc. Not all are available on Win8 as you can't reinstall USB 3.0 driver there.

I was testing flash drives recently and one of 3 systems had no problems with full speed of USB 3.0. Sometimes it's working and the next day it's not. I couldn't find any solution which was fixing this issue once for all.

Simply, if it's working then don't touch it.

NEC or ASMedia is working slightly slower but there are no problems in Win7 ( I don't remember in Win8 ). I had no problems on AMD boards in Win7/8.

 

[EarthDog]

I think Windows 8 must auto-install USB 3.0 drivers, but I do recall when I was running W7 on my PCs that I had USB 3.0 issues if I didn't have the right drivers installed. Mouse/KB plugged into the USB 3.0 port wouldn't even be recognized. Compatibility issues like that and (probably more important to the manufacturer) cost are the likely reasons.

Depends on which boards and which usb ports you used... Some (clearly we are not talking X79 here) had native USB3 support AND additional USB ports. If you used the second hand ports, you would need drivers. If you used the native ones, the chipset drivers should allow them to work.

 

[ninjacore]

Depends on which boards and which usb ports you used... Some (clearly we are not talking X79 here) had native USB3 support AND additional USB ports. If you used the second hand ports, you would need drivers. If you used the native ones, the chipset drivers should allow them to work.

I was likely using the non-native ports, then, as I remember some of the 3.0 ports did work and others did not.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I just looked up the x79 express chipset specs and it doesn't have any native USB 3.0 support.

Yes, that's why I said:

X79 doesn't have native USB 3.0

 

[magellan]

Yes, that's why I said:

Yes, but WHY doesn't it have USB 3.0 support? The USB 3.0 standard was finalized 3-4 years before this
chipset debuted.

 

[EarthDog]

If it really was AVAILABLE in 2007, shouldn't this question expand to several other chipsets?

I think 2010 is when the first hit the scene (Google tells me this)

 

[magellan]

ED, why do you answer a question with a question?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

ED, why do you answer a question with a question?

Shouldn't someone search before asking obvious questions?

 

[magellan]

Shouldn't someone search before asking obvious questions?

Search? For what? Why Intel didn't include USB 3.0 support in a chipset designed 3 years after
the USB 3.0 standard was established?

 

[EarthDog]

Damn... Im going to do it again, sorry...How can we know what Intel was thinking? (We don't). So the only thing we can(all) do is search the web for the information.

I wiki'd it and found that although the standard was set in late 2008, it was first ANNOUNCED at CES 2010 and on two motherboards (P67 perhaps?) - not sure if that was native or 3rd party. My GUESS was that the X79 chipset was too late into development by that time to add that functionality so they got around that by adding 3rd party controllers. Perhaps it was a monetary issue... If those guesses are wrong, anyone's is as good as mine!!!

Here is a quote from the wiki:

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced on 17 November 2008 that the specification of version 3.0 had been completed and had made the transition to the USB Implementers’ Forum (USB-IF), the managing body of USB specifications.[6] This move effectively opened the specification to hardware developers for implementation in future products.

The first USB 3.0 consumer products were announced and shipped by Buffalo Technology in November 2009, while the first certified USB 3.0 consumer products were announced January 5, 2010, at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES), including two motherboards by ASUS and Gigabyte Technology.[7][8]

Manufacturers of USB 3.0 host controllers include, but are not limited to, Renesas Electronics, Fresco Logic, ASMedia Technology, Etron, VIA Technologies, Texas Instruments, NEC and Nvidia. As of November 2010, Renesas and Fresco Logic[9] have passed USB-IF certification. Motherboards for Intel's Sandy Bridge processors have been seen with Asmedia and Etron host controllers as well. On October 28, 2010, Hewlett-Packard released the HP Envy 17 3D featuring a Renesas USB 3.0 host controller several months before some of their competitors. AMD worked with Renesas to add its USB 3.0 implementation into its chipsets for its 2011 platforms.[dated info] At CES2011, Toshiba unveiled a laptop called "Toshiba Qosmio X500" that included USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0, and Sony released a new series of Sony VAIO laptops that will include USB 3.0. As of April 2011, the Inspiron and Dell XPS series are available with USB 3.0 ports, and, as of May 2012, the Dell Latitude laptop series, yet the USB root hosts fail to work at SuperSpeed under Windows 8. On June 11, 2012, Apple announced new MacBook Airs and MacBook Pro with USB 3.0.

 

[magellan]

So other manufacturers, including motherboards by Gigabyte and Asus, released products w/USB 3.0 capabilities in 2010 but Intel couldn't manage it w/the x79 a year later? Considering the vast amounts
of cash Intel has to spend on R&D it seems hard to believe they couldn't manage to add USB 3.0 functionality to the x79.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

So other manufacturers, including motherboards by Gigabyte and Asus, released products w/USB 3.0 capabilities in 2010 but Intel couldn't manage it w/the x79 a year later? Considering the vast amounts
of cash Intel has to spend on R&D it seems hard to believe they couldn't manage to add USB 3.0 functionality to the x79.

Did you consider that they may have been so far in the stages of planning and production that they would have to scrap the entire project and start again to implement USB 3.0?

 

[EarthDog]

So other manufacturers, including motherboards by Gigabyte and Asus, released products w/USB 3.0 capabilities in 2010 but Intel couldn't manage it w/the x79 a year later? Considering the vast amounts of cash Intel has to spend on R&D it seems hard to believe they couldn't manage to add USB 3.0 functionality to the x79.

They were on chipsets that were in development and out much earlier than X79 (hence my initial guess)... but yes, that is seemingly what happened.

In the end though, its a non issue for most really. When X79 refreshed with Ivybridge, a new batch of boards came out from a lot of MFG. With that, and seeing how USB3 was more mainstream at that time (what, a year or so ago?), There may be more on those boards compared to the ones that have already been released (EVGA Dark for example).

It does seem like an omission, and you are not alone in that thinking... however this was hashed out all over the web when X79 was released a couple years ago. You can look around the web for threads just like this... but dated a couple years back. Welcome to 2011.