[PLUG] Parts shopping for new desktop

John Jason Jordan johnxj at gmx.com
Wed Feb 7 05:17:29 UTC 2018


On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 20:40:15 -0800
Denis Heidtmann <denis.heidtmann at gmail.com> dijo:

>I did a brief search and found a prediction that the SATA Express "may
>never catch on."

That may be a true prediction, but at the moment a SATA Express port
plus the device to mount in the front panel is the only way I can find
to get USB 3.1 Gen. 2 in the front of a desktop computer. I can find
plenty of motherboards that offer ports accessible in the back of the
computer, but I don't want to have to crawl around on the floor behind
the computer to plug in a portable drive.

For the benefit of those who may be wondering what I'm yammering about,
let me clarify the current situation re USB. USB 1.1 is now so old that
it is safely forgotten, having been replaced by USB 2.0 (480Mbps). USB
2.0 was then replaced by USB 3.0 (5Gbps). USB 3.0 was recently
superseded by USB 3.1 (10Gbps). However, for reasons I cannot grasp, it
has been decided to rename USB 3.0 as 'USB 3.1 Generation 1' and the
new 10Gbps version as USB 3.1 Generation 2.' The result is a mass of
confusion on vendors' web sites as most older copy has not been
updated. 

My computing makes moderately heavy use of disc I/O. At this time I
have no portable devices with USB 3.1 Gen 2, but the computer I'm
replacing is 7-8 years old, so I am building a new one that I hope will
serve my needs for just as long. It won't be very long before Gen 2
becomes the norm, so it makes sense to be ready for it.



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