How to Add a USB3 port to your PC ~ Hard and Software Plus

Take advantage of the latest gadgets by fitting faster USB3 sockets to your desktop or laptop PC

The Universal Serial Bus (or USB) connection port was a massive step forward for PCs. Launched in 1995, it quickly usurped numerous competing connection standards because it made attaching devices to computers much easier.

However, the original USB standard wasn’t particularly quick at transferring data. The 12Mbits/sec speed was fine for sending print jobs or communicating with keyboards and mice and so forth but not much beyond. So, five years later along came USB2, which increased data-transfer speeds to a maximum of 480Mbits/sec,making it suitable for use with external hard disks, for example.

But as technology has improved, even that rate began to look slow. That’s why many new PCs now come with at least one USB3 socket, capable of zapping data at up to 5Gbits/sec – about 10 times faster than USB2. The range of USB3-compatible devices is small but it will become the most common connection in the next few years. So adding USB3 connectivity to your computer is a project worth considering.

Why choose USB3?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any computer owner must be in want of extra USB sockets. Even adding hubs never seems to solve the problem. The problem is more serious than simply having to unplug a webcam to connect a USB memory key, say. All the devices connected to a single USB controller share the available data-transfer bandwidth, so if a USB hard disk is connected to the same controller as a few memory keys, for example, all may be forced to run more slowly than they would otherwise.

The controller, incidentally, is a USB port’s interface with the motherboard (and therefore the rest of the PC). A PC with half-a-dozen USB ports might have two USB controllers, for example, but there’s no quick way of telling which controller a particular port is attached to.

USB3 relieves this problem, because of the aforementioned 5Gbits/sec bandwidth – there’s simply more to go round.

USB3 is suited to data-hungry external storage devices, such as hard disks. However, as with USB2, it’s compatible with earlier versions of the standard (so USB2 or USB devices can be attached to USB3 sockets but there would be no performance benefit – USB3 sockets won’t make older devices work faster).

Does my PC have USB3?

USB3 sockets are almost identical to older (USB and USB2) types. If you look very closely you might notice a couple of extra electrical connections but there’s really no need for squinting because the plastic used in USB3 sockets is typically coloured blue.

Older USB and USB2 sockets are usually white or black in colour.

Technical requirements

If your computer lacks USB3, it is fairly simple to equip it with some sockets. If your laptop computer has an Expresscard slot, as many recent models do, then you can buy a card that simply slots into the side, such as the Akasa card. Check your laptop’s manual to see whether it has this type of slot.

USB3 can be added to a desktop PC via a PCI Express expansion card, slots for which exist in most modern PCs; they’re normally marked in white letters on the motherboard (though you may need to look closely). The USB3 sockets will then be available at the rear of the PC, as they’re accessible through the backing plate (though some cards also add internal USB3 connections).

PCI Express slots come in a variety of lengths depending on how much data they are designed to transfer. The shortest slot, PCI Express 1x, is adequate for USB3. Technically, this slot length’s maximum bandwidth is a bit lower than USB3’s but, practically, this isn’t a huge issue. Besides, almost all USB3 expansion cards are designed for PCI Express 1x, so there’s little choice but to use it. It is a 2.5cm (1in) white slot with a notch in the middle.

PCI Express 16x slots are much longer (9cm/3.5in) and are normally intended for use with graphics cards. Other sizes, such as 4x and 32x, are rare. If the PC happens to have a spare 16x slot – perhaps because the PC uses an integrated graphics card – it can accommodate a PCI Express 1x expansion card.

Older PCI slots are the same size as PCI Express but, with the computer’s backing plates on the left as the reference point, the notch is on the right side of the slot (with PCI Express, it’s on the left). However, PCI slots do not have sufficient bandwidth to cope with USB3.

However, PCI slots do not have sufficient bandwidth to cope with USB3.

Choosing a card

While compiling this guide we looked at numerous USB3 PCI Express cards. The Freecom USB 3.0 PCI Express Host Controller has two USB3 sockets and costs around £26. If you want more sockets, £58 will buy the Startech 4 Port Superspeed USB 3.0. This has three sockets on the backing plate and one internally, which could be used to attach to a front-facing hub mounted in spare drive bay.

Desktop USB3 cards require extra power that can be taken from the power supply inside the computer. Check the specifications of the card to make sure you have a spare plug and that it is the right sort. The aforementioned Freecom card, for example, uses an older-style Molex power plug, whereas the Startech model draws power from newer Sata connections. Some laptop (Express Card) USB3 adapters also require additional power, which is hardly convenient for portability, so do check.

Install your USB3 card

It’s likely that the USB3 card will need its driver software installed before fitting. So before opening up the computer, insert the supplied CD into the appropriate drive and follow the wizard to install the drivers. If you happen to use Linux, this has built-in support for USB3 so no software installation is needed. None of the cards we looked at included drivers for Apple’s Mac OS X.

With that done, power down the computer, unplug all the cables, including the power lead, and position it on a convenient surface to install the card. Remove the side of the case, locate a free PCI Express slot and unscrew the adjacent backing plate, saving the screw.

Carefully line up the connectors on the bottom of the card with the PCI Express slot and push it into place with firm finger pressure. Now secure it with the retained screw and then connect the power cable Molex or Sata power connector, as appropriate. Replace the side of the computer and turn it on.

Windows should detect the card and install the drivers automatically. For more help, watch our video demonstration showing how to fit a USB3 card.

Finishing the build

If you attach a USB3 device to a USB2 (or USB) socket, it won’t be able to benefit from the extra speed (though it should still work, at least in a USB2 socket). This is also true of any hubs you might have, so attaching a USB2 hub to a USB3 socket will not make the hub perform any faster.

You might consider fitting a USB3 hub mounted in one of the computer’s 3.5in or 5.25in drive bays, at the front of the computer. This is typically the most convenient place to access USB sockets and they sometimes include useful extras, such as memory-card readers. The £32 Lycom UB-116F hub, for example, fits into a 3.5in bay and adds four USB3 sockets to the front of the computer. However, it does need an internal USB3 socket, so be sure to buy a USB3 expansion card that has one.

Increase the speed

Finally, if you’re wondering whether it’s all been worth it, then you might find it reassuring to hear that during our tests we measured dramatic speed increases. To gauge this, we used a USB3 enclosure to attach both a traditional hard disk and a solid-state drive (SSD) to our USB3-equipped PC in the labs. The data-transfer rate to the SSD essentially trebled, while the traditional platter-based hard disk saw its sustained transfer speed double.

In practical terms, this could mean that backups made to an external drive could be completed in half or even a third of the time - a compelling reason to upgrade, in our opinion.

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