Conclusion
With most motherboards and computer cases touting USB 3.0 ports and internal headers anymore the add-on card market is not going to be overwhelming. For those that built a solid server or desktop gaming rig over two years ago and are not looking to upgrade yet, add-on cards are the only way to take advantage of USB 3.0 Super Speed. USB Super speed products are hitting the shelves in droves, with advances in NAND storage technology devices are getting smaller, faster and hold amazing amounts of data. Getting left behind behind your PC backup is taking 10 hours over USB 2.0 is not an option anymore.
Silverstone brings the “next gen” to those that might not have it yet. While the cards are not capable of out performing the onboard controller of the 990FX (asMedia), many motherboard manufacturers use many different products so results can vary. If you find that your controller is not pushing SATA 2 like speeds, grabbing an add-on card is an option.
Overall any of the devices so far exceed performance of USB 2.0 controllers (30-35 MBps) that not getting USB 3.0 to use for external storage is a waste. If you do not have it, you need it. If you have it use it. The advantage of USB 3.0 outweigh that of even eSATA solutions as with 2.5” storage devices that require only 5VDC power can be supplied through the data cable no external power is needed.
Because this is a multi product review, individual rewards are given. If all had been worthy of the same reward, a single award would be given. As you have seen on the performance charts, not all USB 3.0 controllers are created equal. Silverstone knows this and the end-user should as well. It is why they advertise their product with the controller definition in their specifications. A big thumbs up to Silverstone on that. Every product manufacturer should be as informative in their product descriptions.
The EC03B-P
The new firmware/revision of the Reneasas controller performed very well on the EC03. Traded blows with the AsMedia onboard controller step for step, although the Onboard AsMedia controller won out in overall scores. If you have an onboard USB 3.0 controller you should usually use it, but probably wouldn’t be shopping for a USB 3.0 expansion card either.
The additional features of the EC03 are excellent. The updated internal mounting setup provides better connectivity and wire management and allows use in low profile setups so it also includes a low profile expansion bracket. The front panel IO is rather flimsy feeling before installation but allows up to 4 ports to be added and works great once mounted into a case, and its free so who can complain?
Great performance, a free 3.5” bay IO adapter with scalability up to 4 ports, and decent price point when compared to similar performing controllers the EC03 gets a TechREACTION Gold award.
The FP37
If you need a high-speed card reader, the FP37 is an excellent choice. Unfortunately our SD card was so slow it was not worth testing. 8-10 MBps max. To avoid breaking the charts layout we did not include the results. It still performed better than a USB 2.0 controller, but only in benchmarks, no tangible performance gain would be noticed for most users. The Genesys Logic controller supports UHS-I up to 104 MBps and CF up to 133 MBps. If you shoot High Definition video the FP37 is going to be a must.
The USB 3.0 pass through port actually managed in one test to outscore the EC03 it was attached to. Generally a marginal decrease in performance was noticed by connecting the FP37 to the EC03. Since the EC03 also used a front panel IO cable this is not dismissable by extra latency due to cable length and the difference was more than just a margin of error issue It was however generally a single digit percentage performance loss.
Great overall construction, a hefty solid feeling product that should fit easily in any 3.5” front bay chassis. It includes silver and black face plates to cover most computer chassis on the market (and all Silverstone’s), with only USB 3.0 cables coming out the back it is a remarkably simple to attach and the ~20” cable length should allow some measure of routing to occur for those that like a clean look inside their PC case. It is priced very well compared to the competition and that gives the FP37 the TechREACTION Gold Silicon Award.
The EC04
The Texas Instrument based controller provides up to 4 USB 3.0 ports at the same price point as the EC03. For the typical end-user only the two external ports will be available immediately without the further expense of adding a front panel device since one is not included with the card. It would be nice to see the EC04 upgraded to a package like the EC03 to include a Free Front IO bay as well. The performance on the EC04 was poor compared to other alternatives.
The maximum bandwidth of the EC04 is still sufficient for external HDDs or less expensive Solid State storage technologies. Peaking at 200 MBps reads and 140 MBps writes it still adds significant performance advantages over USB 2.0. It would be nice to see alternatives based on this design either 4 external or 4 internal ports and the inclusion of the Front Panel IO adapter that came with the EC03.
The SST-EC04 adds up to 4 USB 3.0 Super Speed ports to any system with an available PCI Express slot. It includes the updated design that is shown on the EC03 to make mounting in a low profile setup possible and includes a low profile bracket as well. No front panel add-on is a drawback, that is only slightly offset by a decent market price. The EC04 gets a TechREACTION Silver silicon award for unique features and great market price.
If interested in these or many other great Silverstone products check out there website at silverstonetek.com
