Review on 🔌 Vantec 2-Port USB 3.1 Gen II PCIe Host Card (Type-A/C) UGT-PC371AC by Joe Michels

UPDATE: I tried the Startech PEXUSB32EI and it worked in the same slot with no issues. It is based on the NEC/Renesas uPD720202 chipset. It's not USB 3.1 Gen2, it's UASP over USB 3.0 and IT WORKS! I bought this card with the intention of getting UASP (External Storage Performance Enhancement) support. I have a powerful DELL desktop computer with a 7th generation Intel chipset (10th generation is currently in production). My system has PCIe Gen 3 and Gen 2 slots which means the PCIe lanes are 8Gbps and 5Gbps respectively. The lanes are combined (in parallel) to increase bandwidth. The notation is usually "x" meaning "of". Therefore, a 1-lane or 1-lane connection is referred to as x1. They also have x2, x4, x8 and x16. The PCIe specification differentiates between the connector of a physical card slot and the number of actual electrical lines. You can only have a x16 slot with a x1 electrical connection. Ribbons are a finite resource in system design. Desktop systems typically use a physical x4 slot with an electrical x1 connection. This falls under Logic 1, better than nothing. The PCIe specification requires cards to be able to negotiate the number of lanes available and work with available lanes. Of course, this limits the available bandwidth, but something is better than nothing. This Vantec card uses an early ASmedia chip (1142) and it turns out (according to Vantec engineers via support) that it doesn't work with less than x2 electrical lines available. Therefore, THIS CARD WILL NOT WORK ON many PCs on the market that have a x4 slot with x1 power. I've spent a lot of time troubleshooting and communicating with Vantec support. While they were helpful, it is not true that this card is PCIe 2 compatible. THAT DOES NOT FIT! Looking at the USB 3.1 cards on the market, it's clear that many use ASmedia chipsets, and they won't work on many PCs either. Buyer Warning! For reference, I tried another manufacturer's card with an ASmedia 3142 chipset (chipset 2 generations later) and the row matching problem persists. Therefore, ANY card (including this Vantec) based on the ASMedia chipsets mentioned DOES NOT COMPLY with the PCIe 2 specification which requires PCIe line termination.