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

I installed this on an old Lenovo Thinkstation D30 workstation, which in its day was a very powerful system with two Xeon processors and a relatively large power supply. The system had an existing Inatek 6-port PCIE USB 3.0 card and a few remaining free PCIE slots. An updated Nvidia 1080 graphics card is also included. After about 10 hours of effort, I got everything up and running. Initially I had severe instability with the USB ports in the system (on this card and also on an old Inatek…

The card worked fine after I followed the installation instructions. I've tried installing it without plugging the card into the power supply's Molex connector. It didn't work, so I looked around and put together an extension that might have served. When I plugged the Molex socket into the connector on the board, the connector's plastic locking pins popped out of the board. I looked at the 4 solder points through a magnifying glass and decided that the electrical connection must be good. I…

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…

This review is for a Vantec 4-port USB 3.0 PCIe with a 20-pin internal host card (UGT-PC345). I wanted to add 31 Linux USB 3 ports to my old Dell Inspiron 580 with Fedora. It couldn't be easier. I installed the card in an available PCIe x1 slot and connected an existing SATA power cable to the Molex adapter (included). Linux recognized the USB ports immediately. I'm getting around 145MB/s writing to a SanDisk Extreme flash drive where I used to get around 24MB/s on 2.0. Oh, and I also bought…

Practically 1/3 the price of an equivalent. My motherboard only has USB 3.0 and was having connectivity issues. I installed this and connected a USB-C to USB-A hub. Typically, USB-A hubs with more than 4 ports require a power adapter to connect to, but a USB-C to USB-A hub may consume more power. Not to mention that they are generally more reliable. Even if I end up buying a new motherboard, it will be useful. When there are problems with USB, we often have to wonder if the problem is with the…

The card (UGT-PC345) is a legacy USB 3.0 adapter sold under the Vantec brand. I have been using Vantec case fans and wanted to try this product to get USB 3.0 on my system. For the most part it works. However, it seems to have a strange effect on the power management of my M4A78T-E motherboard. Sometimes it wakes up from hibernation as if it were in hibernation. This has never happened before. At least once a bios error occurred during the wake-up process. I tried to find an updated driver but…