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Asus Unveils First USB 3.0 Motherboard

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US

Asustek has unveiled the first USB 3.0 motherboard.

Asus Wednesday unveiled the first motherboard to support SuperSpeed USB. SuperSpeed USB, also known as USB 3.0, boasts transfer rates of up to 10 times faster than what users can expect with USB 2.0.

The Asus Xtreme Design P7DP55DE-E Premium packs two USB 3.0 ports and, given that the motherboard uses Intel's P55 Express Chipset, which doesn't even support USB 3.0, it's not surprising to learn some folk were a little confused when they first heard the news. However, Asus has enlisted the help of a third party controller, which makes for a pretty handy workaround.

Aside from the two USB 3.0 ports, the Xtreme Design P7DP55DE-E Premium has 10 USB 2.0 ports, six 3GB per second SATA ports, two 6GB per second SATA ports, two PCIe x16 graphic card slots and two Gigabit Ethernet ports.

All together now, ooooh!

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Top Comments
  • 13 Ð
    Gin Fushicho , October 30, 2009 11:48 PM
    cekasonestill waiting for sata 3 and pcie 3


    "two 6GB per second SATA ports"

    Thats SATA gen 3.
Other Comments
  • 2 Ð
    cekasone , October 30, 2009 11:33 PM
    still waiting for sata 3 and pcie 3
  • -6 Ð
    tayb , October 30, 2009 11:35 PM
    Man is this going to get annoyingly confusing with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports right near each other
  • 4 Ð
    claudeb , October 30, 2009 11:41 PM
    taybMan is this going to get annoyingly confusing with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports right near each other

    the usb 3s are blue.
  • 2 Ð
    claudeb , October 30, 2009 11:42 PM
    i would rather just buy the p7p55d pro and their usb3 sata3 pcie x4 card, which is 29.99.
  • 3 Ð
    Gin Fushicho , October 30, 2009 11:48 PM
    Jesus how the hell did they fit it all on that board?
  • 13 Ð
    Gin Fushicho , October 30, 2009 11:48 PM
    cekasonestill waiting for sata 3 and pcie 3


    "two 6GB per second SATA ports"

    Thats SATA gen 3.
  • 7 Ð
    descendency , October 30, 2009 11:50 PM
    Why isn't this X58?
  • -4 Ð
    El_Capitan , October 30, 2009 11:54 PM
    So, the buying price of $299 is inflated for just TWO USB 3.0 ports? Like that's a buying factor for a motherboard anyway... but we'd also have to buy a third-party controller? Sounds like a "great" deal.
  • 1 Ð
    anonymous@guest , October 30, 2009 11:57 PM
    certainly has plenty of USB ports!
  • 3 Ð
    tester24 , October 31, 2009 12:05 AM
    I'm with El_Capitan with the wait for USB 3. Sata 3.0 can wait as well. As for PCIe 3.0 WHY!? Nothing that has come out can even saturate a single 16x bus. The only use that I see is for SLI and even then if you buy a decent board you can at least get 2 2.0 x16 slots.
  • 1 Ð
    jcknouse , October 31, 2009 12:23 AM
    For $299, I'd want the USB 3.0, all the SATA to be 6.0, etc.

    Otherwise, I'll stick with $200 and less for hardware I can get now. :) 
  • 5 Ð
    insaneclowngod , October 31, 2009 12:30 AM
    El_Capitanbut we'd also have to buy a third-party controller? Sounds like a "great" deal.

    The controller is built on to the motherboard, so you would not need to buy anything other than the board.
  • 0 Ð
    jonpaul37 , October 31, 2009 12:52 AM
    They just wanted to be the first to jump out on this..., soon enough, USB 3.0 will be the standard as it is backwards-compatible with USB 2.0 devices. all motherboards will have only USB 3.0 ports soon enough, chipset design will follow suit, thy have to...
  • 0 Ð
    anonymous@guest , October 31, 2009 1:01 AM
    So is the USB 3-controller implemented in such a way as to not be bottlenecked on a single PCIe-line?

    If it is this would be kinda pointless as USB 3-devices are likely to be backwards compatible anyway.
  • 0 Ð
    dark_lord69 , October 31, 2009 1:10 AM
    cekasonestill waiting for sata 3 and pcie 3

    SATA 3 will be worth waiting for... IF YOU USE A SOLID STATE DRIVE!
    Otherwise SATA 2 is more than enough.
    ALSO
    Same story for PCIe 3.0
    I don't know of any video cards that can reach the max capability of a PCIe (16X) slot. You really don't need more until technology advances on other fronts.
  • 0 Ð
    monicas , October 31, 2009 1:13 AM
    I think its really good to see a company step up and push 3.0 out to market. I've always liked Asus products and it seems that they are always pushing the standards at least on motherboards. Along with Gigabyte, they make some of the best mobo's around. So its no surprise they did this.

    Not sure what 3.0 devices are currently out! Anyone know?

    Monica S
    Los Angeles Computer Repair
    http://www.sebecomputercare.com
  • 0 Ð
    dauthus , October 31, 2009 1:20 AM
    Gigabyte was actually the first company to unveil a new line of mobos with USB 3.0 slots, which was about 2 days ago.
    http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/WebPage/mb_091020_333/data/tech_090814_p55-models.htm
  • 2 Ð
    agentjon , October 31, 2009 1:22 AM
    What is the selling point of USB 3.0. Faster data transfer with storage devices? eSATA aready offers that and my keyboard does not need something 10 times faster USB 2.0 to work correctly.
  • 0 Ð
    ssalim , October 31, 2009 1:28 AM
    Not for most of us. Maybe in 10 years.
  • 0 Ð
    rooket , October 31, 2009 1:39 AM
    World's first USB 3.0 motherboard with very horrible RMA support. I'll be impressed when Evga comes out with theirs. *sweeps this Asus product under the carpet*
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