Scan 2-Port HPU-300 NC SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCI Express Card Review

Final ThoughtsIt’s clear from our tests that the Scan HPU-300 USB3.0 PCI Express card offers a completely different level of performance to the standard USB2.0 ports on your motherboard. In our tests we saw huge improvements in read speeds and good improvements in write speeds too. Bear in mind that you will need an external SSD to make use of all the bandwidth USB3.0 has to offer but, with most hard drives, you will still notice a substantial difference.

The only real problem that we can find with this USB3.0 card is that most new motherboards these days come with USB3.0 built in, meaning there isn’t any need for add in cards like this. We also found that the drives for this USB3.0 card conflicted with those for our Crosshair V Forumla motherboard (which supports USB3.0), causing BSODs until we removed the motherboard’s own drivers.

So we would definitely recommend the Scan HPU-300 USB3.0 PCI express card to those who wan’t to upgrade their system with USB3.0 and don’t plan to upgrade their motherboard in the near future or to those who have upgraded to a non-USB3.0 compatible motherboard. At a price of around £17 from Scan, this USB3.0 card is very well priced and lets you add USB3.0 connectivity to your system at a very affordable price.

Pros

• Great Performance
  
• Good Value
• Compatible with most systems

Cons

• Most new motherboards already have USB3.0 support

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