Vantec 4 Port USB 3.0 PCIe with Internal 20 pin Host Card (UGT-PC345)

I added this to a ryzen system to have more stable USB for an audio interface without other USB devices causing issues. So far this seems to have worked great, HOWEVER, I found that I had to avoid installing the drivers and use the default Windows drivers instead. Otherwise some devices wouldn't function correctly. The drivers are really only for Windows 7 and below.

If you need PCIe add-on USB cards, you can't go past Vantec. I'm an IT professional, I've used pretty much every USB add-on card with a decent brand name on it (and plenty without) - the Vantec cards are hands down the most reliable. I've had USB ports stop responding, burn out, crash the whole OS whenever anything is plugged into them. Mostly, I've seen ports incapable of sustaining the speed they are certified for. If the USB architecture built into Intel chipsets is the gold standard, then Vantec cards get the silver award, and no other brand even rates (because Marvell don't produce add-on cards directly, so manufacturer brand can cause Marvell product quality to vary wildly). Vantec cards provide the highest performance I've seen from non-Intel solutions, with the most stable and reliable operation. I've seen front panel ports that couldn't power a USB3.0 HDD, but they've never failed, burnt out or crashed the OS - they simply don't present the drive to the OS. I've *never* had a Vantec card fail to present a drive connected to a rear panel port.So if I need to add USB ports to a PC, workstation or even server, I insist on Vantec. I even have to import them most of the time, because there is very little local supply. I can say with great confidence that Vantec should be on the top of your shortlist, and even if it was the only brand you even considered, you wouldn't go wrong - that's where I'm at, after spending hundreds of dollars over the last twenty years evaluating various alternative products.Highly recommended.

So there I was with a new Oculus Quest 2 in hand.Hooked it up to my desktop pc, and only got a few hours of playtime before my headset died.So I got on Amazon and found this slim usb-c card and picked one up, since it looked to be a great price.Plopped that baby right in my pci-e slot and my headset now has infinite power while hooked to my desktop. Windows 10 (may 2020 update) detected the device and set it up without need of the driver CD.For those using slim cases, this card also includes a swappable faceplate for low profile pc's.For, reference, the card, I got had one USB-C port and one USB-A port, and is powered via a SATA power connector that attaches to the board for a constant power feed to usb devices.Highly recommend this for new quest 2 owners who have an existing usb-c port that doesn't feed enough power to keep the headset charged!

I'll start by saying this card is great overall. I'm writing my review because it's so far a good product and on multiple sites, I could not find more than half a dozen reviews total.The good - This card functions as it should for USB 3.0. It added 3.0 to a computer that was built before the standard existed. I had an extra PCIe slot and this fit right in. No issues installing it and it also has the bonus of being fully powered and coming with the correct cable to do this. I saw other cards weren't powered except by what the motherboard provides through the PCIe slot and this isn't always enough to power devices correctly. My only USB 3.0 product probably wouldn't have trouble, but others may so why not go with a card that does it right? The drivers installed without a problem and the included instructions for install (both driver and the card) were good.I plugged my USB 3.0 drive in and noticed speeds approximately 5x as fast as the same drive was on the same computer over USB 3.0. Clearly the 10x promise is synthetic benchmarks that most of us won't ever see in the real world. I'll take half the stated speed increase because it's still greatly faster. Plus this gave my computer a few extra USB slots - I had 1 open on the back and I"d like to have more than that so this solved that problem too. I have some up on the front - but those aren't ideal to plug peripherals into or things you're going to be using semi-permanently.The Bad (or the not so good) - I'll start with the more obvious one. This technically is a 4 port device. The big 'but' here is one is on the inside and it's the typical external type plug. I can't think of any time this would be needed inside of a case really. If i wanted to punch out a panel on the front to have forward USB 3.0, any adapter like that has plugs that work on internal USB standards, not the external ones. I knew this going into to using the card but it's really odd on Vantec's part - I didn't see any other USB PCIe card made this way. I guess if you take an external hard drive and plug it into the port and somehow put it inside your case then it has a use.The second thing is while the drivers are great, Windows 8 seems finicky about them. Whenever I log onto my computer it takes and lags a couple of seconds to see the card and it acts like is just being plugged in. This shouldn't happen and I did notice even on Vantec's site they don't have Windows 8 support at this time for it. I know they don't abandon their products because I saw some others on the site that were updated to 8, so I'll hold out hope for that.Overall it's great and updated an older computer to a faster I/O standard. It also gave me some extra USB ports, which I didn't immediately need, but I was running short on. If you have an extra PCIe slot and need to upgrade to the 3.0 standard or just add more of them, this is a great way to go.