Looking for 5.25 in. USB 3.0 Card Reader

[ShadowWolf810]

So I recently purchased this card reader: https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Aperture-Internal-5-25-Inch-AA-APMU3-B1/dp/B008KEPWMY/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482089750&sr=1-1&keywords=nzxt+aperture+m

It wasn't until I got it and plugged it in that I realized I fell victim to sneaky marketing and the card reader is actually USB 2.0, and the USB 3 ports on the front are why it's called USB 3.0. So naturally I was bit annoyed, and looking to return it for a better option. 

 

Paul's Hardware uploaded a video today recommending this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820506001&cm_re=card_reader_usb_3.0-_-20-506-001-_-Product

With some further research I found a video by Bitwit, formally AwesomeSauceNetwork reviewing the exact same model. In his video he shows a typical file transfer getting about 44 MB/s. 

My current SD card reader is averaging about 35 MB/s

An old external SD card reader that I know is USB 2.0 transfers the same files at 20 MB/s. 

 

Now the curious thing is that I found another review of the same Enermax card reader Paul and Bitwit reviewed, where the person claimed that their typical transfer speeds were in the 70 MB/s range. 

I'm transferring the files to a Samsung 850 EVO so there shouldn't be any sort of bottleneck there. 

 

TL;DR My current card reader that is only USB 2.0 seems to be performing closer to USB 3.0 speeds. Possible replacement card reader is confirmed USB 3.0, but has reports of not transferring files very much faster than the USB 2.0 one is now, and also has reports of being about twice as fast. Should I return mine and hope this new one performs significantly faster? 

 

Is there such a thing as a USB 3.1 GEN 2 (10 Gb/s) internal card reader yet? Or even an external one that plugs into a USB 3.1 GEN 2 port? I certainly can't find any. 

*I realize that transfer speeds vary depending on the type of files being transferred, the drive they're being transferred to, etc etc. 

[AkiraDaarkst]

Which memory card types do you use the most?  Why not get a simple USB 3 card reader for those types that you use.  The most common card types are SD and Compact Flash, something like this from Sandisk will cover them plus a few more.

https://www.sandisk.com/home/memory-cards/memory-card-readers/imagemate-reader-writer

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/810152-REG/SanDisk_SDDR_289_A20_ImageMate_All_in_One_USB_3_0.html

[harry4742]

9 minutes ago, ShadowWolf810 said:

*I realize that transfer speeds vary depending on the type of files being transferred, the drive they're being transferred to, etc etc. 

Any further questions?

[ShadowWolf810]

1 minute ago, harry4742 said:

Any further questions?

11 minutes ago, ShadowWolf810 said:

Is there such a thing as a USB 3.1 GEN 2 (10 Gb/s) internal card reader yet? Or even an external one that plugs into a USB 3.1 GEN 2 port? I certainly can't find any. 

 

 

[ARikozuM]

Aside from the fact that most cards can barely saturate 1Gb/s, why would you need USB 3.1's 10Gb/s?

 

Also, you can buy adapters to change from 3.0 to 2.0.

[harry4742]

probably not, you need a special port on the mainboard for it

[ShadowWolf810]

4 minutes ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

Which memory card types do you use the most?  Why not get a simple USB 3 card reader for those types that you use.  The most common card types are SD and Compact Flash, something like this from Sandisk will cover them plus a few more.

https://www.sandisk.com/home/memory-cards/memory-card-readers/imagemate-reader-writer

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/810152-REG/SanDisk_SDDR_289_A20_ImageMate_All_in_One_USB_3_0.html

Well to be fair the vast majority of the time I'm working with CFast and SD cards, but those are about the same price as the 5.25 bay ones. Am going to school for film production, so I shoot a lot of my own stuff, and being more post production focused, I tend to end up working with a lot of clients and other students alike managing their footage on set as well as editing. 

 

Part of the problem is that my current laptop only has 1 USB 3.0 port, so if I'm transferring footage from a card to my RAID only one of them can be plugged in at a time. And there's usually not enough space (and would probably take longer) to transfer the footage to the laptop drive from the SD card, and then transfer it to the RAID after unplugging the card reader and then plugging it in. 

 

So point is I figured it would be more useful to have one attached to my main rig in a clean fashion than fuss with an external one on my desk, or out in the world when I can't even take full advantage of it because of my laptop. 

[ShadowWolf810]

5 minutes ago, harry4742 said:

probably not, you need a special port on the mainboard for it

I was thinking that a PCIe USB 3.1 card with an internal input could work as well, if any existed. 

[harry4742]

Get a USB controller (PCIe board with USB 3.0 Ports) and get the desk ones for your tower pc

[harry4742]

1 minute ago, ShadowWolf810 said:

I was thinking that a PCIe USB 3.1 card with an internal input could work as well, if any existed. 

but it wont get faster than the cfast standard allows

[AkiraDaarkst]

2 minutes ago, ShadowWolf810 said:

Part of the problem is that my current laptop only has 1 USB 3.0 port, so if I'm transferring footage from a card to my RAID only one of them can be plugged in at a time. And there's usually not enough space (and would probably take longer) to transfer the footage to the laptop drive from the SD card, and then transfer it to the RAID after unplugging the card reader and then plugging it in. 

Only 1 USB 3 port?  What other ports do you have there on the laptop?  Have you thought about using a USB 3 hub?

[AshleyAshes]

'Tricky marketing'?  There's a Q&A on the Amazon listing from Dec 2014 stating that the card reader is 2.0.  You can also see the USB2 and USB3 headers together in one of the photos.

[ShadowWolf810]

7 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Aside from the fact that most cards can barely saturate 1Gb/s, why would you need USB 3.1's 10Gb/s?

 

Also, you can buy adapters to change from 3.0 to 2.0.

Ehh mostly just curious if one even existed, figured if one did and it was anywhere near the same price I'd opt for that one and probably get a few extra USB 3.1 ports, even if the transfer speeds on most cards wouldn't improve. 

[ShadowWolf810]

9 minutes ago, AkiraDaarkst said:

Only 1 USB 3 port?  What other ports do you have there on the laptop?  Have you thought about using a USB 3 hub?

There's 1 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, a USB 2.0 SD card reader, then ethernet and HDMI. 

 

I suppose a USB 3 hub would solve the problem of transferring while away from my main system. Just means I'd have to buy a hub and a new external card reader, specifically for that purpose, and then have to fool around with the external one if I ever needed to switch uses, instead of having a permanent set up at my main PC.