It seems like only yesterday that USB 3.0 became a standard feature on Intel motherboards. It’s actually been a year and a half since Intel introduced it to the Z87 chipset, but the specification was actually created much earlier, back in 2008; Intel simply took its sweet time to integrate it into its chipsets. This is probably why the introduction of the new USB 3.1 standard feels a little premature, yet the standard has actually been around since 2013. We’ve just received the first motherboard to include the new USB format in the form of the Asus Z97-A USB 3.1. Let’s see just how fast the new connection is, and determine whether or not its time has really come.
USB 3.0 drives are referred to as SuperSpeed drives, while the newer 3.1 devices are labelled as SuperSpeed+ products. Its theoretical maximum speed is 10Gbit/sec, which puts it on par with the Thunderbolt specification. We all know how popular that format turned out to be; introduced back in 2011, Thunderbolt is still a very niche standard that hasn’t found its way outside of video editing suites or image designer dens. At this speed it has twice the theoretical performance of USB 3.0, which is nothing to sneeze at. Backwards compatible with both USB 3.0 and 2.0, the existing implementation on the Asus board has a Type A port that looks identical to the usual USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports found on today’s boards. However, a new Type C USB connector is due in the near future that will be half the size of today’s Type A USB ports and which can be inserted in any orientation. The fact that there is a new connection type due for USB 3.1 in the near future is worrying for the Asus Z97-A USB 3.1 board, as its older Type A USB port connections won’t be of the sexy new variety. Having said that, adaptor cables will be available that allow the ports on this motherboard to function with external drives packing Type C connectors.
One caveat of USB 3.1 is that it’s powered by two PCIe 2.0 lanes, worth noting if you’re going to be packing several devices that require the use of PCIe lanes. For example, a PC armed with twin GPUs and an m.2 SSD along with several add-on cards might not have enough PCIe lanes to go around. Although this is a rather extreme example, it’s definitely a consideration for prospective buyers.
ASMedia has long been the driving force behind new USB standards, so it’s no surprise to see that USB 3.1 is delivered here courtesy of the ASMedia ASM1142 host controller. The rest of the board appears identical to the Asus Z97-A, so we’re only going to focus on its USB 3.1 performance. ASMedia’s marketing material claims real world performance of around 800MB/sec, so we were very keen to see what the port could do. To test the USB 3.1 ports requires the use of an external drive also packing a USB 3.1 connection, which arrived in the form of a prototype external drive supplied by Asus. To deliver the high speeds required by USB 3.1, the drive includes twin mSATA drives connected in RAID 0 mode. Unfortunately pricing for this prototype wasn’t available, but the fact that all external USB 3.1 devices are going to need similarly powerful hardware suggests that external USB 3.1 drives are going to be extremely expensive.
We used Crystal Disk Mark to test the performance of the drive, copying 4GB of data five times to reach an average overall speed. Sequential read performance measured in at a blistering peak of 691MB/sec, while sequential write was almost as fast, at 685MB/sec. To compare this with USB 3.0 performance, we then plugged the prototype drive into the Intel-powered USB 3.0 ports. Sequential read performance clocked in at 429MB/sec, while sequential write measured 430MB/sec. It’s not quite the doubling in performance promised by the standard, with read speed 61% faster, while write speed was 59% faster.
There’s no denying that USB 3.1 is a speedier connection type than USB 3.0, and for supported devices and requirements it’s here now. But there’s the issue of this board using older Type A connectors, which are set to be replaced by Type C in the near future. There’s also the fact that this board will retail for around $70 to $100 more than the identically specced Z97-A. Asus informs us this price diŸ erence is a result of having to import the newer boards on a weaker Aussie dollar. While the motherboard overall is a top shelf product – with or without USB 3.1 – you may want to stick with the regular Z97-A and purchase a USB 3.1 add-on card if the economics make that the cheaper option at purchase time. Bennett Ring
Intel Z97 chipset • 4 x DDR3 3200MHz • 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots • 1 x SATA Express • 1 x M.2 Socket • 4 x SATA3