Hi folks:

I hate the search functionality on this forum. I searched for "usb 3 cards" and got an error message saying the search terms were too common.

So, I couldn't find the post where I read that some USB3 cards have their own controller for USB 2 (like the PS3 cameras use) and some use the motherboard USB2 controller and bottleneck the bandwidth.

So, my question is - which brands/models of USB3 cards have don't use the motherboard controller for usb 2?

I'd really like to get cards which will give the cameras the best bandwidth.

Thanks,

Michael

I had some problems with usb 3 cards. One I bought from Radio Shack after installing one port broke. I think I used a little to much force. The other thing is that any decent video card will use two slots, covering one of my PCI+ 2x slot. Other than that I haven't had any problems with usb3 cards. The usb3 has more bandwidth than usb2 but at some point it comes down to 'computer speed'? or how much your system can handle. Installing usb3 on a older system with a one core under 1mhz wont help.

The ones I have used all install their own controller in device manger and I haven't heard of any chip problems with usb3 like usb2.

The kienct doesn't work with the usb3 on my Vista system. It could be my system. Vista sucks.

OK, I spoke with the guys who are building my new computer, and they said that the things I had heard didn't make sense. However, they did say that sometimes a usb3 port wouldn't "like" a usb 2 device.

So, I had them put usb2 cards in. I'll try that first and go back for something else if that doesn't work for 6 camera capture.

Michael

The PS3 cameras work fine with usb 3, the kinect doesn't on my vista computer. Remember each card only adds one controller no matter how many ports it has.

I have two different USB 3 cards in my box. One came bundled with a Western Digital USB 3.0 external drive, and the other is a USB 3.0/SATA 6.0 GB combo card. Each card uses a different type of PCI slot but both seem to work well. I can't look inside my box at the moment but ASUS used the really tiny PCI slot (sorry I don't know what that type is called,) and the WD card used the wider one.

When you order a card, make sure it's the right type for your motherboard. The real reason I have the ASUS card is that I had ordered it for my old computer only to find the available PCI slot I had was incompatible with it. Luckily, my new computer had one slot available that was correct for this card (after I removed the wireless card that came with the computer.)

Basically, I have four cameras using the two build-in controllers, and two on the WD USB 3.0 card for a total of six cameras. I use the ASUS card to attach an internal SATA 6.0 GB drive, but this still allows for a single camera if necessary (i.e, if I had to move one camera off the internal controllers.) The SSD is plugged directly into the MB so it doesn't need a card.

Hope this info helps.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Hi Greenlaw:

The little PCI slots are probably PCI Express slots (PCIe).

I got my new pc yesterday, and it's impressive (Darth Vader voice). I was able to record 6 cameras Raw at 60fps most of the time, but it was unstable. There seems to be some sort of weird thing going on every so often that causes major frame dropping.

I put the SSD drives in a RAID 0, and that seems to work very well with the i/o buffer almost never leaving full status, and then only barely.

I did have two of the USB2 cards installed, but I think I'll switch over to the USB3 cards.

Letcha know how it goes,

Michael

Thanks! I wasn't sure but I think you're correct. :)

Your new machine sounds nice! Performance-wise I don't think you'll see much difference between the USB 2 and USB 3 cards because the current cameras are USB 2 devices. USB 3 cards are recommended because they should prove more useful as USB 3 devices become more common. (Like future Eye or Kinect cameras for USB 3.) Just to be clear, USB 2 devices should be compatible with USB 3 cards though.

G

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

OK, I switch the two usb2 cards out and put in the usb3 cards. Now I've got good framerates with almost no dropped frames. I have a NEC usb3 chip on both the cards, so that seems to be the most reliable option. I didn't have to set anything in the bios for them to work with the PS3 eye cameras.

I did notice that when I first get into the ipi vidoe recorder, there are 2-4 frames/minute dropped. Then, if I drop to 30 fps, let it stabilize, and then go back to 60fps, I usually get 0 frames dropped. Not sure what's happening, might be some sort of initialization bug. I also noticed that when I click calibration mode, and the cameras darken, then unclick it, sometimes one or two cameras won't return to the brighter setting. In all fairness, I'm testing in normal indoor lights, and not the ones I'd normally use.

But, progress is being made,

Michael

I think that's normal. My guess is that Recorder isn't meant to take over the cpu for for the maximum capture rate until after you click the Record button, which is as it should be.

Or are you saying that the framerate drops to 30fps after you click Record? Now that is not right. If it's dropping frames during recording, then something is interfering with the capture or there is a bottleneck somewhere.

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

I manually set it to 30fps and then back to 60 fps and then it shows no dropped frames. When I click Record, it works fine at 58.82 fps.

Now for the hard part - I've got to clear out enough room in my living room to start experimenting ;). I may get an Xbox Kinect just to try it out.

More soon,

Michael