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Inspiron 560, possible to add USB 3.1 Gen 2 PCI-e card?
I have a Dell Inpsiron 560 with an Intel G43 (Eaglelake-G) + ICH10R chipset. I'd like to add this StarTech 4-Port USB 3.1 PCIe Card to it. The PCI-e x16 slot is available. Is there any reason this would not work?
PS: I know the 560 might not be able to handle Gen 2 speeds, but that's fine because I can reuse the card in a later PC build.
Techgee
590 Posts
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December 31st, 2018 16:00
It should be fine.
Performance of the card should be similar regardless of whether slot is PCIe 2.0 or PCIe 3.0, provided it truly has 4 PCIe lanes hooked up. The two ASM1142 chips will each use two PCIe lanes in a PCIe 2.0 slot (4 lanes total) and one lane each in a PCIe 3.0 slot (2 lanes total). USB port pairs connected together to each ASM1142 chip will share bandwidth - USB ports connected to a different ASM1142 chip won't.
I just went through a similar selection process, although I only need two USB ports. Opted for one USB-C and one USB-A. Card chosen has a single ASM1142 chip and is going into a PCIe 2.0 machine - expecting ~850 MB/s performance due to the PCIe 2.0 overhead.
One of my key criteria was sufficient power support for USB drive enclosures so I don't need supplemental power. Card I chose has 3A @ 5V (15W) available for USB-C port and 2A @ 5v (10W) available on the USB-A port. Note this StarTech has 900mA @ 5v (4.5W) for each port - same as USB 3.0. Anyway, something to be aware of.
You may or may not need to hook up the one of the two power connecters (SATA power or Molex LP4) at the back of the StarTech card. A x16 PCIe slot can provide up to 75W of power - whether or not card is aware it's in a x16 slot and can get power solely from the PCIe slot I don't know.
I also needed a low profile bracket. Note this StarTech card is high profile only - probably not a consideration in your case.
Note USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds require cables supporting it and are limited in length to 3 feet (1 meter, actually). There aren't many USB 3.1 Gen 2 speed cables with sufficient power for enclosures (I consider 7.5W marginally sufficient).
I bought a USB 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps capable 2.5" drive enclosure and M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure to go with my card.
Techgee
590 Posts
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December 31st, 2018 16:00
Product description says it's optional and hints it's needed for "large external storage solutions":
"Connect large external storage solutions: optional LP4 or SATA power connector provides
up to 900mA per USB port"
If your devices are self-powered, I wouldn't think you'd need a power connecter to the card.
jdrch
145 Posts
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December 31st, 2018 16:00
jdrch
145 Posts
0
December 31st, 2018 16:00
jdrch
145 Posts
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January 22nd, 2019 21:00
I installed a USB 3.1 Gen 2 PCIe x16 card on the Inspiron 560 (Intel Pentium Dual Core E6700, DELL 018D1Y motherboard, Intel G43 (Eaglelake-G) + ICH10R chipset) I basically use as a NAS, and now there's no video from the HDMI port. Video comes from the VGA port only.
Questions:
Techgee
590 Posts
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January 23rd, 2019 09:00
Did you plug in the extra power (I think it's a SATA Power connector) on the back of the new card? Might help to reduce any power draw from the motherboard.
It might be that the Inspiron 560 is assuming the card is a discrete video card and (partially) disabling the onboard graphics. Regardless, it may be taking resources away from the integrated video. There might be BIOS settings that control what happens. Usually, this is done with something like a "Force Onboard Graphics" setting. I suspect the BIOS tries to automatically detect if a discrete graphics card is in the x16 slot, but it isn't very smart about it. It may assume any card in the x16 slot is video or determine this by looking at the number of PCIe lanes it uses or power draw (not sure if this is possible). Ideally it would detect whether card is actually a video card or have a BIOS setting to control this for cases like yours.
You could check that BIOS and video driver are up-to-date. I think the 560 has the Intel GMA X4500 integrated video.
Things you could try would be to turn off Fast Boot in the BIOS once, if your BIOS has that. Windows 10 has a similar setting you could try turning off once.
You could also try resetting the BIOS either by setting to defaults or with A/C Power cable unplugged removing the coin battery and pressing Power button for 15-30 seconds before putting it back. You'd have to remember and reconfigure any BIOS settings to way they were before.
Techgee
590 Posts
0
January 23rd, 2019 11:00
If you're using the Inspiron 560 like a NAS could you live with the VGA only? Another option would be to use something like Remote Desktop or VNC for when you want to manage the PC.
jdrch
145 Posts
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February 17th, 2019 22:00
Welp, sad news: even with SATA power to the USB 3.1 card, I still don't get video out of the HDMI port. I've switched to 1920x1080 out of the VGA port and moved the other monitor to another PC that had an available video port.
Seems installing a PCIe card pretty much kills HDMI functionality on the 560.