Neavissa,

Currently there isn't a Poweredge server that supports the USB 3.0. That being said there isn't a test process in place for those so we wouldn't be able to provide a suggestion.

Thanks for the reply, but I don't get it?! If I have a pci-e slot, why wouldn't I be able to plug in any pci-e card,, not matter what it is?! I mean, officially my GTX 780 Ti is not supported and it works fine! I am not worried that A pci-e card is not going to work at all, I am simply not sure which power connector the card should have?! I guess I have to open up the BOX and take a look... : )

thanks,

G

Neavissa,

When I say that it isn't that it won't work, we just don't test the different cards for USB 3.0 so we can't say what will and won't work.

Neavissa, When I say that it isn't that it won't work, we just don't test the different cards for USB 3.0 so we can't say what will and won't work.

OK, I got it. Can anyone tell me though, what power connector I can use?! I know nothing about motherboards and their connectors, so even if I take a look inside the box, I might not know what type of power connector I need?! 

thanks,

Georgios

Only some of the newer Dell servers have power cable options for videocards. Most USB 3.0 cards I've seen use floppy drive type power cables or IDE type power cables. A Dell Tower-based server (T-model) might have a spare cable like that (though you may need an extension cable for it as they probably never had in mind to have that cable stretch down to the PCIe cards). If you have a rack server (R-model), I doubt you will be able to find a power source for that card.

Hi,

Thanks for the input. I should have mentioned, that I have the Tower Version and the GPU installation kit. Since I only have one GPU installed, I can use one of the remaining power cables, to power the USB 3.0 PCI-e card! I already checked and you can get cables like this:

What I am not sure about is, if it is even necessary to supply power to the PCI-e card?! Isn't there power coming through the PCI-e connection itself?! Anyhow, I guess I just have to go ahead and try it. Buy a card, plug it in and see what happens!

thanks,

G

UPDATE: I installed my PCI-e card in the top slot. I used the CD-ROM drives SATA connector to power the card. After booting the system, I was able to see the card in the device manager. I forgot what it said, but its the usual message that there is a device but no driver... So after I installed the driver, the card was fully recognized. When plugging in my external USB drive, the light on the drive comes on, signalling that it gets power. However, I cannot see the drive in "my computer"?!

Do I have to enable the card in the BIOS or so?! The reason I am saying this is, that I saw a message ONCE, when booting the system for the first time, with the new card installed. It simply said that there was a different PCI-e configuration detected!?

thanks,

Georgios

Check if the device manager shows the USB drive under "Disk Drives". If so, check under disk management. It may not have a drive letter.

Hi,

I just checked and I only see the PERC H710P controller in there, twice.

thanks,

G

The PERC H710P should be under Raid and SCSI controllers only. Or do you mean that there is something like a "PERC H710P virtual disk" or something like that under Disk Drives?

If the latter, your USB disk isn't showing up at all and it's probably due to either not enough power, or the USB controller isn't fully compatible with this server.

Typically the best results with adding USB cards to Dell computers are gotten from cards that use NEC USB chips (and not VIA USB chips). Card manufacturers don't frequently mention what chipset they actually use, but if you check the drivers, look at the INF files and you might see in the descriptions in there which chipset they use on that card.