Powering a PCIe USB 3.1 Card on MP3,1

Question

Powering a PCIe USB 3.1 Card on MP3,1

Hi,

I have this adapter:

http://www.dodocool.com/usb-adapters-1772/p-dc22.html

It has a 15 pin SATA power male connector.

I have a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 that has 4 pin molex and 6 pin PCIe power connector options on the motherboard. This is all I can see, other than HDD connectors which are all in use by HDDs.

I want to ensure the maximum benefits of my USB 3.0 card and ensure the correct voltages are used, so I'm hoping to find advice on the next way to connect this card to my motherboard.

Thanks!

Ben

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 2008 3,1

Posted on Jan 26, 2017 8:23 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 27, 2017 2:33 AM in response to brexitrecords

There have been a lot of problems using cheap PC USB 3.1 cards in a Mac but with regards to providing power you can use either a molex to SATA power adapter cable, or a 6pin PCIe to SATA power adapter cable. Both will work equally well but I would personally lean towards getting the molex version so as to leave the 6pin PCIe free for use by video cards if needed.

The Mac Pro has two bays for optical drives and as standard comes with a single optical drive meaning the molex connector in the second optical drive bay is unused and therefore you could use it for your USB card.

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