The article first appeared in Tom’s Hard News Email Newsletter
Introduction
In April of this year, THG’s own Shawn Watters took a look at USB 2.0 in his article entitled, The Next Step, Hi-Speed USB 2.0, and since its publication, we have received many questions as to the best way to add both USB 2.0 and 1394 Firewire to a motherboard without these options built-in. And currently, the majority of available motherboards do not offer built-in USB 2.0 and 1394 Firewire. Thus, if you wanted to add these options, in the past there was little choice but to opt for a two PCI card-solution. (One PCI card to add the USB 2.0, and one PCI card to add the 1394 Firewire.) While we can expect to see more motherboards beginning to incorporate USB 2.0 in future releases, unfortunately, for the time being, the same cannot be said for 1394 Firewire.
Apple, as well as some off-the-shelf PC companies, has included 1394 Firewire for some time, but it seems that the majority of motherboard makers feel that the popularity of 1394 just hasn’t achieved a level that is significant enough to warrant building 1394 into the motherboard. Much of this might be due to the perceived high cost of the TI 1394 chip from back when Firewire made its initial appearance.
Although Hi-Speed USB 2.0 is just beginning to emerge, Firewire, on the other hand, has been relegated mostly to video cameras supporting the 1394 (or iLink, as Sony calls it) standard. And this support from the video camera manufacturers means Firewire isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Additionally, we don’t expect to see video camera manufacturers migrating to USB 2.0 in their products anytime soon, either. (At least, we have not seen any road maps that indicate this.)
The JVC GR-DV3 is an example of one of the many MiniDV video cameras that support 1394 Firewire. JVC, Canon, Panasonic, Sony and most other video camera manufacturers will, at least for the moment, continue to use 1394 Firewire as the primary method of connection to computers for extracting video from their cameras.
Since PCI slots are often at a premium, we wanted to find a solution that incorporated both USB 2.0 and 1394 Firewire into one card. We were also looking for the internal and external connections options for both USB 2.0 and 1394 on the card, and for the card to be able to power any USB 2.0 or 1394 devices that we connected to it. This two-in-one card approach would satisfy our need to save PCI slots, while at the same time, hopefully save us a few dollars as well. Most importantly, we wanted one card that would be able to provide all of the ports that might be needed for a number of future peripherals.
Adaptec To The Rescue With The AUA-3121 DuoConnect
The Adaptec AUA-3121 uses a good sized PCB board to house both the USB 2.0 and Firewire connections for the DuoConnect. The DuoConnect follows the lead of other add-in board makers by using an attractive blue PCB board, rather than the normal drab green that we have come to expect.
| Description | 4-port USB 2.0 and 3-port FireWire combination card for PCs and Macs |
| System Environment | PCs & Apple MACs |
| Features / Benefits | 6-ft FireWire cable – a $30 valueFully USB-IF Hi-speed certifiedWorks on both Macs and PCs |
| Key Differences | Combination FireWire and USB 2.0 card Complete DV Editing and Creation Software Up to 18W of FireWire cable power |
| Data Transfer Rate | USB 1.1 OHCI: up to 12 Mbps USB 2.0 EHCI: up to 480 Mbps FireWire (IEEE 1394) OHCI: up to 400 Mbps |
| Connector Configuration | External – Three USB connectors External – Two FireWire connectors Internal – One USB connector Internal – One FireWire connector Internal – One 4-pin mini-Molex power connector |
| Bus Type | Universal PCI 2.2 compliant |
| System Requirements – PC | 266 MHz or faster processor 64 MB of RAM Microsoft Windows 98SE, 2000, ME or XP software Available PCI slot CD-ROM drive Video Editing & DVD Creation Requirements (PC only): |
| System Requirements – MAC | Power Macintosh beige G3 (rev B or later) & G4s (No Blue & White G3 support) Mac(r) OS 9.0.4 or later Available PCI slot CD-ROM drive Video Editing & DVD Creation Requirements (Macintosh only): Macintosh users can download Apple’s iMovie 2 software or other video-editing software using links provided on the DuoConnect installation CD |
| Package Contents | Adaptec DuoConnect card (AUA-3121: IEEE 1394 OHCI compliant; USB 1.1 OHCI and USB 2.0 EHCI compliant); 6-foot (1.8m) FireWire 6-pin to 4-pin cable; Hardware Installation Guide; Installation CD;Adaptec USB 2.0 EHCI drivers for Microsoft Windows 98SE, ME, and 2000; Sonic MyDVD 3 softwareVideo Editing software; User Guide; Registration Card Links to key websites |
| Warranty | 5-year manufacturing and materials warranty |
Product Specifications for the Adaptec AUA-3121 DuoConnect supplied by Adaptec –
Getting To Know The AUA-3121: Up Close And Personal
The DuoConnect features a USB 2.0 controller designed by NEC and a 1394 Firewire controller designed by TI. This might give the card a slight performance advantage over other cards that don’t use these recognized controller chips. Both the NEC and TI chips have been used in a variety of designs, so the compatibility and performance of the card were what you would expect from cards with these controller chips.
A close-up look at Adaptec AUA-3121 reveals an NEC USB 2.0 controller and a TI 1394 Firewire controller. This was the most stable and reliable choice, and it clearly gives Adaptec an advantage over other companies in the same market space.
The AUA-3121 offers a good selection of both internal and external connections. The back bracket of the AUA-3121 PCI card offers three USB 2.0 ports and two 1394 Firewire connections. The space between the ports was more than adequate, and we didn’t find any problems with having devices plugged into all five external ports on the bracket.
The bracket of the Adaptec AUA-3121 offers five ports: three USB 2.0 and two 1394 Firewire ports. The position and space between the ports was excellent and didn’t create any problems when devices were connected to all five ports.
The DuoConnect’s internal configuration offers one internal USB 2.0 connect, along with a 1394 Firewire connection. These two connections are coupled with a four-pin mini-Molex power connector. This power connector is able to supply up to 18 watts (12VDC at 1.5A) of power, a critical function for supplying adequate power to the bus-powered USB and Firewire devices. Many problems can arise if your USB and Firewire connections cannot provide sufficient power to the devices on the ports. Adaptec has wisely addressed this problem with the addition of this power connector.
The board of the Adaptec AUA-3121 offers USB 2.0 and Firewire ports that are located internally on the card itself. These ports offer the ability to add internal USB and Firewire devices. The addition of the power connector makes certain that the card is able to supply all the power necessary to the bus power devices connected to the card.
Although it is not obvious at first, these internal connectors can make the connections to front mounted ports very easy and accessible. No longer will you have to run cables from the front of your computer and then pass them through the back of your computer to plug them in. While this is not an earth-shattering advancement, it does help minimize the cable management nightmare that most of us have griped about at one time or another.
Quick & Easy Installation
The DuoConnect would lose a lot of its luster if the installation of the card caused a lot of headaches. We wanted to find out how easy (or difficult) it is to install the DuoConnect, so we installed it in our test system in the following configuration.
Test System Configuration For DuoConnect Install
| Test Configuration | |
| Mainboard | Asus P4T-E – Intel 850 Chipset |
| CPU | Pentium 4a 1.6GHz – Northwood Core – Retail Box |
| Memory | 2 – 256MB PC800 Rambus – Samsung |
| Graphics Card | NVidia GeForce4 4600ti – 128MB |
| Hard Drives | IBM – IC35L040AVER07 – 41GB – ATA-100 – 7200 RPM Western Digital – WD800JB – 80GB – ATA-100 – 7200 RPM |
| Sound Card | Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound Card |
| Network Card | 3Com 3C905C-TX-M NIC |
| CD Drives | Asus DVD-616 – 16X DVD / 48X CD-ROM Asus CRW-1610A – 16X/10X/40X CDRW Drive |
| Case and Power Supply | Antec SX-1000 Mid-Tower Case Enermax EG365P-VE Power Supply |
| OS | Microsoft Windows XP Professional – All Patches & Updates Applied |
To install the DuoConnect, you must first locate a vacant PCI slot. It is helpful if the PCI slot is not on a shared IRQ, and we did not encounter any problems with the AUA-3121 when it wasn’t.
Once the card is installed, it is time to boot your computer and install the drivers. Windows does not currently offer direct support for USB 2.0, so you will have to install the drivers for the USB 2.0 part of the card; this should not impact the process.
After the card is installed, you will be presented with the following dialog box prompting you to locate the NEC USB 2.0 driver for the DuoConnect:
Once the driver is located, Windows XP will prompt you with a dialog box informing you that it has completed the driver loading process.
The next step is to complete the customary reboot of your system. Once that is complete, we can go into the control panel to see if the USB 2.0 ports and the 1394 Firewire ports are showing up in the Device Manager, as indicated in the picture below.
Overall, the installation process was very straightforward and easy to handle. It was one of the least eventful hardware installs that we have ever seen. Of course, once the DuoConnect is installed and you connect a device to it, you might have to load drivers for the device that you are connecting to the DuoConnect.
Conclusion – A Great Way To Add USB 2.0 & 1394 To Your Computer!
Once the DuoConnect was installed, we used it with a variety of USB 2.0 and 1394 Firewire devices. We used the DuoConnect to pull digital video via the 1394 port, and burned CDs using a USB 2.0 CDRW drive. We also tried a number of first-generation USB devices to make sure that they were compatible with the DuoConnect. We experienced no compatibility problems with the DuoConnect, and it performed as advertised.
Included in the box with the DuoConnect is the digital video editing and DVD creation software Sonic MyDVD 3. You might already have Sonic MyDVD 3 as a result of it being bundled with another product you have purchased, such as a video card or DVD burner.
One additional value that Adaptec was kind enough to include is the six-foot (1.8m) 6-pin to 4-pin Firewire cable. This gives some additional value, as the cost of these Firewire cables can be expensive, going for as much as $30.
The DuoConnect offers an outstanding value that updates your computer to the latest connection technology with a painless install. The DuoConnect can really breathe new life into an existing system that isn’t quite ready for the graveyard yet. Having the ability to connect all of the latest peripherals to your system and achieve transfer rates of 480mbit for USB 2.0 and 400mbit for 1394 can be of great benefit. And, you can still connect your first generation USB devices to the DuoConnect, as it is backwards-compatible and allows the use of these older devices, too.
Although there are other products that can offer both USB 2.0 and 1394 Firewire in the same card, you would be hard pressed to find a better and more stable offering than that of the DuoConnect. While you might be able to do it cheaper with another brand card, we can’t really say if the cost savings will be worth it. The Adaptec seal of quality should mean reliable performance over the life of the card with no headaches, based on our experience with other Adaptec products. We also want to stress once again that the card was very stable and compatible, which, in our opinion, is always worth a few extra dollars.
Overall, we do recommend the purchase of the DuoConnect as one of the most ingenious connection products that we have seen so far. With its new reduced price and current $20 mail-in rebate, you can get the card for as low as $79 (after rebate). (Of course, certain purchase restrictions on the rebate do apply). Try getting a USB 2.0 card, 1394 Firewire Card, and the 6-pin/4-pin Firewire cable for $79! If you’re eager to start checking out some of those new high speed devices, the DuoConnect will get the job done and won’t break the bank in the process.
