SilverStone SST-EC03B USB 3.0 PCI Express Card Review

The Test System

With installation complete, the SST-EC03B will be benchmarked with a Western Digital 7,200RPM 1TB hard drive (WD1002FAEX) and used in a USB 3.0 capable external enclosure, the SilverStone SST-TS07B. HDTune (v2.55) and CrystalDiskMark (v3.0) will be used with the following test bench set up:

• Intel Core i7-950 Processor
• EVGA E760 Classified motherboard
• Corsair Hydro H70 cooler
• Corsair Dominator GT 6GB DDR3 memory (3 x 2GB)
• EVGA GeForce GTX 480’s in SLI
• Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium
• Western Digital 300GB VelociRaptor (WD3000HLFS)
• Lite-On iHAS424-08 DVD burner
• Lite-On iHDS118-04 optical drive
• SilverStone SST-FT02 enclosure
• SilverStone FP35 media reader

Benchmarks are run on a fresh Windows 7 64-bit install and all programs and applications not necessary to testing are disabled. All tests and benchmarking are conducted in a controlled environment, while ensuring that the ambient air temperature is kept at a consistent 22 degrees Celsius. Testing will consist of the SST-EC03B being benchmarked using the USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 specifications with a SilverStone SST-TS07B external enclosure.