NewerTech
MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 Host Adapter for Macs and PCs
Mac / PC / USB 3.0 / eSATA
Maximum Versatility
Designed specifically for OS X 10.8.3 and later, the MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 Host Adapter for Macs and PCs utilizes your computers built in xHCI drivers and is the perfect companion card for systems with Apple's current OS. For systems which are running 10.8.2 or earlier, a
MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 Host Adapter with custom driver is also available.
Maximum Integration
The power of USB 3.0 and SATA 6G high-speed interfaces are brought together on a single PCIe 2.0 card with the MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 host adapter. With both high-speed USB 3.0 and 6Gb/s eSATA connectivity, the MAXPower USB/eSATA host adapter provides connections to the latest technology. This highly integrated I/O card saves valuable PCIe slots while adding the throughput desired for demanding applications like video editing, audio mixing, and photography.
Maximum Performance
The MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 host adapter provides two eSATA ports that are compatible with the latest 6G technology such as SSDs, allowing for speeds up to 6Gb/s. It is fully compatible with SATA I (1.5G), SATA II (3G) and USB 2.0 and supports legacy devices, hubs, and external optical drives. Simple to integrate and operate, it requires no drivers and supports hot-plugging, eliminating the need to restart the computer when connecting or disconnecting a USB or SATA device.
Maximum Power
The MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 Host Adapter maximizes the performance potential of USB 3.0 and 6Gb/s SATA storage devices. The revolutionary, dedicated per-port performance architecture allows each device to run flat out without interference from other attached devices. Each of the two USB 3.0 ports can utilize the UAS (USB Attached SCSI) protocol to transfer data to and from USB storage devices such as hard drives, solid state drives (SSDs) and thumb/flash drives. Faster transfer speeds and lower CPU utilization can be achieved than with the slower queue system of BOT (Bulk Only Transport), which only provides single-task commands - each task must complete before the next begins.
For applications in servers or other specialized computers where space is limited, the MAXPower USB/eSATA 2x2 features a removable bracket design to fit into low profiles machines. The small size accommodates most Mac and PC workstations. Using less power than most PCIe cards, the MAXPower has been designed to run faster and cooler than other cards on the market.
All MAXPower products are designed with superior quality components for long life reliability and the USB/eSATA 2x2 card is no exception. Every component from the card to the cables has been tested to ensure optimum performance.
Important Note: Apple OS X Sleep not recommended with this card. Sleep should be disabled when using devices with this card as you may otherwise experience volume ejections when waking from sleep. This issue is not present under Windows. NewerTech has reported a potential xHCI bug to Apple regarding sleep and we hope that Sleep support will exist in the future.
Features
- PCI Express 2.0 x4
- Two USB 3.0 ports with Type A connectors (female)
- Two 6Gb/s eSATA Ports
- 20Gb/s transfer bandwidth
- Dedicated per-port performance architecture
- Optimized for all USB 3.0 & eSATA 6G/s storage devices
- Thunderbolt compatible
- Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 & 1.1, and eSATA 3Gb/s
- eSATA Hot-Swap and Hot-Plug
- Compliant with xHCI (Extensible Host Controller Interface) Specification v1.00 Thunderbolt™ Technology Enabled
Product Specifications
NewerTech Part Number
Hardware Requirements
- Intel-based Mac with available PCI Express 2.0 x4 lane slot
- Backwards comaptible with PCI Express 1.0a at reduced speeds*
Form Factor
Operating System Support
- Mac OS X 10.8.3 and later
- Windows 7, Windows 8** and later
Data Transfer Rate
- USB 3.0: up to 500MB/s per port
- eSATA: up to 500MB/s per port
- Up to 20Gb/s total card bandwidth.
Dedicated per port performance architecture fully utilizes the PCIe 2.0 x4 bandwidth
Bootable
- Via USB 3.0: No
- Via eSATA: No
Port Multiplication
- Via USB 3.0: No
- Via eSATA: No
External Connectivity
- x2 USB 3.0 Type A ports
- x2 eSATA 6Gb/s ports
Internal Connectivity
SuperSpeed USB 3.0
- Supports all USB communication speed data rate of Low-speed (1.5 Mbps) / Full-speed (12 Mbps) / High-speed (480 Mbps) / SuperSpeed (5Gbps)
- Supports all USB compliant data transfer type as follows; Control / Bulk / Interrupt
- Compliant with Intel's USB3.0 Host Controller Interface (xHCI) Specification revision 1.00
- UAS (USB Attached SCSI) enabled for multiple simultaneous data transfer requests
- Compatible with both USB 3.0 & USB 2.0 hubs
SATA 6Gb/s
- Compliant with Serial ATA Specification 3.0
- Supports all SATA communication speed data rate of 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s
- Supports AHCI 1.0
- Supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
Hot Swappable
Hot Plugable
Thunderbolt™ Support
Notes
- In Mac OS X, you may experience disk ejections when waking from sleep. It is a known issue for add on PCIe cards used with Mac OS X. This issue is not present with Windows 7 or 8 operating systems. It is suggested that you manually eject USB 3.0 devices prior to putting your Mac to sleep.
- eSATA ports do not support port multiplication
- Bootcamp Compatibility: this card is not compatible with MacPro3,1 models that have both an OS X startup volume and a Windows Boot Camp startup volume installed. The computer will fail to boot either OS in this scenario.
Agency Approvals & Compliance
- FCC Rules, Part 15, Class B
- WEEE
- CE
- European Standard EN55022 (1998) Class B
- European Standard EN55024 (1998)
- RoHS Compliant
Dimensions
- 4.72" x 4.53" x 0.75" (12.0 x 11.5 x 1.9 cm)
Weight
Operating Temperature
- 0°C ~ 70°C (32°F ~ 158°F)
Non-Operating Temperature
- -65°C~ 150°C (-85°F ~ 302°F)
Relative Humidity
*Use of a PCIe 1.0 slot would reduce bandwidth to 1000MB/s (250MB/s per port)
**Enclosures using Oxford chipsets do not work over eSATA in Windows 8. No issues with USB 3.0.
Manufacturer provided specifications for Newer Technology p/n MXPCIE2E2U3 UPC#: 816643013488
Mac Pro 4-Core (Early 2008)
(January, 2008)
Model ID: MacPro3,1
2.8GHz
Mac Pro 8-Core (Early 2008)
(January, 2008)
Model ID: MacPro3,1
2.8GHz, 3.0GHz, 3.2GHz
Mac Pro 4-Core (Early 2009)
(March, 2009)
Model ID: MacPro4,1
2.66GHz, 2.93GHz, 3.33GHz
Mac Pro 12-Core (Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
2.4GHz, 2.66GHz, 3.06GHz
Mac Pro 6-Core (Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
3.33GHz
Mac Pro 4-Core (Mid 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
3.2GHz
Mac Pro 12-Core (Mid 2010)
(July, 2010)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
2.66GHz, 2.93GHz
Mac Pro 8-Core (Mid 2010)
(July, 2010)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
2.4GHz
Mac Pro 6-Core (Mid 2010)
(July, 2010)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
3.33GHz
Mac Pro 4-Core (Mid 2010)
(July, 2010)
Model ID: MacPro5,1
2.8GHz, 3.2GHz
Xserve Quad-Core (Early 2009)
(April, 2009)
Model ID: Xserve3,1
2.26GHz
Xserve 8-Core (Early 2009)
(April, 2009)
Model ID: Xserve3,1
2.26GHz, 2.66GHz, 2.93GHz
OWC Mercury Helios
Thunderbolt PCIe
expansion chassis
PC Desktops
PCs compatible with the specifications listed.
Customer Ratings
Write a Review
4.7 / 5
58 out of 63 (92%) reviewers would recommend this product
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: BassyBrooks
Location: New Jersey
Age: 45-54
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5
"The place to go if you really want to get going"
December 29, 2016
I've been a very long time satisfied customer of OWC now Mac sales. I can promise you that no matter how many internet searches you may go through seeking Apple/Mac technology or knowledge old and new, you will find yourself at Macsales.com. The truth of the matter is, Mac Sales is "The place to go if you really want to get going" I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: aapple
Location: California
Age: Over 65
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 3/5
Works well with a caveat
September 4, 2016
Once a drive mounts, it meets my expectations. However, it does not always mount the drive. I often have to power off the drive, disconnect, and restart to get it to mount. The card has been kindly replaced by OWC, but the problem persists so it must be inherent to the card or to the eSata protocol on my Mac. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) NewerTech MAXPower 2-Port eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Cupertino, CA
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
Adds eSATA & USB3 to a Pro
July 21, 2016
Bought this along with a used Mac Pro for USB3 and eSata external disks. Went in easily enough and works fine for both types of disks. When I originally installed it, it would not power my Elite Mini USB3 drive. Working with Tech Support, it seemed the board had not “set” properly. Once I reinstalled it, it worked fine. I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Halifax, NS
Age: 55-65
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 5-6 months
Rating: 5/5
Better than the rest, does what it says.
June 16, 2016
This card just does what it says - USB 3 and esata - and does it really well. With other cards I have used (two others), drives can randomly unmount. Not with this one; it's uber reliable and requires no drivers.
For me, this replaces a Caldigit combo card that was nothing but trouble, with no help from Caldigit support. Finally, a chip literally fell off the card. It was not soldered correctly.
The Newertech card on the other hand, is well made and OWC support is excellent, before and after the sale. We use many of their products, including esata and thunderbolt raids.
I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Jackson, MS
Age: 25-34
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: 3-4 months
Rating: 5/5
Great Product!
March 14, 2016
Works great-using it mostly for USB 3 connections while editing video. I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Age: 45-54
Experience Level: Hobbiest
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
Fantastic Addition
January 1, 2016
Fast shipping and no issues with the item. Very Satisfied! I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower RAID Mini-SAS 6G-1e1i PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Rating: 5/5
Update the Driver for El Capitan
December 31, 2015
This is a Great card so Great that I purchased 5 of them. The problem, OWC isn't updating the driver so the card can work with OS X El Capitan. This leaves me in a really bad situation. I'm using these for my business and I can't upgrade my computers or buy a new computer. Because any new computers are running OS X El Capitan. I'm sure they sold a ton of these cards. I hope they make it right and make a driver for the card so I can upgrade to OS X El Capitan and future OS X operating systems. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower RAID Mini-SAS 6G 6G-2e PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer Top 100 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
Drop in and go
December 3, 2015
I bought this board on the recommendation of OWC to replace an older board that required a driver but was no longer supported under OSX 10.11.
I dropped it into my elderly Mac Pro and it has worked flawlessly since. Highly recommended.
I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 45-54
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 4/5
Works well with my Mac Pro 5,1 and 14 drive RAID but...
November 7, 2015
...it's kind of wonky with El Capitan. It needs a driver refresh in order to work properly. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower 4-Port eSATA 6G PCIe Expansion Card.
Response from OWC, Technical Support
November 9, 2015
As stated in the specifications...Please note: Not supported by OS X 10.11 El Capitan at this time. Compatibility updates will be posted as they are made available.
NewerTech is working on an updated driver.
Verified Buyer Top 50 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: LFP
Age: Over 65
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 5-6 months
Rating: 5/5
Great speed boost for MacPro
October 12, 2015
I had difficulty with a previous card; this one works flawlessly I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: New York, NY
Age: Over 65
Experience Level: Home User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
Works fine
August 25, 2015
No problems installing, works fine. The video helped. I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: SF CA
Age: 35-44
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
works for me!
August 24, 2015
Does exactly what it says, no fuss. I popped it in, plugged in eSATA, and away I went. No driver, no restarts, no "hmm . . . it was suppose to show up?" I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer Top 100 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
Age: 45-54
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 4/5
Great for old Mac Pros
August 16, 2015
I kept my old Mac Pro going for another year by using this card.
The eSATA ports don't always work with eSATA Docks with more than one bay, but that's an eSATA problem, not a problem with this card.
I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) NewerTech MAXPower 2x2 USB + eSATA 6G PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Maryland
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: 3-4 months
Rating: 5/5
Reliably Connects our two Sans Digital TR8M6Gs
May 15, 2015
Pretty great solution, this card is the same chipset as the RR-644L I believe, at a great price. Works great in a Mac 1.1 server. Two 8 bay RAID towers hanging off this machine now, this card replaces the individual 2-port 642Ls that come with the towerrs. Very reliable, 24-7 uptime, all the time, now that everything is set. Took some finagling with the SD housings ("backplane" issues), but with everything under 1 year replacement warranty and patience, it worked out great. No troubles with the card, you'll need it for this type of application. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower 4-Port eSATA 6G PCIe Expansion Card.
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Indy, IN
Rating: 5/5
Great card but incompatible with Drobo 5D
May 12, 2015
This card worked perfectly with my Voyager S3 and my Mac Pro Early 2009 recognized it via the USB 3 port. I really enjoyed the USB 3 speed improvement over eSata. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with Drobo Dashboard according to Drobo tech support. I replaced it with the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 Pro which was one of the USB 3 cards the Drobo support page recommended. I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Pinehurst, NC
Age: 35-44
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 4/5
Plug & Play Simplicity (Mac)
May 5, 2015
Though I would love to have a new "black trash can" Mac Pro a purchase of a new Mac is not soon coming. As such, I am looking to get as much life out of my aging 2010 Pro. I've maxed out RAM, the startup drive is an SSD. The boundary I had reached was the I/Os. The Pro has USB 2.0 that are showing their age. Exchanging files of movies and pics that are collectively several gigs back and forth to external storage was time intensive. I had a couple of PCI slots I hadn't ever used and thought it was time.
It was.
This card was easily installed (I still marvel at the detail Apple puts into their machines, things that may never been seen/used like screws holding the plates on the back of the machine), removing place holding plate and lining up to logic board it was in. No software drivers needed, rebooting Mac and all ports were recognized and usable.
The only caveat is that I did not need eSATA ports. I was looking for USB 3.0 connectivity and this was the only solution available. I have an external drive enclosure I use as an iTunes backup that has eSATA connectivity and other drives so this feature won't go to waste (though cables were needed to use them since I didn't have any). A fully USB 3.0 adapter would have been ideal but if you need to add life to your aging desktop this is your best bet. I forget sometimes about the drives connected and am amazed at how much faster the transfers are.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 4/5
great card for external pcie box
May 3, 2015
I put this card in a PCIe expansion box that has a mini-sas back-plane and four SSDs. Once support pointed me to the application I needed to run to get access to the card configuration, I was able to set up a striped set. I get just under 900MB/s read and write from four inferior SSDs. I do not think the card or the bus are the limiting factors, but the SSDs that I am using which are relatively cheap. I have connected the external mini-sas to an eSata docking station and the performance was poor, but I believe that was the docking station, not the card, since that docking station did not perform better connected to another eSata card or to USB3. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower RAID Mini-SAS 6G-1e1i PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: South Bend, IN
Age: 55-65
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
Works great for external eSATA RAID 5
April 30, 2015
Purchased this because I was running out of USB ports and wanted to give eSATA a try with my external RAID 5 box. Works great, fast, reliable, and inexpensive. Plug and chug, no software needed. Great little card. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) NewerTech MAXPower 2-Port eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: utah
Age: 35-44
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: 3-4 months
Rating: 5/5
Quick Install and Good Performance
April 24, 2015
Used 3x WD red nas drives to setup an esata raid 5 array. With only that many drives I'm still seeing good performance and stability. Web interface helps me setup tasks and view events. Using it as a data storage area yet still windows wont boot while esata cable is connected so still looking into that.
*allows for hot spare that wasnt listed on the technical details/specs. would have liked to see more details on the site
I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower 4-Port eSATA 6G PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Valobal
Location: Mexico DF
Age: 35-44
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
It gives to my MacPro early 2008 a new life!
April 2, 2015
It gives to my MacPro early 2008 a new life! With USB 3.0 drives or sticks get faster speed transfers. So on, with the eSATA port, it is a great choice to make a old MacPro with a newer and faster connectivity. I would recommend this item to a friend!
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: mid-west US
Age: 55-65
Experience Level: IT Professional
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
works as advertized, good performace, great value
March 1, 2015
This card works as advertised (bootable, no driver needed, stable, good performance, does not support port-multiplexer). The data transfer rate is good but not quite maximal. When directly connected to a high-performance SSD drive (Samsung 850 EVO, capable of 500MB/s) it maxes out at about 375 MB/s (even under optimal conditions; only card on bus, one disk connected, 2.93GHz MacPro4,1). However it is great value for the money and has good support for external cases such as the NT silver miniStack. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) NewerTech MAXPower 2-Port eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: California
Age: Over 65
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: 3-4 months
Rating: 5/5
Feel like a geek and install a PC card
January 19, 2015
I wanted to have USB3 access on my MacPro tower from 4 years ago. This card works like a charm, and so I bought another one - total of two - so I could plug in 4 external USB 3 items. Just wish the ports on the front of the machine were USB3. Still it is super to be able to keep this older computer working at closer to new computer speeds. I would recommend this item to a friend!
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: La.
Age: 55-65
Experience Level: Power User
Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5
outstanding fast e-sata card
January 14, 2015
I've had this card for a year now and it works perfect . No issues at all . It also Boots . I might have to buy another one because I can't find a USB 3.0 card that will boot . I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) NewerTech MAXPower 2-Port eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Expansion Card.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Rating: 5/5
Solid upgrade to MacPro tower
January 5, 2015
This is a solid card, and was purchased because it works with OS X 10.6.8. The only odd thing is that it requires a password when ejecting a drive - but no performance glitches at all. I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower 2x2 USB + eSATA 6G PCIe Expansion Card for Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.8.2.
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Age: 55-65
Experience Level: Home User
Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5
Just Right
December 11, 2014
I was looking for a card that would allow me to use USB 3.0 on an early 2009 Mac Pro running Snow Leopard. At one point--at another site--I was told there was no such thing. Well, yes there is and here it is. And it works fine, at least up to this point in time. I had to get an external drive that has a port only for USB 3.0. It's working perfectly, no problems.
That speaks for the card.
And thanks to Robert (If I'm remembering correctly?) for his help. People here are great, always knowledgeable; thus, very helpful.
I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from NewerTech MAXPower 2x2 USB + eSATA 6G PCIe Expansion Card for Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.8.2.
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