CalDigits FASTA-6GU3
Overview
The CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 is the first of its kind, combining two next generation interfaces into a single card with throughput speeds of up to 6Gbps. With both USB 3.0 and 6G eSATA connectivity, the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 provides a connection for the latest technology. The CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 card has been designed for the most demanding content creators. Applications like video editing, audio sweetening and photography are the perfect fit.
Supports many popular technologies
– S.M.A.R.T.
– Port multiplication
– Booting
– Support for green and high performance SATA drives.
– Fully compatible with SATA I (1.5G), SATA II (3G) and SATA III (6G) drives.
Support for Mac and Windows
– CalDigit developed the first USB 3.0 driver for Mac OS X.
– Both Mac and PC users are able to take advantage of the speeds of USB 3.0.
– CalDigit is the only company to provide third party support for USB 3.0 devices on the Mac.
Ideal for fast storage
– Designed to provide the CalDigit AV Drive, CalDigit VR and CalDigit VR mini the fastest connection possible.
– Lets users take advantage of this next generation connectivity.
– Unlike other companies cards the FASTA-6GU3 is not proprietary to CalDigit products
CalDigit’s exceptional quality of product
– 2x eSata ports
– 2x USB3.0
– Designed with high quality components
– Only requires a single PCIe slot, but provides two interfaces
– Multiple USB 3.0 and 6G eSATA devices can be attached
– All components have been tested using a special oscilloscope to ensure optimum performance
– Uses less power than most PCIe cards.
– Designed to run faster and cooler than other cards on the market.
– Requires no driver for eSATA operation under OS X Lion.
– Completely backwards compatible with legacy SATA devices
Support
– 1-year warranty
– Legendary technical support
– CalDigit’s satisfaction guarantee
– Fully tested before it ships.
$ 204.99
A Great 2-In-1 Solution For Mac Pro Owners,
Pros:
+ 2 USB 3.0 and 2 eSATA ports in one PCI slot
+ Allows hot-swapping for eSATA
Cons:
– No cables (not really a con for me, but more of a reminder for customers to buy cables if they need them)
– Price might be a little high for some; for professionals it’s quite affordable
I’ve had this product for less than a week and already love it. It’s currently installed in my early 2009 2×2.26 GHz Quad-Core Xeon Mac Pro running Snow Leopard, where it works flawlessly, and I’m liking the versatility and modernization it has added to my machine.
It’s early 2012 right now and Apple’s Thunderbolt is still in its infancy, currently available to hook up the Apple Thunderbolt Display MC914LL/A (NEWEST VERSION) using a pricey Apple Thunderbolt Cable, though Apple is promising bullet train speeds of 10 GBps. However there is USB 3.0 and eSATA, which both have plenty of support from storage manufacturers.
The USB 3.0 ports were my original upgrade goal and I purchased the HighPoint RocketU Quad USB 3.0 PCI-Express 2.0 x4 RAID HBA for Mac earlier this month but returned it because I didn’t have a RAID requirement (the Highpoint Rocket Quad did work at USB 3.0ish speeds on my MP and boasts 4 ports, so RAID-oriented customers might want to consider it instead). Though this CalDigit has only 2 USB 3.0 ports it also has 2 eSATA ports and this is where it really shines–putting two different but highspeed interfaces into one PCI slot (or 3 interfaces if you consider the USB 3.0’s backwards compatibility for your older USB devices).
Installation was a breeze; just insert the card into an available slot (no tools even required with a MP), download latest driver (a 10 MB .zip from CalDigit’s support page), restart and you’re good to go. My eSATA hard drives are hot-swappable (no restart required to plug in/unplug), not to mention fast, and the USB 3.0 was also very impressive. I copied a couple of video files that totaled 2.82GB from an internal 7200 RPM hard drive to an external 7200 RPM using one of the USB 3.0 ports and it was done in about 34 seconds–in other words, not bad, if not completely unexpected for the upgrade (marketing speak touts USB 3.0 at 5 Gbps, but c’mon…).
So if you have a Mac Pro (OWC’s product page for the FASTA-6GU3 lists only Mac Pros as the Apple-compatible models) with a need/want for USB 3.0 and eSATA this is a great solution that takes only one slot, giving those working with digital video or photography on Macs an option to start using more modern USB devices while also having their eSATA options open.
(I’ll try and remember to update this review in a few months to see how it works in the long run, with regards to performance, problems, etc.)
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|Works with Mac Pro,
This is the only USB card that I’ve been able to get to work in my 2009 Mac Pro, and so far it’s great. It’s working in Mountain Lion with a Lexar USB 3 Card Reader and a Firmtek eSATA drive enclosure.
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|BOOT PANIC ON MAC PRO — USB 3.0 Does it Work?,
Third update: OWC sent me replacements of both Caldigit card and their Voyager Q external device to see if the items had manufacturing defects.
Long story short, the replacements had the same panic kernel as described. The Mac Pro boots fine if the Voyager Q is off or doesn’t have a drive inserted, however, I get a panic kernel every time if the Voyager Q is on, a drive is inserted, it is connected via USB3, and I boot the Mac. The work around is easy enough, just leave the Voyager Q off when booting.
Second update: I am updating my original two-star review to four stars now that I’ve had a few weeks to work with it.
I suspect the panic kernal is a conflict with the OWC macsales new Voyager Q bridge, OWC has offered to send me new replacements for the Caldigit and Voyager Q I just purchased from them. I suspect that won’t solve the problem, but I will update this if I can solve it…
Otherwise, the Caldigit card seems pretty solid as advertised, including no sleep issues on my 2008 Mac Pro 3,1.
ORIGINAL 2-STAR REVIEW:
I just bought a CalDigit FASTA-6GU3 new from macsales and within several boots after installing the USB 3 driver, I hit a Panic kernel. CalDigit’s USB driver “com.CalDigit.driver.CalDigitUSBxHCI(1.3.8a2)[F4AA3EBC-9193-31D6-89AF-D7D1AF1” was in the top of the Apple crash report as a prime suspect.
My two stars will be updated as I get more information, but feel users should be aware of this before possibly wasting their time (like I am) troubleshooting and returning stuff that don’t work.
First I am an experienced Mac troubleshooter and workflow consultant (this is my first experience with Caldigit).
The workstation is a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1, 20GB RAM, system 10.7.5, only two PCI cards installed, a 5770 GPU (driving 30″ Apple monitor and 24″ NEC) and the Caldigit card (both running in the two 16X PCI 2 slots). I installed the latest USB3 driver fresh off Caldigit website. No other 3rd-party USB hardware/software previously installed, I run very lean systems with no system haxies.
The problem occurred when I had a new OWC Voyager Q connected via the Caldigit Firewire 3.0 — the Voyager was on with a hard drive inserted — on booting the Mac Pro, I hit the panic kernel (this Mac Pro never had boot problems before). After I turned the Voyager off, the Mac Pro booted without problems. The problem could be in OWC’s bridge or with the CalDigit driver, but there appears to be a conflict either way.
My main concern is Caldigit’s support (macsales offered to replace their card). Caldigit sent me a lengthy outline of troubleshooting routines that included everything from reinstalling their driver to erasing my hard drive and installing the OS fresh.
While it would only cost me a couple more hours to put in a new hard drive, erase it, install the OS, run the updates, add on the Caldigit driver, and reseat the PCI cards — i feel the problem is with their driver conflict with the Voyager Q external.
By Caldigit’s email and no response to my follow up, Caldigit seems to expect me to do all their troubleshooting — I’ve been in this business a long time to waste more time proving a conflict since the crash report lists the Caldigit driver near the top of the report, and it looks like a bug to me.
I hope I can update this with more positive news even if it is returning the items without losing any more time…
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