My Experience with Via USB 3.0 PCIe 4 Port Card

I didn't do my homework before I bought my system, namely I should have called DS to inquire how many USB ports came with my new rig. Had I known I would have saved myself about $26 and quite a bit of grief. Anyway, the system "as is" came with a total of 8 USB 2.0 ports, 6 in the back on the motherboard and 2 in front. It also came with 4 USB 3.0 ports, 2 on the motherboard and 2 more that are on an adapter that I didn't know about. Should have looked at what was included with my motherboard on this one . . .
I wanted the latest and greatest so I added a USB 3.0 PCIe 4 port card, not knowing the additional 2 port adapter that fits into any accessory slot in the back was included with my Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN motherboard. I'm guessing because I added the 4 port card DS did not install the 2 port adapter in the case, rather they left it in the accessory box with the other left over parts and pieces. Fine and well.
The add on card, named as "generic" on my invoice, has a Via VL800 chip to make it go. No secret Via is known for cheaper components in the industry and so it is. The drivers that came with OEM were possibly native to Windows but from the get go my Seagate USB drives had all of the following problems:
-Not being seen by Windows at boot up
-Dropping from Windows Explorer while downloading or watching a video
-Videos hosted on the external would lock up or freeze after a few minutes of play
-Downloads would drop
-Displaying desktop wallpaper hosted on the drive would crash Windows
You get the idea. So I plugged my Seagate USB 3.0 drives into the motherboard ports out of frustration. Initially I had a few of the same problems with the drives in those ports but after I paid a visit to the Asus website and updated the drivers for the onboard USB 3.0 there are no more problems with my external drives. Videos play uninterrupted, downloads complete and the drives show up in Explorer at boot or if I plug them in after. And the Asus USB 3.0 Boost program one can download and install really rocks . . . and works I might add.
Encouraged, I tried to update the drivers for my generic card. Initially I used the mini-CD that came with and it seemed somewhat better. The drivers that installed did in fact update the driver as displayed in Device Manager so the tech that built my system apparently either left the native drivers alone or used others, don't know. After I was able to ID the chip on the card I found drivers here:
Via-Labs Downloads
The new ones are better but still don't give the stability and performance of the Asus onboard USB. I have checked the seating of the card, connections, etc. and I can definitively say the problem is drivers . . . Well, it's Via after all. Anyone ever had a system with a Via chipset and lived through 4 in 1 drivers? I did.
Last evening I removed a tab from an accessory slot below my video card and installed the 2 port USB 3.0 adapter that came with the motherboard. It works and performs like the onboard ports and can utilize the USB 3.0 Boost software and driver like the onboard ports.
So, I have 4 USB ports that work perform like lightning from Asus and a Via card that takes up space in my case and not much else.
Had I known I was getting all these ports OEM and had I known the add on card had a Via chip, I would not have added it on. I really had more than enough OEM.
All is well now but what frustration I have been through with the 4 port PCI card. Wish I had done my homework.
J.

Edited by jseidel - 14 Mar 2012 at 3:43pm