By: Jadon Lee and Jonathan Kwan
August 21, 2020
For the past month or so, I have found myself working a more substantial amount compared to my regular hours. Something I have been noticing each summer is how my job further develops my character. Last year, when I was a camp counselor, I found myself changing and growing. There were plenty of moments of realization when looking into my own life where I clearly saw needing change. Although making the change was challenging and took a plentiful amount of time to adjust to, I knew things would end up being better in the long run. I would not consider the struggle over yet, but I believe struggling is just a part of life. Recalling back to this summer, with my increased hours, I have found myself becoming more exhausted than ever before. I also want to push myself to go further even though I know I do not really need to be working this much. To struggle like this is essentially a gift. As masochistic that last statement may have sounded, I have already found myself learning more about myself as I go through this. Struggles or the feeling of inability allow us to grow more rapidly and adapt. Now, why would I bring up the ideas of struggles in this introduction? Why, of course, because as new parts are released, there will be the need or want to upgrade the internals of a PC to accommodate these new components. The problem in this scenario is many people do not want to upgrade their entire PC just to do so. For example, not everyone has a motherboard that supports NVMe SSDs, but they may want to upgrade for the enhanced speed. Others may need an internal USB Type-C connection with a motherboard that does not have it, so what can we do? Well, SilverStone may have answered this question by allowing you to change as little as possible with your existing system. SilverStone has sent over their CP14-E, ECM21-E, and ECU02-E for us to try out. What use do these three products really have? Keep reading to find out!
The SilverStone CP14-E, ECM21-E, and ECU02-E arrived via FedEx International Ground shipping in its retail box from Chino, California, USA. The brown shipping box came in a relatively excellent condition, having no marks or scratches to be concerned about. This box contained the retail boxes of the CP14-E, ECM21-E, and ECU02-E, which also did not have any notable damages.
The box design of the CP14-E, ECM21-E, and ECU02-E are very consistent with the color scheme being blue, white, and gold. The general layout of the package is also quite consistent, with the CP14-E being the most different compare to the other two items, which has the SilverStone logo at the top left followed by the name directly under. The physical CP14-E is displayed through a piece of plastic as a hang package rather than simply displaying an image on the box like the ECM21-E and ECU02-E. Moving onto the ECM21-E and ECU02-E, these two boxes could easily be mistaken for each other as they have basically the exact same design and layout. The SilverStone logo is once again placed in the top left corner with a short description of the product below. The name of the product can be seen underneath the description while the product is displayed as an image on the right side of the box.
Out of the box, the CP14-E does not have any additional items such as a manual, as the product itself is self-explanatory. The ECM21-E comes alongside some mounting screws, an extra bracket for low profile cases, and a user manual. Likewise to the ECM21-E, the ECU02-E comes with an extra bracket, but does not come with any screws or a user manual as they are not needed.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the specifications of each product, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
CP14-E
Model No.: SST-CP14-E
Color: Black
Connectors: Internal 19-pin male x 1 (host)
Internal 20-pin Key-A female x 1 (target)
Transmitting Speed: Up to USB 3.1 / 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps (depends on host transfer rate)
Dimension: 24mm (W) x 10mm (H) x 30mm (D); 0.94" (W) x 0.39" (H) x 1.18" (D)
Weight: 4.5g
ECM21-E
Model No.: SST-ECM21-E
Interface: PCI Express x4
SSD Interface: M.2 (NGFF)
Module Key: PCI-E x4-based M key
LED indicator: Power ON: Green
Read / Write: Red
Net weight: 57g
Dimension: 120mm (W) x 23mm (H) x 104mm (D); 4.72" (W) x 0.91" (H) x 4.09" (D)
Support Length of M.2 SSD: 30mm, 42mm, 60mm, 80mm
ECU02-E
Model No.: SST-ECU02-E
Power requirement: 5V via SATA 15pin power connector
Form factor: Low profile - PCIe 3.0 x2 (16GT/s)
USB Ports: Internal 20 pin Key-A connector for USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port
USB 3.1 controller: ASMEDIA ASM3142
Transmitting Speed: USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps), USB 3.1 Gen 1 / USB 3.0 (5Gbps), USB 2.0 (480Mbps), USB 1.1 (12Mbps)
Operating system support: Windows 7* / 8 / 8.1 / 10** (32bit / 64bit) or future release version, Ubuntu / Linux / Mac OS***
Power Management: Support USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 link power management
Extra: UASP and Multiple INs function
Current protection: Support over current detection and protection
Operation Temperature: Operating temperature range: 0 ~ 70 ºC
Storage temperature range: -20 ~ +70 ºC
Humidity range: 5 ~ 95% RH
Net weight: 47g
Dimension: 123mm (W) x 21mm (H) x 105mm (D); 4.84" (W) x 0.83" (H) x 4.13" (D)
The ECM21-E is a half-height PCI Express board that adds a single M.2 PCIe/NVMe SSD slot. It requires a 4-lane PCI Express to function properly. SilverStone includes a half-height expansion card bracket for low profile cases. I personally find the black circuit board nice as it is looks sleek when you put it in your PC. Additionally, there is a LED activity indicator at the back of the bracket. The red and green lights will likely go unnoticed as it will reside at the back of your PC, but there is also a 2-pin header to connect to your chassis in the front. Like I talked about in the introduction, people looking to upgrade to an M.2 PCIe/NVMe SSD with older motherboards would likely be looking for a product like this. It is a much cheaper alternative than upgrading an entire motherboard and any other necessary changes needed to go alongside the initial upgrade.
In my opinion, having a chassis HDD activity LED pinout is a great feature, but putting it on the outer edge will make cabling harder. Relocating it to the inner edge will make cabling cleaner. Furthermore, connecting to this header will take away the regular activity signal from your motherboard, so I recommend some sort of splitter cable to be included.
The ECM21-E supports 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 length M.2 SSDs. A Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 1TB is shown installed. The screwless design is a nice feature, but I am glad SilverStone provides additional screws as I am more comfortable with the durability of screws and mounts. The ECM21-E also comes with the CLKREQ function to change between high and low power management. I like this product for users who are going to upgrade their older PCs, but for most newer PC builds, this product will likely to be used for those who find two M.2 PCIe/NVMe SSD slots insufficient. The ECM21-E supports PCI Express 4.0-based SSDs if your motherboard supports it. Even though this is a very niche product, there are plenty of use cases for the ECM21-E.
The ECU02-E is a half-height PCI Express board that adds a USB 3.1 Gen 2 internal 20-pin Key A connector. It requires a 2-lane PCI Express 3.0 slot for true 10 Gbps bandwidth over USB. SilverStone includes a half-height expansion card bracket for low profile cases. I like the black printed circuit board, and in the middle of it all is an ASMedia ASM3142 host controller. This is useful if you have an older motherboard or a motherboard without a Key A internal connector, and you own a case like the Fractal Design Define 7 Dark Tempered Glass or NZXT H710i. The ECU02-E requires an auxiliary SATA power connection to ensure connected USB devices receive adequate power. However, I would have preferred the Key A header to be parallel rather than perpendicular to the PCB. Placing it next to the SATA power connector at the same orientation would have been more convenient and will ensure an incoming cable with a straight head will not interfere with expansion cards in adjacent slots.
The CP14-E does exactly what you think it does: It is an adapter that converts your motherboard's internal 19-pin USB 3.1 Gen 1 or Gen 2 header to a 20-pin Key A USB Type-C internal connector. This is useful if you have an older motherboard and you do not need full 10 Gbps bandwidth or you have a motherboard without a Key A internal connector. Since the CP14-E is only an adapter for pin conversion, this is as compact and as simple as it gets. The CP14-E is also very easy to use and feels secure when connected. The only issue you may run into is it forces the incoming cable to connect at a 90 degree angle, which means adjacent components may get in the way. At the very least, your cabling quality will take a slight hit if it the CP14-E's Key A header ends up facing the wrong direction.
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As new parts are released, there will be the need or want to upgrade the internals of a PC to accommodate these new components. The problem in this scenario is many people do not want to upgrade their entire PC just to do so. Has SilverStone resolved this issue with the CP14-E, ECM21-E, and ECU02-E? In a general sense, I would say so. All three products are super simple components that allows you to convert an internal 19-pin USB 3.1 Gen 1 or Gen 2 header to a 20-pin Key A USB Type-C internal connector in the case of the CP14-E, add a USB 3.1 Gen 2 internal 20-pin Key A connector with the ECU02-E, or accommodate an additional NVMe SSD using the ECM21-E. For about $25 at press time, the CP14-E is probably a little bit more money than you would expect for a relatively simple adapter, but it does the job. The ECU02-E can be had for around $60 at press time, which is not chump change. However, it does exactly what it promises to do, so convenience comes at a cost. The ECM21-E will run you $20 or so, which is surprisingly good value if you want to add an extra high performance SSD to your PC. All in all, if you are looking to upgrade a small portion of your PC to add support for stuff like USB Type-C or an extra NVMe SSD, SilverStone has your back with the CP14-E, ECM21-E, and ECU02-E.
SilverStone provided these products to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
SilverStone CP14-E
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.0/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
SilverStone ECM21-E
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.0/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
SilverStone ECU02-E
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.0/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The SilverStone CP14-E and ECU02-E breathes life into your older PC by converting or adding a USB Type-C internal connector, while the ECM21-E allows you to install an NVMe SSD into any open PCI Express x4 slot.
