By: Hai Wang
April 2, 2021
I remember when I was in graduate school, my research involved running experiments using wireless communication system-on-a-chip development kits. In order to change the communication protocol for performance comparison, I had to do a lot of coding for these embedded systems. One way for me to debug my code was to monitor the debug prints through the terminal. For a long period of time, I thought the USB cable that connected the wireless development kit to the computer was the only thing responsible for delivering the debug prints. I did not think too much about how the mechanism worked, since a USB cable was the only thing needed to program and to debug the development kit. One day, I was investigating a protocol called the Serial Line Internet Protocol running on the development kit. That protocol basically allowed IP data exchange between the development kit and the computer through a serial line. I was a bit confused, since I thought all communication was over USB, not the serial port. In fact, to the best of my understanding, serial ports had been replaced by USB a long time ago for pretty much everything, and it is impossible to find things like an RS232 port on a computer anymore. After doing some research, I realized the development kit was using UART, which was a serial-based communication mechanism to connect to the computer. There was also a USB-to-serial bridge on the development kit so we could use a standard USB port for the UART connection. USB is such an interesting communication mechanism, since it not only achieves higher and higher data rates, but also a convenient way to support legacy solutions. In today's review, we are going to take a look at some USB-related products from SilverStone; namely, the ECU06, ECU07, and MS12. These products allow us to use the latest USB technology on your old computer. For example, if your computer case has an external USB Type-C port, but your motherboard does not have a USB Type-C internal port, how can you still enjoy the latest USB Type-C speed? Or if you want to convert an NVMe SSD into an external USB drive, what do you do? SilverStone has a solution to all of the listed. Let us read on and find out the details!
The SilverStone ECU06, ECU07, and MS12 were shipped from Chino, California, USA through FedEx Ground. From the above photo, you can see the shipping box itself was in good shape despite its funky looks. There is no need to worry about the items inside the box. Aside from the ECU06, ECU07, and MS12, this shipment also contained the SilverStone IceGem 280, which will be reviewed by my colleague Jadon Lee in the coming weeks.
I always believe a good retail box design is essential to allow the product to be commercially successful. This is especially true for shelf-displayed computer accessories. A particular product is usually stocked with dozens of other products of the same kind on the shelf. As such, the retail box needs to persuade potential customers to choose it over other competitors. A good retail box design should convey the information of the design language, or the uniqueness, of the actual product, such that the customer’s attention can be quickly attracted. For all three reviewed products, the actual products' photos are nicely located in the middle of their retail boxes. Even without opening the package, customers can know what they are actually getting. Due to the fact that ECU06, ECU07, and MS12 are all USB Type-C-related products, they all have the 20Gbps data rate printed as the main feature right beside the product photo. It is worth mentioning for the ECU07, the main function of this product is to provide an internal USB Type-C Key-A connector, so it has a small 20-pin Key-A internal connector picture printed as well, just in case people are not noticing the connector on the photo. Overall, the retail boxes design of the three products are good, since they can surely attract customers' attention at first glance. Meanwhile, those packages are consistent in style as well.
Opening the box of a new product is always fun. This time, I had three boxes to open, which means triple the fun. The first box I chose to open was the MS12. There were quite a few things in the little box. The enclosure itself was placed in a clear plastic container along with a hex screwdriver right beside it. There was also a USB Type-C cable provided, so I could connect the SSD to the computer. As for accessories, two pieces of adhesive heat pads and a bag of screws were also included in the package.
Next, I moved on to opening the boxes of the ECU06 and ECU07. I could see that, in both cases, the expansion cards were wrapped in anti-static bags. SilverStone also provided half-height expansion card brackets, so we could use ECU06 and ECU07 in low profile cases as well.
Before we move on to see the details of these products, let us take a look at the specifications from the manufacturer's website:
ECU06
Model No.: SST-ECU06
Power requirement: PCI Express bus power
Form factor: Low profile – PCI Express Gen 3 x4 (32GT/s)
USB Ports: USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port.
USB 3.2 controller: ASMedia ASM3242
Transmitting Speed: USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), USB 2.0 (480Mbps), USB 1.1 (12Mbps)
Operating system support: Windows 8-10, Windows Server 2016-2019, Mac10.X, Linux OS* in-box xHCI driver natively support UASP, no additional driver required
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
Operation Temperature: Operating temperature range: 0 ~ 85 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)
ECU07
Model No.: SST-ECU07
Power requirement: PCI Express bus power
Form factor: Low profile – PCI Express Gen 3 x4 (32GT/s)
USB Ports: Internal USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C Key-A connector
USB 3.2 controller: ASMedia ASM3242
Transmitting Speed: USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), USB 2.0 (480Mbps), USB 1.1 (12Mbps)
Operating system support: Windows 8-10, Windows Server 2016-2019, Mac10.X, Linux OS* in-box xHCI driver natively support UASP, no additional driver required
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
Operation Temperature: Operating temperature range: 0 ~ 85 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)
MS12
Model No.: SST-MS12
Color: Black
Connector: ASMedia ASM2364
Material: Aluminum
Application: USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C NVMe M.2 SSD
Transfer interface: 20Gbps USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C
LED indicator: Powered: Solid Blue
Data access: Blinking Blue
Drive interface support: PCIe Gen3 x4, NVMe 1.3
USB Cable length: 300±15mm
Net weight: 53g
Dimension: 106.15mm (W) x 15.3mm (H) x 33.3mm (D); 4.18" (W) x 0.6" (H) x 1.31" (D)
Thermal Pad:
-Thermal conductivity: 2W/m.k
-Operating Temp.: -40 °C ~ 220 °C
-Dimension: Gray: 60 mm (W) x 0.5 mm (H) x 20mm (D) - pre-installed; Gray White: 60 mm (W) x 1.5 mm (H) x 20mm (D) - pre-installed; Blue 1: 60 mm (W) x 1 mm (H) x 20mm (D); Blue 2: 60 mm (W) x 2 mm (H) x 20mm (D)
Now let us get a closer look at the ECU06. The ECU06 is a half-height PCI Express board that provides a single USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port at the back using an ASMedia ASM3242 chip. It requires a PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot to utilize its full performance. For low profile cases, SilverStone includes a half-height slot cover, which can be swapped with the help of a screwdriver. The PCB design is very clean, which is as expected for a product from a quality manufacturer like SilverStone. USB ports usually need to handle quite a lot of forces and day-to-day use. It is important to ensure the soldering of the physical port to PCB is strong. In this case, the port is firmly attached to the PCB, so I have faith in this product that it can handle some abuse.
Overall, I think the SilverStone ECU06 has great build quality. The only thing I am thinking about improving this product is to also add a second USB Type-C port. For me personally, I would like to have as many USB ports as possible on my computer, and for something that occupies an entire PCI Express expansion slot, maybe it should add more than just one USB Type-C port. Even if it is just a multiplexed approach and connecting multiple devices will result in less than full bandwidth, it is still better than making me go out and buy another USB hub.
Now, let us move on to the ECU07. As you can see from the above photos, there is not much of a difference between the ECU06 and ECU07 at first glance. Yes, they are both half-height PCI Express boards that require a PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot to operate properly, and they both provide USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connectivity for your computer using an ASMedia ASM3242 chip. The main difference lies in how the USB port is provided. The ECU06 provides external USB Type-C port on the slot cover, while the ECU07 brings an internal USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C Key-A connector.
Interestingly, the Key-A connector is located right in the middle of the PCB, which gives me the impression this connector is the most important thing in the whole deal, which you are not wrong. The thing is, the connector is vertical relative to the expansion card, which may be an issue if you plan to plug in a straight cable. We have seen the same issue with the ECU02-E I think it would be better for the connector to be parallel to the expansion card, such that the Key-A cable will not interfere with adjacent expansion cards. Again, the Key-A connector itself is firmly soldered to the PCB, so there should be no doubt about the durability of this product.
One more thing to add, I think it makes a lot of sense for SilverStone to combine the ECU06 and ECU07 into one product. It does not really matter if connecting multiple devices will result in less than full bandwidth, since it is still better than buying two products as aforementioned. Furthermore, it is unlikely someone will be constantly using multiple ports at full bandwidth at all times.
Lastly, the SilverStone MS12 is a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C to NVMe 1.3 M.2 SSD enclosure. The enclosure itself is purely made out of aluminum, which strikes a great balance between structural integrity and light weight. It also has a black anodized aluminum finish, so you do not need to worry about leaving fingerprints on it. The design of the MS12 has to consider heat dissipation. As you can see from the above photo, there are fins at the top, bottom, and two sides of the enclosure. Given it comes with thermal pads, I would like to say this product is fully optimized for cooling performance, such that it can keep the SSD running at maximum speed for extended periods of time. Furthermore, the MS12 enclosure allows the users to install NVMe 1.3 M.2 SSD from 42mm to 80mm long, which will cover all the mainstream SSDs you can find in the market today.
To open the MS12, we have to unscrew eight hex screws in total. SilverStone kindly includes a hex screwdriver in case you do not have one. The above photo shows the disassembled enclosure. Inside, you will find an ASMedia ASM2364 controller. We can see the flip sides of the top and bottom covers as well. There is one thermal pad pre-installed on each cover. To achieve the designed cooling performance, it is important to remove the plastic film on these two pads before putting the carrier PCB with your SSD installed back into the enclosure.
Before installing the actual SSD, we also need to stick the thermal pad on the carrier PCB. According to the installation manual, the single sided M.2 SSD requires the thicker pad, while the thinner one is for double sided M.2 SSD. I recommend downloading the installation guide before putting things together just to avoid any mistakes. After the thermal pad is in place, the next thing to do is to unscrew the SSD securing nut. For this task, we have to use a Phillips head screwdriver. I think it is better to add some thumb grip feature to the M.2 NVMe SSD securing nut. This is because the nut may rotate when attaching the screw from the other side. It would be really nice if the user can secure the nut by hand while attaching the screw.
The above photo shows how the enclosure looks like with my Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe SSD 500GB. Your mileage may vary depending on what SSD model you install inside as far as the performance of this enclosure is concerned.
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If you ask me why buying a desktop computer when laptops have generally good performance at an affordable price in a much more compact form factor, my answer would be because the desktop computers are upgradable. In this case, if you happen to own a desktop computer that was built before USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C was a thing, as long as your computer has an open PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot, then it is possible to upgrade your system to support the latest Type-C 20Gbps SuperSpeed+ standard. For one solution, you can buy a SilverStone ECU06, which directly provides you with an external USB Type-C port at the back of your system. The other solution is to buy a SilverStone ECU07, so you can use the USB Type-C port at Gen2x2 speed on your new chassis. Either way, you can have USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C connectivity without buying a brand new computer. What you can use when you have that USB Type-C port? Here we have a SilverStone MS12 external NVMe SSD enclosure, which can maximize your external solid state drive experience. It supports USB 20Gbps SuperSpeed+, so you can unleash your NVMe 1.3 SSD's speed. Of course, everything comes at a price. The ECU06 will cost you about $70 USD, the ECU07 has a price tag of $73 USD, and the MS12 is about $70 USD. I have to admit I was a bit sticker-shocked at first, but the cost is still significantly lower than, say, replacing your entire PC. The price is also higher due to the import tariffs. My suggestions for improvement are having more than one USB Type-C port on the ECU06, reorient the connector on the ECU07, and making the securing nut a little bit easier to grip on the MS12. Combining the ECU06 and ECU07 into another product is also a good idea in my opinion. Either way, if you are looking to give your system a USB upgrade or wanting to build your own external SSD, SilverStone has some solid offerings on hand.
SilverStone provided these products to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
SilverStone ECU06
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 ECU07
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 MS12
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.5/10
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 ECU06, ECU07, and MS12 unlocks the world of USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C speed and convenience for anybody who is willing to pay.
