The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
Ever the innovator, ASRock is announcing two unique products to add additional connectivity to your computer’s motherboard and/or case. ASRock is the world’s first in offering a front panel that supports front Type-A and Type-C USB 3.1 ports. Their new U.2 Kit is an add-on card that supports the latest and fastest Intel SSD 750 series of SSDs.
The latest USB 3.1 standard boasts data transfer rates of up to 10Gb/s, as well as the fact that the new Type-C interface virtually doubles the charging speed of devices connected to it. ASRock’s USB 3.1 front panel connects to your vacant SATA Express port, and transforms it to a pair of USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C ports.
ASRock’s new USB 3.1 front panel features a unique reversible design, so even those who are prone to trying to connect the wrong end are spared that inconvenience, as well as eliminating the inconvenience of trying to connect to difficult-to-reach and difficult-to-align ports on the rear of your case. It will work seamlessly with any motherboard that features a SATA Express connector.
ASRock’s U.2 Kit is a tiny add-on card that you can install into an onboard PCIe Gen3 x 4 Ultra M.2 slot, after which it will support the newest, fastest Intel SSD 750 series. The U.2 Kit additionally breaks through normal limitations, and creates the ability to build RAID 0 arrays that can attain ridiculous transfer speeds!
ASRock’s own lab was able to demonstrate just that, building a RAID 0 array using 3 x Intel 750 SSDs connected to U.2 kits (and, of course, an ASRock motherboard). Check out the screenshot below showing the sequential read and write speeds of 3561MB/s and 3245MB/s, respectively. The ASRock U.2 kit is compatible with any motherboard that has a functional PCIe Gen3 x 4 M.2 slot.
Pricing and availability have not yet been announced. You can visit the product page for the ASRock USB 3.1 front panel kit here; and for the U.2 add-on card kit here. You can view the press release announcing ASRock’s two latest innovations in its entirety here.
Nice! Ready for Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C with the Alpine Ridge controller.
That ASrock U.2 is a genial thing! Unfortunately, I can’t find a store to buy it.