Sonnet Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card

Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card

8-port, USB-C 10Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2) PCIe Card with Four USB Controllers Plus USB-C Charging

compatible with Mac® | Windows® | Linux®

Key Features

Eight 10Gbps USB-C Ports on a Single Card—Adds eight USB-C 10Gbps ports to your Mac Pro, Windows, or Linux computer; or Thunderbolt to PCIe card expansion system.
Supports Eight USB-C Cables—Ports are spaced to enable connection of eight cables (and even USB-C male to USB-A female adapters).
Four Independent USB Controllers, Full 10Gbps Bandwidth Per Port—PCIe 3.0 bridge chip and four USB 3.2 controllers enable each port to support data transfers at up to 1000 MB/s, even while transferring files from multiple drives concurrently.
Advanced Data Traffic Management—This Sonnet card supports “Multiple Ins,” which means that that the host can issue a read request to one endpoint device and then proceed with other transactions without waiting for the response from the first device, eliminating traffic congestion.
Powered Ports—Supports USB-C bus-powered SSD, SSD RAID, and hard drive devices with up to 7.5W power per port.
Protected Power Delivery—Sonnet USB 3.2 cards uniquely have a power switch on each USB 3 port that manages and monitors the current flow of the port. The switch limits the current draw when a new USB 3 device is connected, minimizing the voltage droop of the main USB 5V power rail, thereby protecting devices connected to other USB ports from going offline because of port power droop.
Supports Four Independent Physical Connections to VMs—Four independent USB 3.2 controllers control a pair of ports each. If your VM software supports direct physical connections, then each of the Sonnet card’s controllers can be independently attached to a separate virtual machine.
Supports Hot-Swappable Device Connections—Plug in and disconnect peripherals without shutting off your computer.
Broad USB Device Support and Compatibility—Supports storage, hubs, and other USB-IF compliant devices.
Easy Installation—Quick and easy installation into any available x16 PCIe slot, plus no driver installation required.
Great for Use in Thunderbolt Expansion Systems—Use in Sonnet Thunderbolt expansion systems with an available x16 PCIe card slot to power and connect eight 10Gbps USB SSDs to your computer.
Mac, Windows, and Linux Compatible—Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux computers.

Overview
Tech Specs

Pro Ports.
Max Performance from Each One.

First pro PCIe adapter card with eight external USB-C ports, four USB 3.2 controllers, and an x8 PCIe 3.0 bridge chip
Even in computers with multiple expansion card slots, every slot is valuable — there may not be space to install two 4-port adapter cards. Sonnet’s Allegro™ Pro USB-C® 8-Port PCIe Card is the first adapter card ever to feature eight high performance USB-C ports, fitting them neatly on a standard full-height PCIe card bracket. Ports are spaced to enable connection of eight cables (and even USB-C male to USB-A female adapters).

Why Sonnet? Many multi-port USB cards split a single USB controller’s bandwidth among their ports, limiting performance when two or more devices are connected and operating. When installed in a computer’s PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 slot, Sonnet’s card provides full 10Gbps bandwidth to every one of its eight ports, ensuring maximum performance from each one.

The Most Capable 10Gbps USB Card

USB SSD Nirvana
Equipped with NVMe SSDs, the fastest USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives available can transfer data at incredible speeds. Chances are your computer has few ports capable of supporting their full performance. Upgrade your workflow in a major way by installing Sonnet’s Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card in your Mac Pro®, Windows, or Linux computer; or Echo™ III Thunderbolt™ to PCIe card expansion system to support up to eight NVMe USB drives at maximum performance(1), no power adapters needed.

Add Eight 10Gbps USB-C Ports to Computers Without Ports (with an Allegro Card Installed in a Thunderbolt Expansion System) and Desktop Computers with an x16 PCIe Slot

High Speed Simultaneous Transfers

10Gbps from Every Port!
Many multi-port USB cards are simple hubs that split a single USB controller’s bandwidth between all its ports, which limits their performance when two or more devices are connected and operating. When installed in a computer’s PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 slot, Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card supports eight simultaneous 10Gbps transfers. It is ideal for transferring data from multiple drives to the computer (and from drive to drive) — data transfers from a single USB 3.2 NVMe SSD device at up to 1000 MB/s. Compared to using a USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 3.0 adapter card, transfers complete in half the time!

Built to Perform

Advanced Bandwidth Management Architecture
With its advanced architecture, the Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card can deliver full 10Gbps bandwidth to each of its ports. This is accomplished by providing each USB controller access to two lanes of PCIe 3.0 via an x8 PCIe 3.0 bridge chip, plus by implementing advanced data traffic management to eliminate bandwidth congestion. By providing full-bandwidth PCIe bridging to four controllers and by eliminating bandwidth congestion, this Sonnet card is the highest-performing USB 3.2 Gen 2 PCIe card ever made.

Sonnet Port Power Advantages

Sonnet designed the Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card with a focus on intelligent power delivery and management for attached drives powered through its ports — unlike ordinary USB adapter cards designed without attention to detail.

Virtually Independent

Supports Four Independent Physical Connections to Virtual Machines (VMs)
The Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card’s four independent USB 3.2 controllers control a pair of ports each. If your VM software supports direct physical connections, then each of these four controllers can be independently attached to a separate virtual machine.

Broad Device Support

Easy Card Installation
The Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card offers hot-pluggable and hot-swappable device connection support with automatic device configuration and works with all USB-IF compliant USB peripherals. This full-height Sonnet card installs easily into a PCIe x16 slot and does not require a driver installation.

Got an Echo III Thunderbolt Expansion System?

Add Eight USB-C Ports Using Only One Slot
Does your computer have a Thunderbolt connection, but no PCIe card slot? The Allegro Pro USB-C 8-Port PCIe Card provides great performance, and is ideal for use in a Sonnet Echo III Desktop, Echo III Rackmount, or a DuoModo Echo III Module Thunderbolt expansion system. The combo enables you to connect eight USB devices to any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 ports, supporting aggregate transfers up to 2800 MB/s.

Part Number	USB3C-8PM-E
Form Factor	Full-height PCIe computer card
Bus Interface	PCI Express 3.0 x8 electrical, x16 mechanical
Peripherals Supported	Industry standard USB 3.2 Gen 1, Gen 2 and 2x2; USB 3.1 Gen 1 and 2; USB 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1 Thunderbolt-only peripherals are NOT supported
Bus-Powered Peripherals Supported	HD, SSD, SSD RAID, etc. 1.5A per port advertised using USB Type-C Charging 7.5W per port for operation or charging
Cables Supported	USB-C (10Gbps) USB4 Thunderbolt 3 (<1 meter) Thunderbolt 4
Chipsets	4x ASMedia 3142
USB Standard	Complies with OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface), EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface), and xHCI (eXtensible Host Controller Interface) standards
UASP	USB attached SCSI protocol supported under macOS 10.12+, Windows 11 and 10
Hot Plug	Supports hot-pluggable and hot swappable device connection
Boot Support	Computers do not support booting from any USB 3 PCIe cards
Operating Temperature	0ºC to 35ºC (32ºF to 95ºF)
Compliance	RoHS 3 (Directive 2015/863) IEC62368-1 and IEC62368-2 Safety