• Overview
  • Tech Specs

Two Cards in One—Add Fast 6Gb/s eSATA and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Ports to Your Computer With One PCIe Card

Do you need to hook up USB 3.0 or eSATA drives to your Mac Pro® tower, Windows® PC, or Thunderbolt™-to-PCIe card expansion system? If you are looking for great performance and flexible choice of connections, install the Tempo™ Duo PCIe adapter. This cost-effective Sonnet card delivers the capabilities of two cards in one, adding two 6Gb/s eSATA and two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports to your computer.

The Power to Charge and Sync

Battery ChargingSonnet specially engineered the Tempo Duo PCIe to provide extra power to devices connected to the USB 3.0 ports without the need for you to connect an auxiliary power adapter and cable to the card. Delivering up to 2.0A of power per port, this Sonnet solution provides enough power to support USB 3.0 bus-powered hard drives, SSDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray™ devices. The Tempo Duo also supports the USB 3.0 charging specification that enables you to simultaneously charge and sync your iPad®, iPhone®, or other device that supports USB 3.0 charging.

Key Features

Adds eSATA and USB 3.0 Connectivity to Your System—Cost-effective solution for adding two 6Gb/s eSATA ports plus two USB 3.0 ports to your setup with one adapter card

Powered USB 3.0 Ports—Support bus-powered hard drives, SSDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray drives with 2.0A of power per port (no need to connect an additional AC power adapter)

Supports iDevice Charging—Enables simultaneously charging/syncing of iPad, iPhone, and other devices that support USB 3.0 charging

Fast Data Transfers—eSATA ports support data transfers at up to 500 MB/s; USB ports support data transfers at up to 350 MB/s

Supports Multi-Drive Enclosures—eSATA ports support drive enclosures with port multipliers; eSATA and USB ports support drive enclosures with hardware RAID controllers expansion systems

Wide USB 3.0 Support & Compatibility—USB 3.0 ports support storage, hubs, and other USB 3.0 devices; also compatible with USB 2.0 devices

Optimized for Thunderbolt—Provides maximum performance over Thunderbolt through Thunderbolt-to-PCIe card expansion systems such as Sonnet’s Echo Express or xMac family of PCI Express card expansion systems

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eSATA 6Gb/s LogoeSATA for Extra Speed

Capable of transferring files at up to 500 MB/s, the Tempo Duo PCIe adapter’s fast 6Gb/s eSATA ports are well suited to handle the increased bandwidth requirements of 6Gb/s SSDs. This card also supports older multi-drive enclosures with port multipliers, enabling you to access up to five drives per eSATA cable. The eSATA ports are also perfect for connecting media readers with eSATA interfaces, such as the RED STATION REDMAG 1.8" and 2.5", and even support booting from attached drives under OS X®, Windows 8 and 7. This card supports Sonnet’s exclusive eSATA data cables with locking connectors.

USB 3.0 LogoSuperSpeed USB 3.0 for Performance and Common Connectivity

Most drives offered today include USB 3.0 interfaces. Although they can connect to USB 2.0 ports on your computer, their performance would be reduced by as much as 85 percent! The Tempo Duo PCIe card’s dual SuperSpeed USB ports offer native USB 3.0 support, and are capable of transferring files at up to 350 MB/s(1). This Tempo card supports USB 3.0 hubs and other USB 3.0 devices, and is also backward compatible with USB 2.0 devices.

 

eSATA & USB 3.0 Connections

Thunderbolt LogoOptimized for Maximum Performance Over Thunderbolt

Got a Thunderbolt connection, but no PCIe slot? This card is ideal for use in one of Sonnet’s Echo Express™ or xMac™ Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe Card Expansion System. The combo enables you to add two fast eSATA ports and two more SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports with one adapter card to iMac®, Mac® mini, new Mac Pro, MacBook Air®, MacBook Pro®, and Windows computers with Thunderbolt ports.

Hard DrivesExtras

Do you need to connect a multi-drive storage system? The Tempo Duo PCIe supports storage systems with built-in hardware RAID controllers like Sonnet’s Fusion™ QR, and Fusion R400 RAID USB 3.0, enabling you to take advantage of functions like creating large protected volumes or accessing up to four drives in a single storage enclosure(2). Tempo Duo PCIe supports OS X, Windows 8, and Windows 7 RAID features, in addition to drive hot-swapping under OS X. AHCI (eSATA) and xHCI (USB 3.0) compliance ensures installation of the card is simple—just plug it in to the PCIe slot. The necessary drivers are installed automatically.(3)

iMac Connected to Echo Express III-D with Tempo Duo PCIe Card and Connected USB 3.0 Devices


Enhance your Mac or PC with Thunderbolt ports with PCIe expansion capabilities — connect a Sonnet Echo Express Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe Expansion System to your computer, install a Tempo Duo PCIe card, and easily attach
USB 3.0 and eSATA storage, media readers, and peripherals.


Sonnet eSATA Locking Cables and computer hardware shown in photos for illustration purposes; items sold separately.
See Tech Specs Tab for footnotes
Part No.  
TSATA6USB3-E Discontinued
Hardware  
Warranty 1-year
Form Factor PCIe computer card
Bus Interface PCI Express 2.0 x4
Number of Ports
  • 6Gb/s eSATA: 2 external
  • USB 3.0: 2 external
  • USB 3.0 Dual Port Connector: 1 internal
RoHS Compliant Yes
Package Contents
  • Tempo Duo PCIe card
  • Documentation
eSATA Support  
Drives Supported Two (or more with hardware RAID enclosure)(2)
Drive Types Supported SATA 6Gb/s, SATA 3Gb/s, and SATA 1.5Gb/s
Advanced Features
  • Supports booting from attached drives under OS X; Windows 10, 8, 7 support drive hot-swapping under OS X
  • Supports ATAPI (CD/DVD/Blu-ray) drives
  • Supports port multipliers
  • Supports S.M.A.R.T. status data reporting
  • Supports Spread Spectrum Clocking for compatibility with all SATA drives and lower EMI emissions
Data Transfer Rate Up to 500 MB/s
USB 3.0 Support  
Drives Supported Two (or more with hardware RAID enclosure)(2)
Standard Complies with OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface), EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface), and xHCI (eXtensible Host Controller Interface) standards
Peripherals Supported Supports industry standard USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 peripherals
Bus-Powered Peripherals Supported(4) HDs, SSDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray devices up to 2A per port
Cables Supported USB 3.0 with Standard-A male connector, USB 2.0 with Standard-A male connector(1)
USB Charging USB Battery Charging 1.2 Compliant
(up to 7.5W per port)
Data Transfer Rate Up to 350 MB/s per port
Chip Set Fresco Logic
Number of Devices Supported Up to 31
Hot Plug Supports hot-pluggable and hot swappable device connection

 

Specifications subject to change without notice.
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Mac Compatibility

Mac Pro (with card slots)

OS X 10.8.5+

macOS Sierra compatible

Windows Compatibility

PC desktop (with PCIe slots; PCIe 2.0 slots recommended)

Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista®

Windows Server 2016, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008

Thunderbolt Compatibility

Mac or PC via a Thunderbolt to PCIe card expansion system


Technical Notes

  1. USB 3.0 devices require USB 3.0 cables to support USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed) transfer speeds (up to 5 Gb/s). Use of USB 2.0 cables between USB 3.0 devices and the Tempo Duo PCIe is supported, but data transfers are limited to USB 2.0 speeds (up to 480 Mb/s).
  2. Support for up to eight drives requires the use of drive enclosures employing a hardware RAID controller (like Sonnet’s Fusion R400 RAID USB 3.0). Support for up to ten drives requires the use of drive enclosures equipped with eSATA ports and port multipliers.
  3. Although drivers that enable the Tempo Duo PCIe card’s to operate in systems running Windows 8 and Server 2012 are installed automatically, Sonnet strongly recommends you download and install the latest drivers through Sonnet’s website.
  4. See Support Article FAQ 759 for compatible cable types.



Mac LogoroHS Logo