Sonnet Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe Card

Sonnet Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe Card

4-Port SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen 2 PCIe Express Card with Dual USB-C 10Gb Controllers

Featuring two 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 controllers and four USB-C ports, the Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe card supports data transfers at up to twice as fast as USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports are capable.

With two controllers onboard, the Allegro card speeds data transfers between connected drives, and enables your computer to load and off-load data more quickly.

£ 159.95 | £ 191.94 inc VAT

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SKU: SON-USB3C-4PME
Category: USB PCIe Cards
Brand: Sonnet Technology

2 x The Performance Of USB 3.0 & USB 3.1 Gen 1 Connections

Equipped with SSDs, the fastest 3.1 Gen 2 USB drives you can buy today are capable of 800 MB/s data transfers—many are bus-powered, too. But, most desktop computers (even new models) include generations-old USB interfaces that will throttle that performance and may not offer adequate power to allow bus-powered drives to operate.

Break through the bottleneck—install Sonnet’s Allegro™ USB-C 4-Port PCIe card in your Mac Pro® tower, Windows® PC, or Linux(1) computer with PCIe slots; or Thunderbolt™ to PCIe card expansion system to support your fast USB drives at maximum performance.


Two Controllers, Four Ports

Featuring two 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 controllers and four USB-C ports, the Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe card supports data transfers at up to twice as fast as USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports are capable. With two controllers onboard, the Allegro card speeds data transfers between connected drives, and enables your computer to load and off-load data more quickly.


Speed and Power

Unlike other 4-port USB cards (simple hubs that split a single USB controller’s bandwidth between all four ports), Sonnet’s Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe computer card supports data transfers from a single USB 3.1 Gen 2 SSD RAID device at up to 800 MB/s— compared to using a USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 3.0 adapter card, transfers complete in half the time! Exploiting its dual controllers design, it’s possible to simultaneously transfer data to two connected drives at up to 660 MB/s each. With four drives connected, the four ports support simultaneous 300 MB/s transfers!

The Allegro card provides 7.5W of power through each of its ports, supporting USB bus-powered hard drives, and SSDs without the need to connect an additional AC power adapter.


Sonnet Port Power Advantages

Unlike ordinary USB-C adapter cards, the Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe was designed with a focus on intelligent power delivery and management for powering attached drives through its ports.


No Auxiliary Power Required

Ordinary USB-C cards need a separate power plug connection. Sonnet’s 4-port USB-C card gets the power required to operate connected drives from the slot it’s installed in. This enables you to install the Sonnet card in any compatible computer or Thunderbolt expansion chassis regardless of it having extra power connectors available.


Independent, Per-Port Power Regulation

Ordinary USB-C cards can deliver poor power regulation, allowing a connected drive to be forced off (auto-disconnected) when an additional drive is connected or disconnected. The Allegro card protects each port from power glitches on adjacent ports, preventing auto-disconnects of already-connected drives.


Resettable Fuses

Unlike ordinary USB-C cards, the Allegro card features a resettable fuse on each port, protecting both card and computer should a cable or peripheral fail. Resetting a tripped fuse is simple — just shut down and restart your computer.


Optimized for Thunderbolt

Got a Thunderbolt connection, but no PCIe slot? The Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe card is ideal for use in Sonnet’s Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion systems, including Echo Express™ and xMac™ desktop and rackmount chassis. Now you can add four SuperSpeed+ USB-C ports to your computer without expansion card slots..


Perfect for the Extra Slot in Your Multi-Slot Thunderbolt Chassis

Installing an Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe card in a multi-slot Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe card expansion chassis is a great way to inexpensively add four SuperSpeed+ USB-C ports to your computer.


Broad Device Support, Easy Installation

The Sonnet Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe card features 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 any PCIe x4 (mechanical) or larger slot.


Technical Notes:

1. Linux supports only 5Gb transfer rate as of 4.12.13 Kernel.

Key Features

SuperSpeed+ USB x4 — Adds four 10Gbps USB-C ports to your Mac Pro, Windows PC, or Linux(1) computer with PCIe slots; or Thunderbolt to PCIe card expansion system.

Dual USB 3.1 Gen 2 Controllers — Support data transfers at up to twice as fast as USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 Gen 1; speed data transfers between connected drive.

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 — Independent power regulation isolates each port to prevent cross-coupled power glitches that may cause accidental disconnects; resettable device overcurrent fuses protect the card and computer, and may be reset by a simple shutdown.

Broad USB Device Support & Compatibility — Supports storage, hubs, and other USB-IF compliant USB devices.

Optimized for Thunderbolt — Provides maximum performance over Thunderbolt.

Supports Hot-Swappable Device Connection — Plug in and disconnect peripherals without shutting off your computer.

Easy Installation — Quick and easy installation into any available PCIe slot.

Technical Specifications
Form Factor PCIe computer card
Bus Interface PCI Express 2.0 x4
Peripherals Supported • Industry standard USB 3.1 Gen 2, 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1
• IMPORTANT - Thunderbolt 3-only peripherals are NOT supported
Bus Powered Peripherals Supported • HD, SSD, SSD RAID
• 1.5A per port advertised using USB CC (Channel Configuration).
• Up to 7.5W per port for operation.
Cables Supported • USB-C 10Gbps.
• USB-C 5Gbps.
• Thunderbolt 3 40Gbps (0.5-, 0.7-, 0.8-meter cables only).
• Thunderbolt 3 20Gbps.
Chipset ASMedia 1142 x2
RoHS Compliant Yes
USB Support - Standard Complies with OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface), EHCI (Enhanced Host Controller Interface), and xHCI (eXtensible Host Controller Interface) standards
USB Support - UASP USB attached SCSI protocol supported under macOS 10.10 & 10.12+, Windows 10
USB Support - Chipset Throughput 20Gbps combined port throughput
Number of Devices Supported Up to 62
Hot Plug Supports hot-pluggable and hot swappable device connection
Boot Support No computers support booting at this time
Mac Compatibility • Mac Pro® 3,1(1), 4,1 or 5,1.
• macOS 10.10.5, 10.12.6+(2).
IMPORTANT (not compatible with macOS 10.11).
• macOS Mojave compatible
Windows Compatibility Computer with PCIe slots.
Windows 10, 8.1, 7.
Windows Server 2016, 2012, and 2008 (64-bit editions).
Linux Compatibility(3) Computer with PCIe slots.
Linux 4.12+(1) Kernel (LTS version only).
Thunderbolt Compatibility Supports USB 3 peripherals on a Mac or Windows PC when installed in a Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt 3 PCIe expansion system(4).
macOS 10.12.6+(21).
Windows 10 Build 1709 or newer (64-bit edition).
Package Contents • Allegro USB-C 4-Port PCIe adapter card.
• Documentation.
Warranty 2-years

Technical Notes:

1) Compatible in Mac Pro 3,1 PCIe 1.1 slot; performance may be limited by slot’s bandwidth.

2) macOS erroneously reports a 5Gbps connection when connected at 10Gbps.

3) Linux supports only 5Gb transfer rate as of 4.12.13 Kernel.

4) Not compatible with Thunderbolt 1 PCIe Expansion systems.

Sonnet Delivery Info


In general, next working day delivery services (UK Mainland) are available on Sonnet equipment orders placed before 2pm (subject to stock availability).

Non-timed deliveries should be delivered between the hours of 9am and 6pm.

Orders placed after 4pm on Fridays and on weekends will be processed as normal the following Monday.

Orders placed on Bank Holidays will be processed the next working day.


If urgent, please call one of our helpful account managers so they may double check everything for you, enabling you to place your order with confidence.