The Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver actually includes 3 drivers inside the Drivers folder of the ZIP file: iusb3hub So what does the Intel USB 3.0 driver installer do differently from a manual install? Does it set some sort of registry flag to tell the OS that USB 3.0 ports are available? Could I replicate this behavior? A fresh install of Windows 7 followed by installing the drivers with the files from Intel's ZIP file with device manager causes the same issue, so SDI is not at fault here. I’ve been able to repeat this behavior on various Intel based systems (Acer Iconia W700, ASUS Sabertooth Z77, Surface Pro 2). However, if I then use the Intel USB 3.0 driver (running the installer), the 3.0 ports function normally and run at full speed. I’ve confirmed this with a file copy from an external SSD (only reaches 30MBps) and with an external HDD (Toshiba Canvio 3.0) which has an LED indicating whether it’s connected in USB 2.0 or 3.0 mode. However, despite a successful message from SDI, my USB 3.0 ports, while working, act as USB 2.0 ports. When installing Windows 7, I usually use a driver installer post-installation (specifically Snappy Driver Installer) to speed up the process of installing them.