Question 3 ssd drives two sata 6gbs and 5 3gbs ports

[jabber j]

I have 3 ssd drives , vbut only two sata 6gbs and 5 3gbs ports, there is a usb cable included is usb 3.0 faster than sata 3gbs?

My hope was to boot from Samsung evo960 256gb

my games on
samsung evo 960 500gb these two are occupying the two sata 6gbs ports
crucial xfury rgb 500gb

where should I boot from the 3gbs ?
or buy a pci 2.0 adapter
or plug into a usb port ?

my mb is asus z77-a

 

[USAFRet]

"my mb is asus z77-a "
"samsung evo 960 500gb these two are occupying the two sata 6gbs ports "

How do you have the 960 EVO NVMe drive connected to SATA III ports?

 

[AllanGH]

USB 3.0 Speed = 640MB/s Max Theoretical
SATA 3 Speed = 600MB/s Max Theoretical

Though, I have yet to see a USB 3.0 ever hit the theoretical maximum. They could be considered to be ROUGHLY equivalent....in theory.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm seeing major discontinuity between the current drives, the motherboard, the possibly new 256GB NVMe drive, and expected performance.

 

[DMAN999]

I'm guessing he means 860 Evo SATA SSD's NOT the m.2 960 EVO SSD's.
I personally bought this add-in card:
N N.ORANIE PCIe 2.0 x 1 to SATA III 4 Ports Adapter Card
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H8CXK9F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
to get back a few SATA ports after my m.2 SATA MX500 disabled two of my on-board SATA ports.

It isn't really SATA III but does show as 5 GB/S capable when I boot.
I only have older HDD's plugged into it though so I can't say if it really can deliver those speeds.