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Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 8th 18, 06:57 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Yes[_2_]
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Posts: 105
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

I have an Antec 300 Illusion case. There are two USB 2.0 connector
ports on the front. I'm thinking that I may want to upgrade them to
USB 3.0.

Has anyone upgraded USB 2 ports on a chassis to USB 3? I'd like to get
some idea of what would need to be done. I could, of course, add a USB
3.0 hub instead, but it'd be nice to keep down the amount of clutter on
my desk.

Thanks,

John
  #2  
Old June 8th 18, 10:01 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Flasherly[_2_]
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Posts: 2,407
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

On Fri, 8 Jun 2018 17:57:32 -0000 (UTC), "Yes"
wrote:

I have an Antec 300 Illusion case. There are two USB 2.0 connector
ports on the front. I'm thinking that I may want to upgrade them to
USB 3.0.

Has anyone upgraded USB 2 ports on a chassis to USB 3? I'd like to get
some idea of what would need to be done. I could, of course, add a USB
3.0 hub instead, but it'd be nice to keep down the amount of clutter on
my desk.

Thanks,

John


An extension cable for the 4 more signal pins than USB2. Presuming
the KISS principle and a couple backplane ports.

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-.../dp/B00NH12O5I

You'll need a MB equipped with USB3 headers to cable a similar setup,
similarly dangling out of where your case USB2 headers, if not a
replacement then presently used on front USB3 paneled cases.

I'd figured for the first but hadn't looked it up. For my purposes 3M
is far too long, suspecting Ebay may have something in my range for a
tenth the price.

Clutter as horror is subject to relevancy given peculiar viewpoint. I
personally like consoles, for instance, with a long gangway and a
chair to roll around Command Central. Nothing being no more secured
or tightened down than it really need be, most of all then for easy
accessibility plucking, of course, where one other than Maintenance
actually matters.
  #3  
Old June 8th 18, 10:31 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
VanguardLH[_2_]
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Posts: 1,453
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

Yes wrote:

I have an Antec 300 Illusion case. There are two USB 2.0 connector
ports on the front. I'm thinking that I may want to upgrade them to
USB 3.0.

Has anyone upgraded USB 2 ports on a chassis to USB 3? I'd like to get
some idea of what would need to be done. I could, of course, add a USB
3.0 hub instead, but it'd be nice to keep down the amount of clutter on
my desk.


The problem is getting the case mounting ports that fit that case. The
USB port may not have its own bracket with tangs to snap into a hole in
the case. Rather it will be soldered onto a PCB that is positioned
behind the case.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2ik886t.jpg
My guess (since I couldn't find an inside view of that spot inside the
case) is there is one PCB that has the USB ports, audio jacks, and LED
soldered onto it and the wires run from the PCB.

Do you have any spare drive bays? If so, you can get a drive bay hub
that has one, or more, USB3 ports, like:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16820223120
That adds 2 USB3 ports, 4 USB2 ports, an eSATA connection, and a card
reader. This one only had an average rating so you might want to hunt
around for other choices. If you have no spare SATA ports on the mobo
then the eSATA connector in this drive hub would be dead. Same if you
don't have any spare USB2 headers on the mobo.

Sometimes there are USB2 headers on the mobo that are unused. You could
connect those to this drive bay hub along with the USB3 header on the
mobo. If your mobo only has USB2 headers then the mobo has no USB3
support which means you'll have to add a USB3 daughtercard. Some USB3
cards have an internal USB3 connector you could use to go to the USB
drive hub; however, often the internal USB connector is shared with one
of the external USB ports on that card.

You mention the case but not the motherboard, so no idea what you'll
have to do to add USB3 support. No mention of what USB headers are
already used on the mobo. If the mobo has it, run an unused USB3 header
on the mobo to the USB drive hub. If not, you'll have to add a USB3
daughtercard which will already give you USB3 external ports on the
backside. If you get one with a USB3 internal port then you can move
one of the backside (shared) USB3 ports to the front-facing USB drive
hub.
  #4  
Old June 10th 18, 08:18 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Yes[_2_]
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Posts: 105
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

VanguardLH wrote:

Yes wrote:

I have an Antec 300 Illusion case. There are two USB 2.0 connector
ports on the front. I'm thinking that I may want to upgrade them to
USB 3.0.

Has anyone upgraded USB 2 ports on a chassis to USB 3? I'd like to
get some idea of what would need to be done. I could, of course,
add a USB 3.0 hub instead, but it'd be nice to keep down the amount
of clutter on my desk.


The problem is getting the case mounting ports that fit that case.
The USB port may not have its own bracket with tangs to snap into a
hole in the case. Rather it will be soldered onto a PCB that is
positioned behind the case.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2ik886t.jpg
My guess (since I couldn't find an inside view of that spot inside the
case) is there is one PCB that has the USB ports, audio jacks, and LED
soldered onto it and the wires run from the PCB.

Do you have any spare drive bays? If so, you can get a drive bay hub
that has one, or more, USB3 ports, like:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16820223120
That adds 2 USB3 ports, 4 USB2 ports, an eSATA connection, and a card
reader. This one only had an average rating so you might want to hunt
around for other choices. If you have no spare SATA ports on the mobo
then the eSATA connector in this drive hub would be dead. Same if you
don't have any spare USB2 headers on the mobo.

Sometimes there are USB2 headers on the mobo that are unused. You
could connect those to this drive bay hub along with the USB3 header
on the mobo. If your mobo only has USB2 headers then the mobo has no
USB3 support which means you'll have to add a USB3 daughtercard.
Some USB3 cards have an internal USB3 connector you could use to go
to the USB drive hub; however, often the internal USB connector is
shared with one of the external USB ports on that card.

You mention the case but not the motherboard, so no idea what you'll
have to do to add USB3 support. No mention of what USB headers are
already used on the mobo. If the mobo has it, run an unused USB3
header on the mobo to the USB drive hub. If not, you'll have to add
a USB3 daughtercard which will already give you USB3 external ports
on the backside. If you get one with a USB3 internal port then you
can move one of the backside (shared) USB3 ports to the front-facing
USB drive hub.


I have an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3 mobo. It has two USB 3 ports and an
eSATA connector on the back side of the case plus USB and SATA
connectors on the mobo.

The reason for my question is that 1. it's difficult for me to reach
the USB 3 ports on the back of the case, 2. the USB 3 device I have has
a short cable (say 6 inches) which makes it awkward to plug in and use
given my pc's location and 3. I didn't know what upgrading the chassis'
existing USB 2 connectors to USB 3.0 might entail. If the upgrading of
a USB 2 port on the front to a USB 3 port were only a matter of getting
a new set of wiring suitable for USB 3, then that would be tempting to
do. On the other hand, I've seen external hubs that plug into the
external USB 3 connector and have an external AC/DC power brick to
provide the power for more USB 3 devices. I could accommodate that if
need be.

At the moment, I'm rather shell shocked and not particularly looking
forward to messing around the wiring inside my pc. As many of the
regulars here know, I had a severe problem in early May involving my
PSU when I tried to add on another HD to my pc. After all was said and
done, I lost two of my three hard drives (drive C:\ still works), lost
my DVD burner drive, lost the internal fan at the top of the case,
replaced the PSU and, after several weeks dealing with two DOA HD
drives, received one that works. All in all, I feel a bit down and
jinxed at the moment, particularly facing the task to reconstruct
several data files.

Other replies pointed out some alternatives such as an internal hub
fitting into a drive bay. That idea had not crossed my mind. Ditto,
the cable suggestion from Paul.

My mobo has PCI-e slots on it that are not usable due to the location
of the graphics card. When I moved the graphics card from its existing
position to the other same type slot on the mobo, I chickened out. The
graphics card was immediately above the PSU fan (the PSU is mounted at
the bottom of the chassis), and the distance between the card and the
PSU fan looked very narrow. I was worried about air circulation and
possible overheating of the graphics card.

John
  #5  
Old June 10th 18, 01:25 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Flasherly[_2_]
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Posts: 2,407
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 07:18:02 -0000 (UTC), "Yes"
wrote:

I have an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3 mobo.


Damn -- $359...
https://www.amazon.com/Asus-M4A89GTD.../dp/B003964KK8

If an older model for Amazon's hm, discretionary merchant-pricing
slots. ASUS calling it a Pro/USB3 is a little redundant. I figured
when I got a socket three, although Gigabyte and somewhat more dated
by present driver standards, is it was probably how things are just
done for USB3 convenience: you get USB3 stuck on the back-plane. Least
I did, two plus two, for the extra dedicated USB3 ports sandwiched
into thereabouts, alongside usual two USB2 ports adjacent the NetWerk
RJ45 connection.

Wow, you've got 12 USB2 (8-ports MID-board pin arrays), which is kind
of totally something. . .I guess. ...Firewire, cool - the "standard"
for sound recording gear for some time. Onboard graphics -- I like,
the way to go, at least for me.

But I only just paid $50 for the Gigabyte AM3 because the floor
dropped out on octal cores, a little while ago, due to Ryzen. A
low-wattage variant, primo -- octal bulldozer type, AKA .not. a
250-watt monstrosity, for an unheard-of $90 splurge, plus ensuring any
driver related issues are grandfathered in. ...Probably goes like a
duck into water in typical *nix box configs.

Offhand, a Phenom six-cores sounds conceivably older, maybe a year or
two, in the ASUS config. I can't believe, though, a build like that
would eat two HDD, DVD, and case fan. Outer Limits stuff.

Digging into PCs plain ain't done right if it ain't fun. And scared
don't count when it's out of bounds;- most rules fall under: if you
can pay then that's the ticket to play.
  #6  
Old June 10th 18, 05:07 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Yes[_2_]
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Posts: 105
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

Flasherly wrote:

On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 07:18:02 -0000 (UTC), "Yes"
wrote:

I have an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3 mobo.


Damn -- $359...

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-M4A89GTD.../dp/B003964KK8

If an older model for Amazon's hm, discretionary merchant-pricing
slots. ASUS calling it a Pro/USB3 is a little redundant. I figured
when I got a socket three, although Gigabyte and somewhat more dated
by present driver standards, is it was probably how things are just
done for USB3 convenience: you get USB3 stuck on the back-plane. Least
I did, two plus two, for the extra dedicated USB3 ports sandwiched
into thereabouts, alongside usual two USB2 ports adjacent the NetWerk
RJ45 connection.

Wow, you've got 12 USB2 (8-ports MID-board pin arrays), which is kind
of totally something. . .I guess. ...Firewire, cool - the "standard"
for sound recording gear for some time. Onboard graphics -- I like,
the way to go, at least for me.

But I only just paid $50 for the Gigabyte AM3 because the floor
dropped out on octal cores, a little while ago, due to Ryzen. A
low-wattage variant, primo -- octal bulldozer type, AKA .not. a
250-watt monstrosity, for an unheard-of $90 splurge, plus ensuring any
driver related issues are grandfathered in. ...Probably goes like a
duck into water in typical *nix box configs.

Offhand, a Phenom six-cores sounds conceivably older, maybe a year or
two, in the ASUS config. I can't believe, though, a build like that
would eat two HDD, DVD, and case fan. Outer Limits stuff.

Digging into PCs plain ain't done right if it ain't fun. And scared
don't count when it's out of bounds;- most rules fall under: if you
can pay then that's the ticket to play.


I can't say I'm surprised at Amazon's price, but I have a very low
opinion of their pricing on a lot of items anyway.

I bought my mobo back in 2010 or so. It was a lot less costly then :-)

IIRC, ASUS offered two similarly named mobos at the time when I bought
it; perhaps one was for the European market and one for the U.S. ??? -
shrug.

Regardless, my mobo has held up well over the years and still does what
I want it to do. Where it shows its age is wrt new tech. Data
transfer speed is something I like, so it'd be nice to have USB 3.1
capability. And I seem to recall reading something about similar
progress for SATA transfer speeds. My mobo of course handles USB 3.0,
not the newer USB 3.1.

In retrospect, the mobo is probably not a good match with the case
because the PSU is located on the bottom. The mobo has two slots for a
graphics card. I tried the suggestion to move the graphics card to the
other slot in order to make the PCI-e slots accessible. Doing so freed
up access to the PCI-e slots but created what seems to me a different
problem - the graphics card was immediately above the fan of the PSU.
There was a narrow gap between the card and the PSU. I was worried
that the flow of the air from the PSU would overheat the graphics card
- the PSU fan and the graphics card's fan faced other directly - so I
placed the card back to where I had it to begin with.

John
  #7  
Old June 10th 18, 10:09 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Flasherly[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,407
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 16:07:56 -0000 (UTC), "Yes"
wrote:

I can't say I'm surprised at Amazon's price, but I have a very low
opinion of their pricing on a lot of items anyway.

I bought my mobo back in 2010 or so. It was a lot less costly then :-)

IIRC, ASUS offered two similarly named mobos at the time when I bought
it; perhaps one was for the European market and one for the U.S. ??? -
shrug.

Regardless, my mobo has held up well over the years and still does what
I want it to do. Where it shows its age is wrt new tech. Data
transfer speed is something I like, so it'd be nice to have USB 3.1
capability. And I seem to recall reading something about similar
progress for SATA transfer speeds. My mobo of course handles USB 3.0,
not the newer USB 3.1.

In retrospect, the mobo is probably not a good match with the case
because the PSU is located on the bottom. The mobo has two slots for a
graphics card. I tried the suggestion to move the graphics card to the
other slot in order to make the PCI-e slots accessible. Doing so freed
up access to the PCI-e slots but created what seems to me a different
problem - the graphics card was immediately above the fan of the PSU.
There was a narrow gap between the card and the PSU. I was worried
that the flow of the air from the PSU would overheat the graphics card
- the PSU fan and the graphics card's fan faced other directly - so I
placed the card back to where I had it to begin with.


An older Asus than I'd first suspected. A bit. Mine, the Gigabyte,
I'd as well suspect for design concepts dated closer to yours than
not. (AMD's generation past on Bulldozer technology.) Perhaps a
little more popular for a budget-builder's board, though, or less apt
to pop in the Amazon's mystery-bin pricing rackets....

Gigabyte 78LMT (rev6.0) FX-8300 Octal (Hm, seems I can also run your
processor.)
Order Date: 5/26/2017
GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 (rev. 6.0) AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 USB 3.0 HDMI
Micro ATX AMD Motherboard 59.99

Wrong again...$178, as the board is probably originally worth half
yours in the first place. ...If to linearly extrapolate on a factor
of three, then makes your paid price roundabout (359/3=)$119.
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-7.../dp/B008TZZ4WC

Amazon's just fine, more than fine, by the way. They're just another
swinging player, swinging along where everyone has to follow the same
simple rules as do you: To get over on them before they're on top of
you and stay out of jail to continue to play. The game is named of
course to date back to its obscure originality, called Caveat Emptor.

I haven't bothered yet to install the USB3 point-zero drivers for
mine, although I do exclusive use onboard video because I like it
extra simple. Game play is far to proprietorially challenging for my
league.

I probably started to give on all that heat somewhere back with a
12-bay case, 4 DVD writers, and a slew of custom-wired, dinky-butted
case fans, possibly ten, each I'd ingeniously thought out for
placement, for that peculiar epoch in computing. As a result, I now
put on one grapefruit-sized monster CPU cooler on all CPUs,
regardless, for cheap $20 on-sale insurance, turn around, and just
leave one case side, (the side opposite where the MB is mounted), off
and removed. If laying the case on its side, on a table, letting heat
arise up and out, so much the better;- I've both vertical- and
horizontal-standing instances of removed case sides;- with one last
residual case fan, a modern big-butted, and quiet, case fan dedicated
to the HDD plane. And that's about all there is to not being bothered
to button back up a case for all those scary-looking wires stuffed
wherever is most convenient for stuff that gets jammed inside and out
of sight.

Easy-&-peasy, as you please, for doing less hard maintenance time.
  #8  
Old June 10th 18, 11:47 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

Yes wrote:
Flasherly wrote:

On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 07:18:02 -0000 (UTC), "Yes"
wrote:

I have an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3 mobo.

Damn -- $359...

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-M4A89GTD.../dp/B003964KK8
If an older model for Amazon's hm, discretionary merchant-pricing
slots. ASUS calling it a Pro/USB3 is a little redundant. I figured
when I got a socket three, although Gigabyte and somewhat more dated
by present driver standards, is it was probably how things are just
done for USB3 convenience: you get USB3 stuck on the back-plane. Least
I did, two plus two, for the extra dedicated USB3 ports sandwiched
into thereabouts, alongside usual two USB2 ports adjacent the NetWerk
RJ45 connection.

Wow, you've got 12 USB2 (8-ports MID-board pin arrays), which is kind
of totally something. . .I guess. ...Firewire, cool - the "standard"
for sound recording gear for some time. Onboard graphics -- I like,
the way to go, at least for me.

But I only just paid $50 for the Gigabyte AM3 because the floor
dropped out on octal cores, a little while ago, due to Ryzen. A
low-wattage variant, primo -- octal bulldozer type, AKA .not. a
250-watt monstrosity, for an unheard-of $90 splurge, plus ensuring any
driver related issues are grandfathered in. ...Probably goes like a
duck into water in typical *nix box configs.

Offhand, a Phenom six-cores sounds conceivably older, maybe a year or
two, in the ASUS config. I can't believe, though, a build like that
would eat two HDD, DVD, and case fan. Outer Limits stuff.

Digging into PCs plain ain't done right if it ain't fun. And scared
don't count when it's out of bounds;- most rules fall under: if you
can pay then that's the ticket to play.


I can't say I'm surprised at Amazon's price, but I have a very low
opinion of their pricing on a lot of items anyway.

I bought my mobo back in 2010 or so. It was a lot less costly then :-)

IIRC, ASUS offered two similarly named mobos at the time when I bought
it; perhaps one was for the European market and one for the U.S. ??? -
shrug.

Regardless, my mobo has held up well over the years and still does what
I want it to do. Where it shows its age is wrt new tech. Data
transfer speed is something I like, so it'd be nice to have USB 3.1
capability. And I seem to recall reading something about similar
progress for SATA transfer speeds. My mobo of course handles USB 3.0,
not the newer USB 3.1.

In retrospect, the mobo is probably not a good match with the case
because the PSU is located on the bottom. The mobo has two slots for a
graphics card. I tried the suggestion to move the graphics card to the
other slot in order to make the PCI-e slots accessible. Doing so freed
up access to the PCI-e slots but created what seems to me a different
problem - the graphics card was immediately above the fan of the PSU.
There was a narrow gap between the card and the PSU. I was worried
that the flow of the air from the PSU would overheat the graphics card
- the PSU fan and the graphics card's fan faced other directly - so I
placed the card back to where I had it to begin with.

John


Isn't the PSU fan "pulling" in the "exhaust" direction ?

The warm cloud around the video, should be moving through
the PSU. (Just as normally, a PSU would pull the warm cloud
from the CPU, through the PSU cabinet.)

And your motherboard has nice slots, as they're
all Rev.2 type.

https://s15.postimg.cc/8ueqc9mez/rev2_lanes.gif

Older USB3 chips, have only a single lane (x1).
The newer USB3.1 chips have x2 wiring and an
x4 edge connector. So far, I haven't been "blown
away" by the improvement. I don't have good
enough test devices for that.

Paul
  #9  
Old June 10th 18, 01:30 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Patrick[_10_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

On 10/06/2018 08:18, Yes wrote:
VanguardLH wrote:

Yes wrote:

I have an Antec 300 Illusion case. There are two USB 2.0 connector
ports on the front. I'm thinking that I may want to upgrade them to
USB 3.0.

Has anyone upgraded USB 2 ports on a chassis to USB 3? I'd like to
get some idea of what would need to be done. I could, of course,
add a USB 3.0 hub instead, but it'd be nice to keep down the amount
of clutter on my desk.


The problem is getting the case mounting ports that fit that case.
The USB port may not have its own bracket with tangs to snap into a
hole in the case. Rather it will be soldered onto a PCB that is
positioned behind the case.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2ik886t.jpg
My guess (since I couldn't find an inside view of that spot inside the
case) is there is one PCB that has the USB ports, audio jacks, and LED
soldered onto it and the wires run from the PCB.

Do you have any spare drive bays? If so, you can get a drive bay hub
that has one, or more, USB3 ports, like:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16820223120
That adds 2 USB3 ports, 4 USB2 ports, an eSATA connection, and a card
reader. This one only had an average rating so you might want to hunt
around for other choices. If you have no spare SATA ports on the mobo
then the eSATA connector in this drive hub would be dead. Same if you
don't have any spare USB2 headers on the mobo.

Sometimes there are USB2 headers on the mobo that are unused. You
could connect those to this drive bay hub along with the USB3 header
on the mobo. If your mobo only has USB2 headers then the mobo has no
USB3 support which means you'll have to add a USB3 daughtercard.
Some USB3 cards have an internal USB3 connector you could use to go
to the USB drive hub; however, often the internal USB connector is
shared with one of the external USB ports on that card.

You mention the case but not the motherboard, so no idea what you'll
have to do to add USB3 support. No mention of what USB headers are
already used on the mobo. If the mobo has it, run an unused USB3
header on the mobo to the USB drive hub. If not, you'll have to add
a USB3 daughtercard which will already give you USB3 external ports
on the backside. If you get one with a USB3 internal port then you
can move one of the backside (shared) USB3 ports to the front-facing
USB drive hub.


I have an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3 mobo. It has two USB 3 ports and an
eSATA connector on the back side of the case plus USB and SATA
connectors on the mobo.

The above board does not have an internal USB3 connector, if it had you
would have been able to simply plug in the likes of this;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-USB-3-...oAAOSwc-tY2QfW

A PCIe card could be acquired to implement the missing Internal USB3
connector, example;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHIC-Dual...sAAOSwnHda4Zyl

However the above being quite a bit of cost, other options are;
1, Buy a USB3 Hub, example;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Ports-U...rbls z7jtLFzA

2, Simply buy a USB3 extension cable, eg;
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G-Shield-...tQ--tgyT2XAjKA

  #10  
Old June 10th 18, 05:15 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Yes[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 105
Default Upgrading USB 2 to USB 3 ports on a computer case

Patrick wrote:

On 10/06/2018 08:18, Yes wrote:
VanguardLH wrote:

Yes wrote:

I have an Antec 300 Illusion case. There are two USB 2.0
connector ports on the front. I'm thinking that I may want to
upgrade them to USB 3.0.

Has anyone upgraded USB 2 ports on a chassis to USB 3? I'd
like to get some idea of what would need to be done. I could,
of course, add a USB 3.0 hub instead, but it'd be nice to keep
down the amount of clutter on my desk.

The problem is getting the case mounting ports that fit that case.
The USB port may not have its own bracket with tangs to snap into
a hole in the case. Rather it will be soldered onto a PCB that is
positioned behind the case.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2ik886t.jpg
My guess (since I couldn't find an inside view of that spot
inside the case) is there is one PCB that has the USB ports,
audio jacks, and LED soldered onto it and the wires run from the
PCB.

Do you have any spare drive bays? If so, you can get a drive bay
hub that has one, or more, USB3 ports, like:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16820223120
That adds 2 USB3 ports, 4 USB2 ports, an eSATA connection, and a
card reader. This one only had an average rating so you might
want to hunt around for other choices. If you have no spare SATA
ports on the mobo then the eSATA connector in this drive hub
would be dead. Same if you don't have any spare USB2 headers on
the mobo.

Sometimes there are USB2 headers on the mobo that are unused. You
could connect those to this drive bay hub along with the USB3
header on the mobo. If your mobo only has USB2 headers then the
mobo has no USB3 support which means you'll have to add a USB3
daughtercard. Some USB3 cards have an internal USB3 connector
you could use to go to the USB drive hub; however, often the
internal USB connector is shared with one of the external USB
ports on that card.

You mention the case but not the motherboard, so no idea what
you'll have to do to add USB3 support. No mention of what USB
headers are already used on the mobo. If the mobo has it, run an
unused USB3 header on the mobo to the USB drive hub. If not,
you'll have to add a USB3 daughtercard which will already give
you USB3 external ports on the backside. If you get one with a
USB3 internal port then you can move one of the backside (shared)
USB3 ports to the front-facing USB drive hub.


I have an ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3 mobo. It has two USB 3 ports and
an eSATA connector on the back side of the case plus USB and SATA
connectors on the mobo.

The above board does not have an internal USB3 connector, if it had
you would have been able to simply plug in the likes of this;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-USB-3-...oAAOSwc-tY2QfW

A PCIe card could be acquired to implement the missing Internal USB3
connector, example;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHIC-Dual...sAAOSwnHda4Zyl

However the above being quite a bit of cost, other options are;
1, Buy a USB3 Hub, example;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Ports-U...rbls z7jtLFzA

2, Simply buy a USB3 extension cable, eg;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G-Shield-...tQ--tgyT2XAjKA

Yes, option 1 is what I was talking about in my OP. Option 2 is one I
had forgotten about. I'm already using a USB 2.0 extender on my other
computer.

John
 




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