oh yeah I’m aware, but for Reasons (b450 chipset, running a drive in the x4 slot that shares bandwidth with the unused x1 slots) I’m maxed out on expansion unless I replace the motherboard, which I won’t do for a while
(FYI for commenters, I am already using my available PCI Express bandwidth for more NVME storage; I cannot make use of a USB expansion card. I am resigned to using my stupid hubs. Thanks!)
my motherboard has 6 at the back and 2 at the front of the case and I have a 4-port hub and 4 in the back of my screen and I’m *still* running out of ports
especially because things like BT audio dongles are sensitive little divas and don’t like noisy USB ports or to be too close to other dongles
I mean, you've got a bit of space, but the ports are constrained to a standardized area (too low and they conflict with PCIe cards, too tall and they conflict with the pretty standard rear exhaust fan) Should it be an option financially or space-wise I recommend as the other person did to (1)
purchase a PCIe card with USB ports on it (altho def make sure you get one with a decent ratio of USB controllers to ports. Iirc you wanna max out at 4:1). Also consider attempting to consolidate low bandwidth devices that don't need extremely low latency onto dongles. (2)
People always use this reasoning for why there aren't basic USB-C hubs. But like, I have so many USB-C devices and none of them need anywhere close to the 10-20Gbps speeds of my whopping 2 USB-C ports.
Come to think of it, why did we get rid of expansion slots? I remember there used to be like 6-8 slots on MBs, and now it's just 1 video card slot and maybe 1 or 2 more.
I mean, it's not really space that's the issue, it's bandwidth. Those USB ports have to transfer data to the rest of the motherboard, and there's only so much bandwidth available.
You probably could get a board with two dozen ports, but they'd all be slow USB 2.0 ports.
I guess if when I eventually upgrade (which won’t be for years because my CPU is obsoleting very slowly) I go for the more expensive chipset variant with more PCI lanes or whatever I can get one with more high-end USB
USB 2.0 has significantly lower power delivery capabilities as well (maximum of 500mA), especially if compared to the 100 watts a USB-C 3.2 2x2 port can provide (20 amps). This is one reason why a lot of USB 2.0 keyboards with backlighting use two USB Type-A ports.
Right, but not everything you plug in is a peripheral. If you plug in an external drive, or are trying to transfer files from your phone, or the like, you might want more than a few hundred MB/s
Also, if you're Bluetooth audio isn't working well, it might not like being connected to a USB splitter (if it is) and either way, you'd likely get better results with a PCIe Bluetooth and WiFi card. More stable and better speeds.
I’ve got it stable and happy for low latency (regular AptX is happy basically anywhere) now, though if I’ve had to move other receivers about to accommodate it
the creative dongle was on super discount, so that’s what I have, since I needed a new dongle anyway, and the price of a basic dongle+the third-party driver would have been comparable and considerably less plug and play
I got one of these to plug into an open PCI slot on my motherboard and it has been an absolute life-changer. Free USB ports for a slot that wasn't being used? Yes please!
As a content creator - I feel your pain. Asus' Rog Strix series has a chunky amount of ports. Really wanted the z790 but that was NOT in the build budget last year 🤣
There's a limit to how many USB devices Windows will even let you use iirc. So more ports wouldn't even solve the issue at a certain point. I hit the limit ONE time, so it must be pretty high, but it exists
I found it best to have a strip of many USB ports on my desk, which needs only to connect to a PC USB port. That strip can also be connected to my laptop or any computer system if needed.
honestly idk, id rather my pc had like a single usb port for each unique usb controller and thats it, like i have way too many things plugged into my pc and routing it so its neat is such a pain, especially if i needa open it up and unplug everything. maybe with a usb A + usb C on the front tho
If you have unused USB headers on the board you can get cables that plug into them and mount on the back where a pcie cards go. I use one to get a couple extra USB2 ports because my motherboard has an extra otherwise unused header. Might get you 2-4 more slots if your lucky.
Which should come with a warning to get a power supply to be able to power those devices on top of all the components a PC needs to be able to function.
I went from an HP laptop with 3 total ports (one USB A, two USB C ports, one of which was used to charge it) to a Lenovo laptop with six USB ports (two USB C, four USB A), a dedicated charging port, and even an Ethernet port now. It’s 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Some HP business grade laptops my old boss bought a number of years ago, the HP Spectre x360, came with ONE USB-C port and ONE USB-A port. No NIC, no included dock (a nice $40 surprise). I don't even think the damn things had headphone ports. What a joke.
The chipsets do. Look for a 20 pin USB header on your motherboard. These 👇 come in 2 or 4 port back panel.
There's also front panel units fit in floppy or DVD cut out
A decent part of it is the chipset used on the motherboard you have. The X series chipsets have higher capabilities for overall USB bandwidth (and controllers) than the B series ones - it isn't just PCIe lanes and SATA ports that's different between the two.
Motherboard manufacturers will also cut back on a lot of things with the B series motherboards, as they're aimed primarily at the value segment, which is why critical components like the voltage regulators aren't built up as well, and have bare minimum slabs of metal marketed as heatsinks.
That's what external USB splitters are for. Don't you want yet another gadget, with even more wires sticking out? It's boring knowing what every wire belongs to.
I generally agree, but I feel like present PC architecture and operating systems are really not optimized for too many USB devices. I have quite a bit connected on a new system and they can be unreliable at times.
You are so right. USB controllers are cheap. The connectors are cheap. That’s why standalone USB hubs are inexpensive. The issues on computers are the motherboard space ($$$) & metal or plastic housing costs. Solve those & peripheral IO ports will abound!
Mine came with 10 on the board itself in addition to multiple internal headers to add more.
The newest generations starting from about 2022 have added a whole lot more built into the motherboard chipsets. Even the midrange models have more than 10.
You're still on B450, which really isn't bad. Honestly, that board with a Ryzen 5000 series CPU should hold you for at least another three years if not longer.
But one of the advantages of jumping to the new AM5 socket is a more robust chipset enabling A LOT more USB ports.
Yeah I have a 5800X3D, so I can't justify upgrading for a *while.*
I'll be buying a higher-end board when I do, though. I was on a severe budget when I got this board, and it has some annoying compromises. But come like 2028, I'll have more onboard USB :)
this video shows off and explains v well how many ports you can reasonably have and the best ways to add more to your system after the fact, also will give you things to look out for if its ports you need when configuring your next build
We have an ancient Toshiba (now in Linux) that has 8 usb ports, modem, ethernet, MMC card, SD, DVD drive, Harmon-Kardon speakers with Dolby Sound, square screen, a beast. 2006 model. We even ran it with Windows 11 for a bit. We miss #Toshiba. Best there ever was.
I run streams for esports tournaments at various arcades, somehow no matter the situation I/O always feels lacking. I think only recently when I started dropping $400 on motherboards did my USB options feel less limited
Consider PCIe USB expansion ports! You can get some with a ton of USBs, and some of them even have thunderbolt support. Just watch out that some of them require external power, especially the thunderbolt and the very cheap ones.
Or just include a breakout box and/or USB hub with the system. I have to have two separate hubs on my desk to charge everything that uses USB for that and have ports available for anything else. Even though the front ports on my chassis are right next to my knee left knee.
Not so much pc, but I’m so scared of the day I have to replace my MacBook, because they decided to downsize from 4 usbc ports to only 2. I always use at minimum 3, and I have no idea why they needed to remove 2 of them.
what do people use their USBs for I plug in the rodent, a little keyboard here and there, sometimes a drawing tablet or controller. am i just not a power user
I mean there's two potentially easier options to solve this dilemma.
1. Get a usb Pci-e expansion card that will allow you to have up to 6 more usb ports in the back.
Or
Get this motherboad with 20 usb ports that would be on the back of the pc.
I'd rather have more M.2 ports. The motherboard on my desktop computer had one M.2 port go bad, so I had to add a pcmcia adapter so I could have 2 SSDs plugged in.
That’s my biggest pet peeve!! Motherboard manufacturers used to include lime 10 ports in mobos, now you’re lucky if you get like… 6! I hate this manufacturing trend.
Sony were obsessed with no ports. No ports were allowed on the back of laptops and USB only on one side, desktops had to have doors to hide them. So many pissed off mouse users, specially left handed people
How your hub is designed matters because you will eventually get bottle necked that can corrupt data or crash your computer. It's why they designed internet switches that allowed for multiple Computers on one connection..
My suggestion is to upgrade that board to an MSI MPG carbon max WiFi, it's got loads of USB ports. My board is full and I have 3 hubs to help out, but I will caution you that if you fill it up like I did, it will take longer to post.
I've had great luck with the hubs that add a bunch. I leave everything plugged into one at my desk and then just plug the one in when I go to work there. Maybe another when I need multiple devices elsewhere.
Nah. In a laptop, use that space for something else, and just use a dock. Especially given that many devices are wireless nowadays. When are you ever on the go and limited by two USB-C ports?
the one thing i dont like about the unibody era of macbook pros is that the only 2 usb ports are right next to eachother which makes some accessories make the other port unusable
according to the org that came up with USB, PCs should only have type A and type C ports. mini, micro, and type B are intended for use on peripherals only. the questionable nomenclature they use are "master" ports for type A and C and "slave" ports for the rest.
USB B is a great chonk, though not of the class of the old Centronics parallel port it often replaces on printers
Nearly 30 years since USB came out, I still don’t have the confidence to attempt to force or wiggle it in, rather reversing it and finding that to be wrong and then reversing it again
I like Cs which is great if you never have to work with anything older then 2-3 years but I’m a SW guy who has to use things that are 10yrs or older so gotta have that mix
Comments
ten cables from each side like a centipede
so for now, I indulge in my complaining :)
However, what do you need 24+ USBs for lol. I’m curious
especially because things like BT audio dongles are sensitive little divas and don’t like noisy USB ports or to be too close to other dongles
https://www.newegg.com/gray-en-labs-1-foot-pciu210p4agy/p/181-01CY-00023?Item=9SIACJF95T9699&tpk=1
I mean... You can still fuck around and find out what happens :p
Is it MB or GB?
Either way/its shit.
You probably could get a board with two dozen ports, but they'd all be slow USB 2.0 ports.
Lots of peripherals don't need that much bandwidth so they don't all need to be 3.0
You aren't realistically going to need half a dozen disks at high throughput...
At least that seems an unusual requirement to me!
ASRock LiveMixer: https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B650%20LiveMixer/Specification.asp#Specification
I’ve got it stable and happy for low latency (regular AptX is happy basically anywhere) now, though if I’ve had to move other receivers about to accommodate it
https://www.bluetoothgoodies.com/a2dp/
https://youtu.be/LDZX4ooRsWs?si=sF861KFVdJ8Vse8e
I'm already putting in for a 2nd rig (moving my studio into more pc gaming) that I previously wanted to wait six more months on
How many do you need?
There's also front panel units fit in floppy or DVD cut out
We should bring back FireWire with the in/out dynamic. Or as I liked to call it “Token Ring for USB” LOL.
With other form factors, you can usually plug in more USB cards and/or extend any existing sockets with hubs.
Only using 2 of the 8 USB-A sockets on my tower as both have four-socket hubs plugged in that individually switch ports and sit on my desk
And one that's 2500mw please.
Or put a QI pad on the case.
The newest generations starting from about 2022 have added a whole lot more built into the motherboard chipsets. Even the midrange models have more than 10.
But one of the advantages of jumping to the new AM5 socket is a more robust chipset enabling A LOT more USB ports.
I'll be buying a higher-end board when I do, though. I was on a severe budget when I got this board, and it has some annoying compromises. But come like 2028, I'll have more onboard USB :)
To which I say, good
this video shows off and explains v well how many ports you can reasonably have and the best ways to add more to your system after the fact, also will give you things to look out for if its ports you need when configuring your next build
1. Get a usb Pci-e expansion card that will allow you to have up to 6 more usb ports in the back.
Or
Get this motherboad with 20 usb ports that would be on the back of the pc.
2x would be enough
like no way i need 12-16 usb ports in my laptop
but a fourth one would be fine
and a type-c one
I bought a PCI card to expand on more ports.
Something like this could be a cheap fix.
Fridge. Digital picture frame. Thermostat. Why not?!
On a more serious note, there is an upper limit, how many usb-devices can be connect to your computer - 128 devices in total, if I recall correctly
https://www.newegg.com/riitop-pcet7u3-nec-controller-card/p/17Z-0061-000A2
12 usb's on the back panel, 4 on the front of case.
16 total. I find that enough.
I mean, yeah, all my peripherals are Bluetooth now, but I have to charge my awesome headphones sometimes!
https://iboysoft.com/images/en-wiki/usb-port/summary-usb-port.jpeg
Nearly 30 years since USB came out, I still don’t have the confidence to attempt to force or wiggle it in, rather reversing it and finding that to be wrong and then reversing it again
Thunderbolt is almost unheard of in a PC despite being standard in many laptops. PCs are supposed to be laptops but better. What is going on??