[TECH]Quick question on adding USB ports
- Thread starter Merranza
- Start date
H
houston
Guest
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This is a moot point.
A hub is fine in 99.99999% of cases.
The only time it's not fine is when the USB device is powered by the USB port, and even then you can get a powered hub.
If you don't have extra onboard ports and aren't using something that would somehow require lots of bandwidth over multiple ports, just get a hub. I would strongly recommend this one:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RHUB-210 USB 2.0 4-PORT HUB - Retail
Rosewill also makes a 7 port hub, but I can't attest to the quality of that one.
Newegg.com - Rosewill RHUB-210 USB 2.0 4-PORT HUB - Retail
Rosewill also makes a 7 port hub, but I can't attest to the quality of that one.
Yeah thing is I don't have extra ports on my mobo, hence the reason I was looking. I actually got 2 days ago a Belkin 5 ports USB 2.0 PCI card. I was just wondering if I made a bad move. I actually need the best speed out of those extra ports because I use this:
TASCAM
and this
http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=RADIAS&
So I can't afford any extra latency
TASCAM
and this
http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=RADIAS&
So I can't afford any extra latency
You're just wasting a PCI slot. Having a dedicated card isn't going to make it any faster, assuming your motherboard isn't USB 1.1 (which it shouldn't be if it's < 5 years old).
Put the card in. Bandwidth is split between all the devices. Since you need the bandwidth the card is the way for you to go.
This would be true years and years ago but really, who doesn't have free pci slots these days? Seriously, everything is on board now with the only usual exception being Sound Card.
When I built this system I specifically went with a microATX mobo and case that only has two PCI slots, one of which is occupied by my TV tuner card.
I'll probably replace the current card with something HDTV compatible soon but really why use a slot for maybe 4-6 ports? Perhaps in the future he may want firewire, better audio, PhysX, a wireless NIC, or anything else that his computer doesn't have that you wouldn't want to (or can't) connect via USB.
By the time he wants that stuff (if at all) his computer will be considered obsolete < 2yrs. If you think you're gonna need PCI slots a microATX is not the route to go
My mobo is USB 2.0 compatible, with the card in, I still have 3 pci slots left, so lacking pci slots in not an issue. My computer is getting pretty old now too and I don't think I will really go for an upgrade anytime soon. My gaming phase is behind me and my computer does everything I want. Next move will probably be a laptop. That's another reason why I was considering the hub (could use it on the laptop) but then, I thought that by the time I'll buy a laptop, everything will be at least USB 3.0 and I'll want USB 3.0 anyway
I only have 2 USB slots directly in my mobo. So if the card works the same way my mobo slots are, in terms of speed, I'm happy. That's the reason why I was asking if hub = pci card in terms of speed.
I only have 2 USB slots directly in my mobo. So if the card works the same way my mobo slots are, in terms of speed, I'm happy. That's the reason why I was asking if hub = pci card in terms of speed.