Need USB 3.0 Splitter

[Omikse]

I got my new case today (Enthoo 719)  and I ran into an issue with it. All the front USB ports (there are 4) are 3.0 and they connect to the motherboard with 2 separate wires. The problem is that my board (Crosshair VI Hero) only has 1 USB 3.0 port. That means that I can only hook up front 2 ports leave the other 2 dead. So I guess the question is, should I get a splitter that can turn the motherboard port into 2 or should I get a PCI-e card with 2 ports on it? Which would be better to get? Any suggestion?

[MS-DOS Guy]

1 hour ago, Omikse said:

I got my new case today (Enthoo 719)  and I ran into an issue with it. All the front USB ports (there are 4) are 3.0 and they connect to the motherboard with 2 separate wires. The problem is that my board (Crosshair VI Hero) only has 1 USB 3.0 port. That means that I can only hook up front 2 ports leave the other 2 dead. So I guess the question is, should I get a splitter that can turn the motherboard port into 2 or should I get a PCI-e card with 2 ports on it? Which would be better to get? Any suggestion?

It depends. Your basically splitting your bandwidth into two so you won't be getting full USB 3.0 transfer speeds but at least you'll have some front IO usb ports. However, if you don't mind using up a PCIE slot on your mobo then that would be your best bet not splitting your bandwidth and maintaining USB 3.0 transfer speeds across all your USB 3.0 ports. 

Personally, I would get the PCIe card with 2 ports on it that way I would keep my USB 3.0 transfer speeds across all my USB 3.0 ports on my front io. But it's your choice. It would probably be pretty expensive though since a pcie x1 card wouldn't work since it's to slow in terms of bandwidth speeds and those alone are like $20.00

You could get a PCIe card with only 1 port on it and connect one into that port and the other into your motherboard. 

[Omikse]

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It would probably be pretty expensive though since a pcie x1 card wouldn't work since it's to slow in terms of bandwidth speeds and those alone are like $20.00

Are you saying that the PCIe x1 would be too slow? I ask because that is all I can find are the times 1 cards

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 hours ago, Omikse said:

Are you saying that the PCIe x1 would be too slow? I ask because that is all I can find are the times 1 cards

That's something that has been biting my ample asset for quite some time. Pretty much all the cards I've seen run only one lane (x1) at PCIe 2.0 bandwidth (even if the connector appears to be more than one lane). That means all the ports on the card share the same 5.0Gbps bandwidth. It's massively fraudulent.

 

 

[Omikse]

No takers yet except for the first guy who has not replied to my response to his post. 

[oeci]

I used this internal USB 3 hub. Of course it splits bandwidth but how often do you connect 4 different high speed (storage) devices at the same time? 

[Omikse]

30 minutes ago, oeci said:

I used this internal USB 3 hub. Of course it splits bandwidth but how often do you connect 4 different high speed (storage) devices at the same time? 

Actually a lot. So this will not work.

[oeci]

In this case the answer is simple: Either get a real USB 3 capable PCI-E card or a new mainboard. I don't see any other solutions.

[Guest]

You can use any 3.1 or 3.1 USB  on the motherboard as they are backwards compatible. 

[Omikse]

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In this case the answer is simple: Either get a real USB 3 capable PCI-E card or a new mainboard. I don't see any other solutions.

The PCIe card is what I am asking about. But I can not find what you call a real one. All the ones I am finding are X1 only. Main board is not an option for me. do not have the money for that. 

 

Quote

You can use any 3.1 or 3.1 USB  on the motherboard as they are backwards compatible. 

I only have 1 3.1 port for that and it is taken up with my 3.1 cable. Besides my 3.0 connector is 20 pin and the 3.1 is not. So that is no help

[Kilrah]

34 minutes ago, Omikse said:

Besides my 3.0 connector is 20 pin and the 3.1 is not.

There are adapters for that, both ways.

https://www.moddiy.com/products/USB-3.1-Type-E-Gen2-Front-Panel-Header-to-USB-3.0-20-Pin-Adapter-Cable.html

https://usb.brando.com/usb-3-1-front-panel-header-type-e-to-usb-3-0-20-pin-header-male-extension-adapter-for-motherboard_p21792c0042d015.html

 

There are USB3 cards with PCIe x4 links too.

https://www.advantech.com/products/5754ec6c-de46-4543-ab4e-f2a8d3e96c9c/pce-usb/mod_4bcf4f15-e3ad-4cf3-809c-c49eb0dcc439

[Omikse]

4 hours ago, Kilrah said:

There are adapters for that, both ways.

https://www.moddiy.com/products/USB-3.1-Type-E-Gen2-Front-Panel-Header-to-USB-3.0-20-Pin-Adapter-Cable.html

https://usb.brando.com/usb-3-1-front-panel-header-type-e-to-usb-3-0-20-pin-header-male-extension-adapter-for-motherboard_p21792c0042d015.html

 

There are USB3 cards with PCIe x4 links too.

https://www.advantech.com/products/5754ec6c-de46-4543-ab4e-f2a8d3e96c9c/pce-usb/mod_4bcf4f15-e3ad-4cf3-809c-c49eb0dcc439

As stated before I am already using the 3.1 port for my 3.1 so that is not an option. The USB3 card you posted is either $195.00 or $240.00 which is way more than I am willing to pay. Any other options?

 

[Kilrah]

Yeah, a more common PCIe x1 one and you live with the bottleneck if you have 2 high bandwidth devices connected to it, which should not be common. If you get to that point just connect the 2nd to another port. If you're going to be having full speed transfers on all of them you'll have more to worry about than the PCIe card, your whole chipset will be bottlenecking. 

[oeci]

Here is a PCI-E 4 x one with external 3.1 Gen. 2 Type A ports. And here one with internal 3.1 Gen 2 port. With an adapter you can connect your USB 3 front ports. Wasn't that hard to find using a search engine 

[Omikse]

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Yeah, a more common PCIe x1 one and you live with the bottleneck if you have 2 high bandwidth devices connected to it, which should not be common. If you get to that point just connect the 2nd to another port. If you're going to be having full speed transfers on all of them you'll have more to worry about than the PCIe card, your whole chipset will be bottlenecking. 

I know this already which is why I am looking for one that can be hooked up to other than the PCIe x1 spot. But all I can find is that.

 

4 hours ago, oeci said:

Here is a PCI-E 4 x one with external 3.1 Gen. 2 Type A ports. And here one with internal 3.1 Gen 2 port. With an adapter you can connect your USB 3 front ports. Wasn't that hard to find using a search engine 

Your right if that was what I was looking for, which it is not. I am looking for the 20 pin connector side of the USB 3 (see attached image) So I can have all 4 USB 3.0 port hooked up instead of only 2. As you can see in the image, there are 2 wires coming out of the connector and I have another connector that needs to be hooked up that looks the same. Since I only have 1 port on my motherboard, I need a second. I admit that I was not clear about this original but you should not assume that I did not try to find it myself before coming here. 

[Kilrah]

His 2nd link has a 3.1gen2 plug you can put an adapter on to connect your 20pin cable.

[oeci]

Exactly, there are adapters for this purpose. A quick search on amazon should do the trick. Are we supposed to do all  the searching for you 

[Omikse]

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Exactly, there are adapters for this purpose. A quick search on amazon should do the trick. Are we supposed to do all  the searching for you

First off, you don't have to be rude because I did not understand what you were trying to tell me so there was misunderstanding going on. Second, now that I understand what you are saying that those connecters are 3.1 port (when I though they looked like 3.0 USB ports, not 20 pin but standard connectors) I see what you are getting at. It just means that I will have to get an adapter to add to the card to make things work. 

[oeci]

I didn't want to be rude (hence the emoji). I even pointed you to an online store where you would probably be able to get the needed adapter. It's just that I'm not a walking catalog of all the PCI-E cards and adapters out there, I have to look that stuff up too...

[Omikse]

7 hours ago, oeci said:

I didn't want to be rude (hence the emoji). I even pointed you to an online store where you would probably be able to get the needed adapter. It's just that I'm not a walking catalog of all the PCI-E cards and adapters out there, I have to look that stuff up too...

And I am not asking you to be. But the help was and is appreciated. Had trouble getting to an online retailer that had that card and the prices are a little high for me right now, not to mention shipping from over the pond. So what would you say to this alternative:

 

https://www.tvc-mall.com/details/dual-port-19-20pin-usb-3-0-female-to-ngff-m-2-b-m-key-male-adapter-card-for-laptop-pc-sku80110090a.html

[oeci]

Could work, in fact I didn't think of M2 cards. And for this price you can easily give it a try.

[Omikse]

1 hour ago, oeci said:

Could work, in fact I didn't think of M2 cards. And for this price you can easily give it a try.

And this way I do not have to buy an adapter as well

[Lady Fitzgerald]

8 minutes ago, Omikse said:

And this way I do not have to buy an adapter as well

Please let us know how well it works if you do try it. I find that intriguing.

[Omikse]

1 hour ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Please let us know how well it works if you do try it. I find that intriguing.

Well it is ordered and coming from china. I will try to let you know if I can remember because it will be a while for it to get here.