USB headers

[Johnnybhoff]

I am so confused about what these mean, for the first picture (B and C notes) can someone help me understand what these are for, and what can I get so these things will work. As for the second picture when its showing what is pluging into which header it shows (for the lian li case) it says i need another USB 3.2 gen 1 header. what is this for?

 

all in all I want to understand what each of these headers contribute, is it for case lighting, case IO or fans. that's where I'm lost. if I can have case lighting and no USB-C IO I'm alright with that as I have no USB-C things for my PC. but if its for fans than I will need to get a header adapter but I don't know where I can get one that will fit the requirements.

[Johnnybhoff]

A more simple question could be. what do those USB headers control, and where can I get them?

 

[TheAsiassassin]

Looking at your second screenshot in particular, it seems your USB headers are being used specifically for:

1. Kraken Elite LCD Screen
2. Lian Li L-Connect3 controller
3. Lian Li L-Connect3 controller
4. 1x USB-C on the Front I/O
5. 2x USB-A on the Front I/O

The way these fan controllers/hubs work, you'll only need one to control both groups of fans (you can link up to 4 groups of 4 fans each per controller, for a total of 16). Unfortunately, PCPartPicker isn't able to automatically recognize that, and because each 3-pack comes with one controller, the site assumes you'll be using both.

 

All of this to say, you actually don't need to worry at all about notes B and C, as configured you have exactly the correct number of USB headers for your build.

[Johnnybhoff]

16 minutes ago, TheAsiassassin said:

Looking at your second screenshot in particular, it seems your USB headers are being used specifically for:

1. Kraken Elite LCD Screen
2. Lian Li L-Connect3 controller
3. Lian Li L-Connect3 controller
4. 1x USB-C on the Front I/O
5. 2x USB-A on the Front I/O

The way these fan controllers/hubs work, you'll only need one to control both groups of fans (you can link up to 4 groups of 4 fans each per controller, for a total of 16). Unfortunately, PCPartPicker isn't able to automatically recognize that, and because each 3-pack comes with one controller, the site assumes you'll be using both.

 

All of this to say, you actually don't need to worry at all about notes B and C, as configured you have exactly the correct number of USB headers for your build.

thats sounds great. so from what im hearing it looks like i only need one USB 3.2 gen 1 header for other port on the IO? is this correct? that is, if I want the USB 3.2 gen 1 port on my IO. would this mean i need a different MOBO, or just an adapter to add one more header? or a USB hub, or something else entirely. this is my motherboard btw. https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-x670e-f-gaming-wifi-model/

[TheAsiassassin]

Just now, Johnnybhoff said:

thats sounds great. so from what im hearing it looks like i only need one USB 3.2 gen 1 header for other port on the IO? is this correct? that is, if I want the USB 3.2 gen 1 port on my IO

So if you want to use all 4 USB headers, it would look something like this:

1. [2.0] Kraken Elite LCD Screen
2. [2.0] Lian Li L-Connect3 controller (will control all 6 UNI fans)
3. [3.2 Gen 1] 2x USB-A on the Front I/O
4. [3.2 Gen 2] 1x USB-C on the Front I/O

If you find out you need a 3.2 header for something else, you could give up either the one USB-C port or the two USB-A ports on the front of your case (I'm not aware of any way to split a Gen 2 header into multiple Gen 1 headers). If you need more USB 2.0 headers, you can get a hub like this one to get more, you'd just need to use an extra SATA power cable from your PSU (you'd have plenty to spare unless you're going with a lot of SATA drives).

[Johnnybhoff]

19 minutes ago, TheAsiassassin said:

So if you want to use all 4 USB headers, it would look something like this:

1. [2.0] Kraken Elite LCD Screen
2. [2.0] Lian Li L-Connect3 controller (will control all 6 UNI fans)
3. [3.2 Gen 1] 2x USB-A on the Front I/O
4. [3.2 Gen 2] 1x USB-C on the Front I/O

If you find out you need a 3.2 header for something else, you could give up either the one USB-C port or the two USB-A ports on the front of your case (I'm not aware of any way to split a Gen 2 header into multiple Gen 1 headers). If you need more USB 2.0 headers, you can get a hub like this one to get more, you'd just need to use an extra SATA power cable from your PSU (you'd have plenty to spare unless you're going with a lot of SATA drives).

GREAT! thank you so much. you just saved me so much headache LOL