USB expansion

[TWSARCH]

I need more USB ports. What would be faster and more reliable, an internal USB hub that connects to the mother board USB headers and the computers power supply such as the NZXT IU01 Internal USB Expansion Card or simple PCI express card? Thanks

 

[Sean W.]

how about somthing like this?

Newegg.com - Zonet ZUH2214 4-Port USB 2.0 Slim Hub w/ Power Adapter

 

[TWSARCH]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have had bad luck with external hubs. I have a printer that won't work with a hub but will directly from the MB.

 

[Muffin Man]

so just get a pci card, it's cheap and will get the job done.

 

[Abstract Hero]

I have a belkin pci expansion and I love it expecially because it has an internal port I use for my WIFI card.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

It really doesn't matter, the internal hub should work fine or a PCI/PCIe card would work as well. The advantage to using a hub is that you don't need to waste a PCI/PCIe slot and you don't need to install drivers for a second USB controller. The disadvantage is that a hub doesn't increase your USB bandwidth, just shares it among more devices. This means if you're using a lot of high speed devices at once you're better off with a PCI/PCIe card as it will actually increase the USB bandwidth. Depending on your motherboard you can use either PCI or PCIe (x1 most likely). Also using a PCI/PCIe card may limit future expandability on some motherboards (for instance, my X58A-UD3R has only one PCI slot and would get blocked by a second graphics card).