So my grandad want's a new pc and I have been looking at motherboard's for both Ryzen and Kaby Lake, as I am undecided yet which to go for, for him as he just plays games and doesn't render videos etc but he wants to play all the latest games. The thing I don't understand is why suddenly on all board's except some high end board's there is a severe lack of USB ports. Boards have gone from having around 8 ports to suddenly only having around 4 ports 6 if your lucky. I mean the Asus Rog Strix board has 5 ports, compared to the Maximus IX Hero which has 8 not including the somewhat useless Type c port. Since when did having a use full amount of USB ports become a luxury? The reason I ask is that when I eventually look for myself, I need to be able to plug in: Keyboard Mouse Mic Webcam Hotas 2x ports Capture Card 1 Hub for pen drives etc So I would need a total of 8 ports, and two of them would have to be capable of delivering the required power for the hotas which means USB 3 for a USB 2 device.
That's an Intel board with an Intel chipset. What did you expect lol? Each port = royalties. Intel chipsets are expensive, as is their "licensing fee" so AMD boards will always be cheaper.
It's probably because all Intel chips come with iGPU's now, which require video ouputs on the motherboard. What's wrong with using one of the USB headers and a PCI card if you're planning on using a full size motherboard?
I spotted it whilst looking for boards for my grandads pc, and then I looked at boards for myself for when I can eventually build a new one for myself. It just seems stupid that in order to get a decent amount of ports you have to start using add in cards or using the front panel which is not always in an easy to access place.
It does seem to be a rather baffling modern phenomenon. When I was shopping for a Skylake/Kaby Lake mITX board a few months ago, it was noticeable how poorly equipped some boards were in terms of USB: both the overall number of ports, and also the mix of 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1 (and Type C, too).
I don't really see the issue - I've never come anywhere close to needing a full load of ports, and practically every case has a further two on the front. It seems to me that manufacturers have stopped bundling the USB expansion slots though, which I don't really understand.
Yes on average most people won't need all the rear USB ports that use to be available on boards, but some of us still use alot of usb devices. After having tried a multitude of different USB hubs, I have yet to find one that actually works as it should. I bought a 5 port powered USB hub, but after plugging in 2 devices the other 3 ports wouldn't work. I now have 2 powered hubs which both have 8 ports plus a dedicated phone/tablet charging port on them, and with my X56 plugged in to one none of the other ports work and the other one after plugging in 4 devices the other ports don't work. They are both USB 3 hubs, and were plugged in to the only 2 USB 3 ports that were on my previous motherboard, since my previous board only had 4 usable USB ports on the rear, 2 USB 3 and 2 USB 2. My grandad will be fine with only 3 ports as he only needs to plug in a keyboard and mouse, as well as a printer but for me when I can build my new pc I will have to go Ryzen regardless of how much better Intel performance wise because of the lack of USB ports on a motherboard since I won't be able to use add in card's as I will be going SLI or Crossfire, and not being able to find a decent hub where all the ports work since once it's built and put in place the front panel ones will not be usable.
It just depends on the board. e.g., you can get an Z270 ITX board with 8 USB ports (plus 6 from headers). If a board doesn't have as many USB ports as you want, just buy a board that does, it's not as if there's isn't a nonsensically large selection available.
I do wonder if the current trend for skimping on USB ports is primarily so OEMs can justify selling a dozen variants of the same board...
If your not already making use of your onboard headers you could always use one of these to give 4 extra ports. That board pictured at the top looks like It has 2 usb 2 headers and 1 usb 3 so that's another 6 ports if you use pci adaptors. Not an ideal solution but a solution none the less if someone is lacking rear ports.
It's simple economics. Each port means they have to pay a royalty. That is why they have all stopped giving you the back bracket with two more ports on. Intel boards carry a higher tax, because the chipsets are expensive and they need a license (this is why Nvidia stopped making boards, Intel refused them one) and thus that reflects in the price. Everywhere they can cut costs they will (see Bindi's analysis of how many board manus he predicts will be gone forever soon) and so on. AMD chipsets are cheaper, IIRC you don't need a license for the socket (and if you do it's likely to be cheaper) and so on. Intel systems have always come at a premium price. AMD have not.
In regards to finding a hub that works, I bought a tendak USB 3 hub which is powered and switchable, has been perfect since day one. Having the ability to turn them off is great. Plugged into mine is wireless headphones dongle, USB hdd, mouse, hotas and a charge cable for Vive controllers etc
Another option is that lots of monitors have built-in USB hubs, but they usually disconnect when the monitor is switched off.
