Hi, I live in the UK. I thought this would be an easy Google search but not so far for me. I am looking for a choice of black, mid tower, PC cases which have 4 x USB ports at the front. I damaged the case of my existing self build PC. I fitted a front 4 x USB 2 hub but it has always been a hit and miss affair as to what devices, when they are attached, work so I'm thinking a pre-fitted one may work better. The existing case has 4 x exposed 5.25 bays and a couple of 3.5 exposed bays so I would like something similar. My PC is not used for games. I like the Cooler Master brand, some thing like a Cooler Master Elite 335 Mid Tower ATX PC Case or along those lines would do me fine and suit my budget between £35- £50-00 but must have 4 x front USB ports.
Antec One Hundred has 4 usb along the top of the front bezel. If you want usb3, the Bit Fenix Raider has 4 of those on the top, but over your budget. Garry
Thanks Gupta, I don't know why but for some reason the Raider does it for me and I generaly don't like that look of case,--great looking case. My problem is my MB which is only 3 years old has no USB 3 connector as such USB 3 will have to be enabled via a PCIe card. I have looked but can not find a molex/sata powered USB 3 PCIe card in the UK that will also accept the 20 pin blue connector that comes with the Raider or any other case that has USB 3 ports. Apart from that the Raider case looks great and thanks for the response.
I know, it's "them" who we don't like to shop at, but only they sell it in UK for now : http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-AD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=2177 http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-AD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=2177
I've got a BitFenix Merc Beta which has 4 USB2.0 ports on the front/top. Got it for about £32 on amazon..
Thanks ever so much lancer. I actualy spoke to Scan just a month ago, they said they didn't stock it, if it existed. As I only have one PCIe slot, does such a PCIe card exist where I could not only connect up an existing PCs USB 3 ports but add 4 more front ports via a drive bay,--a duel 20 pin PCIe card? I would still need a front drive bay, 4 port, usb 3 hub with a 20 pin connector? And as I'm on a roll and anyone else that might be reading, UK, £50-£70 bracket,--PC case with 4 front/top USB 3 ports, no PSU??
No problem The best I can come up with this time is this card, this front panel and this cable to connect them. I had a good search and can't find a card that has 2, 20 pin connectors I can find cards that support 4x rear connectors (but they're rather expensive) but not 2x 20 pin connectors to support 4 front connections...
Does it really need USB3? Especially would you need them up front? Most likely the things you're going to use USB3 with will be hard drives, and you could just leave a spare USB3 cable plugged in so you didn't have to reach around all the time?
Hi and thank you. That question was me a month ago, I can be a tad cynical, thinking what the heck do I need USB 3 for? that was until I tried USB 3. My machine is a non-gamer but I do do a lot of archiving of information/pictures, simple editing, that kind of thing. I have an internal 500mb HDD and 3 x 500mb back up external HDDs, backing up/synchronizing the ext' HDDs takes time. I thought I had figured, a way of adding USB 3 inexpensively via PCIe to make such things faster. I found on Amazon an internal 4 port USB 3 hub with its own PCIe card and blank plate, £25-00 Unfortunately the 3rd party 64 bit drivers that come with it are dire, caused real problems with my machine, crashing it, blue screens, error messages, the lot, ----but I did have the hub working on two-three occasions and the transfer speed was blistering, well I was impressed anyway. I truly was amazed at the speed of USB3 and I have hold of the bit now and determined to get USB3 so having a second crack at it. You are right, I should keep it simple, have a cable out of the back of PC, one end connected to a powered PCIe card, the other to an external, 4 port USB 3 hub, sorted but simple is no fun although effective.
Oooh, lovely. Just added it to my shortlist, cheers! Jago, just remembered the Fractal Design Core 3000 has 4 usb2 ports on the front top as well for £51.50 on Amazon. Dunno why I forgot that one, it's been on my shortlist for a while! Cheers Garry
Thanks lancer, I may have come up with a solution, I'll post some links tomorrow, perhaps you would let me have your opinion although I say so myself, its a little convoluted but keeps everything internal and with out having to buy a new case.
Just for clarity, The Bitfenix Raider has 2x 20 pin USB3 headers with 2x USB2 header leads in case you don't have a USB 3 motherboard:
Hi lancer, Without replacing the PC case and using existing mobo, I thought maybe, This and This or this and this http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2-po...plus-1-external-low-profile-pcie-host-adapter and this. or these http://www.koutech.com/proddetail.asp?linenumber=515. Will any of that do what I want?
I know you already like the Fenrir, but my ThermalTake Element G has 4x front USB, very handy. It's also more understated than most TT cases, but the flashy fans might not be for you (you can turn them off, though. It also might be out of your budget, or it might be discontinued by now. Just putting that out there.
Yeah any combo of those should work fine, though the Koutech card on Newegg doesn't seem to have that good reviews. Since you've got over 25 posts your entitled to free delivery from Scan (details are in their sub-forum if you haven't set it up yet) I think I would go for this card and the Lycom front panel and cable I posted earlier. That'll give you 3 USB 3.0 at the rear and 4 USB 3.0 at the front
If I purchased This and This Which power connector do I use, the molex on the hub or or the other one on the card?
The front panel hub would need to plug in to a molex connector from your PSU, then the pass through usb3 lead would plug into the card on the rear I/O panel ( which is powered from the pci-e slot directly ). The reason for the molex connector on the hub is because a single usb3 lead/socket can't provide enough current to run the 4 sockets that emanate from it essentially. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.
Thanks Neil, I've got myself a little confused, I assumed the USB lead connects the front hub direct to the internal USB connecor on the PCIe card not to the rear port on the I/O panel? Do I use a 15 pin female connector direct from ( PCIe card ) to 4 pin molex adaptor to power the hub? Or do I insert PCIe card on to MB, connect USB lead, ( internaly ), then connect hub only via its molex connector to spare molex on PSU?
