Hi guys! So, yesterday I was lucky enough to pick up a nearly new P180 Mini for just £45 from ebay for the move to MATX I am planning. I was thinking about a Fractal Define mini, but in terms of acoustic abilities, looks and cooling the P180 is its equal, as well as costing half the price. However, having been released a couple of years ago, it only comes with USB2 ports on the front. My question is – is there any way to mod these out, and replace them with USB3 ports? If so, where would I get the parts? I was reading Anandtechs great review of the FT02, and they did exactly that but didn’t go into any further detail. Any help appreciated.
You have a few choices, all of which entail modding something... http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silverstone-fp36b-usb-30-with-35-to-2-25-bay-converter-black http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_8774.html http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_8788.html http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_8968.html http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_8969.html http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_8970.html http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_9045.html Ideally if you could find a bare cable with a couple of USB 3.0 female connectors, that would be the cheapest. There are also motherboard adapters that allow you to connect the USB A connection directly onto the motherboard, saving you having to route a cable out the rear and into a rear port. I can't find any of these in the UK though - Lian Li do one... ...as do Bitfenix... OCUK sell the Lian Li adapter but they are out of stock: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-265-LL. Specialtech have them both but only the Lian Li in stock: http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Lian-Li-UC-01-USB-30-Adapter--UC-01-pid-13959.html http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...B-30-Adapter--BFA-U3-KU3IU3-RP-pid-13747.html
Brilliant! Thanks Fingers! I think it may be possible to pull the USB2 ports out of existing bracket and replace them with USB3 ones, I guess I'll only know once I get the case delivered and have a physical inspection. If thats the case, I might be able to save myself £15 or so and just buy the cables themselves. If not, it'll probably be a case buying one of the above, and removing the bracket just to get at the cables.
This is what the P180 Mini front panel looks like... You might even be able to find something to match if the hole spacing is the same.
