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Peripherals USB Host Controllers

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Fettling, 21 Dec 2023.

  1. Fettling

    Fettling What's a Dremel?

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    Last edited: 5 Apr 2024
  2. adidan

    adidan Guesswork is still work

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    Many (most nowadays?) have more than one but I don't think there's a hard and fast rule.

    I think if you want to know for definite you have to check specific boards you're interested in.
     
  3. Byron C

    Byron C I was told there would be cheesecake…?

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    Wot he sed.

    Most motherboard chipsets will have at least one USB controller and the CPU may well have its own USB controller.

    The manual for my board (Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming with Ryzen 9 5900X) details exactly which USB ports are connected to which controller and where those ports are physically located.

    CPU:
    • 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A - Rear IO panel
    X570 Chipset:
    • 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-A - Rear IO panel
    • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C - Rear IO panel
    • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) internal header
    • 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) internal header
    • 4x USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) internal header
    So in my case I’ve effectively got two USB controllers: one in the CPU and one in the chipset. If you need more controllers than your chipset & CPU provide, you can always install a PCIe add-in card. Early on in the USB 3.0 days there were some really gnarly compatibility issues with controller chips, but thankfully we’re long past that. Even if you’re looking to install an add-in card, you should be fine as long as you’re looking for something that uses the up-to-date USB naming conventions (USB 3.2 gen 1, gen 2/2x1, and gen 2x2).

    Side rant: I really hate this stupid naming convention we’ve ended up with for USB speeds: 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2 gen 1, 3.2 gen 2, 3.2 gen 2x1, 3.2 gen 2x2 4.0, blah blah blah… Just ****ing name them by the rated speed and that makes it a million ****ing times easier to understand! Speed and physical port type is all that the end user ****ing cares about!
     
    Mr_Mistoffelees and adidan like this.

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