Proliferation of Type C ports/devices... yet motherboards/cases are slow to catch up.

Grimlakin

Forum Posting Supreme
Joined
Jun 24, 2019
Messages
8,246
Points
113
I've noticed more and more devices are going the way of USB C. They most of the time are not full bandwidth devices of course, but it feels like our computers, desktops and laptops, need a boost in the number of full fat type C ports.

So to the community I ask... do you see the number of what I will call.. traditional USB ports starting to wane? I'll admit I still have quite a few in use... but I do feel like I would benefit from more Type C ports. Your thoughts?
 
I am still heavily using USB A interfaces.. On my systems I have anywhere from 6 to 10 USB cables coming out of the back for various devices and whatnot. Only recently have I been utilizing USB C connections more and more. A few more than 1 port in the back of the motherboard would be nice.
 
Yea, I'm just saying I'd love to have 2 USBC on the front and say 2 on the back. Maybe with an USBC hub or something. Because I know what I have connected will not saturate a 10gigabit or 40 gigabit pipe all the time.
 
Grimlakin said:
Yea, I'm just saying I'd love to have 2 USBC on the front and say 2 on the back. Maybe with an USBC hub or something. Because I know what I have connected will not saturate a 10gigabit or 40 gigabit pipe all the time.
Click to expand...
Exactly.. Everything I'm connecting won't saturate a 10Gbit pipe.. I am currently dedicating my sole USB-C connection to its own hub for attachments of my External Drives (NVME, SATA, etc.)
 
Hmm this is a good post.

USB C has been out for a good while now. A lot of my consumer stuff has shifted over to it for charging and away from microUSB (which was awful).

But on my computer... my Ducky has USB C, but I use a C->A cable. My XBox controller is USB C, but for charging only. And... that is it. I don't have anything plugged into the motherboard as C, all of my peripherals plug in A, even those that are C native use a C->A cable.

My Macbook only has USB C... and I leave pretty much two things plugged into it full time: the charging adapter, and a USB C->A adapter.

I suppose I am behind the times, I don't buy thumb drives often and when I do, I have to get A for compatibility with older systems. Keyboard/Mouse don't really care about the difference between A and C. And ... that's really about all I really use USB for. My monitor has a USB hub in it and some wonky RGB controller, but once I disabled the RGB I don't use it any more and it isn't plugged in. Printers I use ethernet. I use a NAS for backup storage. Occasionally I will use a USB NIC or WiFi if I need a second network interface (usually because my ISP is down and I'm down to sharing my phone hot spot).

So C is great for charging stuff - it's like everyone finally realized why Lightning was good, but just didn't want to pay the Apple tax, and I'm ok with that.
 
Yea modern thumb drives are USB C but I still USB A as well unless it's for personal. For work USB A all the way servers have not and probably are still a decade off from USB C. (Plus the risk with a USB C external storage copying data is higher. if minutely so.)

But.. my phone is USB C, I have two of them... one work one personal, some keyboards are going USB C. Monitors as well. The need for USB C (if not a bandwidth but physical connection need) is only increasing. Add to that how people will want to fast charge over USB C with their phones and whatever else... it's going to get messy for motherboard makers and case makers.

For the interim that USB C hub/switch/whatever I posted is probably going to be the best short term solution going forward. Maybe not THAT one it was just the first in the list I scrolled past.

Would be interesting to hook one up, attach 4 NVME enclosers with NVME 3.x drives in them and do some speed tests to see what it can do. Then maybe we can find the best hub of the bunch and tag it theFPSreview approved. ;)
 
Tell me about it. I just bought an external NVME enclosure and it only came with USB-C connection. Somehow my graphics card had an USB-C port and to my surprise it works as a storage connector just as well. But I've been looking to buy a new GPU and none of the 4xxx series seem to have the USB-C port anymore, so I'm fooked unless I buy an USB-A to USB-C adaptor or hub that actually supports USB 3.2 speeds.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Tell me about it. I just bought an external NVME enclosure and it only came with USB-C connection. Somehow my graphics card had an USB-C port and to my surprise it works as a storage connector just as well. But I've been looking to buy a new GPU and none of the 4xxx series seem to have the USB-C port anymore, so I'm fooked unless I buy an USB-A to USB-C adaptor or hub that actually supports USB 3.2 speeds.
Click to expand...
That or a drop in card to give you a couple uSBc ports on the rear.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Somehow my graphics card had an USB-C port and to my surprise it works as a storage connector just as well. But I've been looking to buy a new GPU and none of the 4xxx series seem to have the USB-C port anymore, so I'm fooked unless I buy an USB-A to USB-C adaptor or hub that actually supports USB 3.2 speeds.
Click to expand...
Yeah that was back when the GPU guys thought VR was going to catch on and it .. kinda fizzled out.
 
VR needs that new battery tech, the ability to run all day and swap between RL and VR and AR on the fly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Become a Patron!
Back
Top