[SOLVED] Oculus inbound, need moar 3.0 USB ports, how do I choose?

[Halo Diehards]

I upgraded my pc last year so it could handle Oculus Rift. Then they stopped selling them. Now I'm having one gifted to me, and I need to order additional USB 3.0 ports. I'm not sure how I go about knowing what is compatible with my pc? Any help appreciated. I don't have any problem installing an internal one. My case has room in the front and back. I just need help figuring out how many I can install and how to know what is compatible with my motherboard: ASRock B450 PRO4 AM4 AMD Promontory

 

[richiestang_78]

USB Expansion card. Somethign like this https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Superspeed-Ports-PCI-Expansion/dp/B00B6ZCNGM . Their prices seem high right now, most likely due to the current world health issue messing up distribution.

heres a fOculus forum thread on some different cards
https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/66042/usb-3-0-expansion-card-for-rift


One thing you can look for on these types of cards are the number of controller chips. Some cards only have one "chip" for multiple USB ports and if use all the ports at teh same time it can cause bandwidth problems.

 

[Halo Diehards]

Thank you @richiestang_78 for the prompt reply. So, from what you wrote I'm guessing as long as it uses a pci cable any USB Expansion card should be compatible with my motherboard? I do recall having at least one open one.

When you say "controller chips", does that mean some USB Expansion cards will use more than one pci cable to power it's usb ports?

As you can see, total newb here, learning the things.

 

[richiestang_78]

Thank you @richiestang_78 for the prompt reply. So, from what you wrote I'm guessing as long as it uses a pci cable any USB Expansion card should be compatible with my motherboard? I do recall having at least one open one.

When you say "controller chips", does that mean some USB Expansion cards will use more than one pci cable to power it's usb ports?

As you can see, total newb here, learning the things.

No. Most expansion cards wont use a PCIe cable from your power supply but will either use the 75 watts your PCIe Slot itself can provide or use a SATA or Molex connector. From what I have read cards that dont have the extra Molex/SATA power can have issues with VR headsets.

What I mean by controller chip is that there is basically a small CPU on the card that regulates the data traffic. If you have 1 chip for say 4 ports and are using all 4 ports at one time then the performance will slow because that chip is controlling the data traffic from all 4 ports. Typically this isnt an issue for most people since most just use expansion cards to add more peripherals like keyboards, joysticks etc however I wouldnt recommend trying to use it with your VR headset and say a external hardrive.

The card I use with my RIft S and have had no problems is the Rosewill RC-508.

 

[Halo Diehards]

From what I have read cards that dont have the extra Molex/SATA power can have issues with VR headsets.

Just the headsets or also the sensors?