Question Adding USB C Header on mb for front panel

[LOUISSSSS]

So my MB: Aorus B450 Pro Wifi only has 1x USB 3.0 header for the 2x front USB 3.0 ports. My case: Lian Li Lancool 2 has a USB C port in front. I'm doing a lot of work from home these days and have my phone connected 40 hrs a week and also use a usb drive / micro usb to charge my wireless headphones / misc. things.

Do you guys think its a good idea to buy an add-on PCI-E card with an internal USB C header? If i have this set up, and i use a USB C - USB C cable for my phone work, will it be any faster than a USB A - USB C 3.0 cable? Also, are USB C flash drives faster than standard USB A 3.0 flash drives?

 

[UsandThem]

You have a USB Type C port on the back I/O, so you could just buy a cable to use in it with your phone.

Then you also have USB 3.1 Gen2 port on the back as well (10Gbps) which you could for external hard drives or compliant USB flash drives. It will be much faster than USB 3.1 Gen1 ports (5Gbps), which are what your front case ports would be.

I keep my external drives and USB flash drives plugged into the Gen2 ports, and the performance is much higher. For example, my external 5400 RPM hard drive writes at something like 150Mbps on Gen2 compared to 44Mbps when plugged into the Gen1 ports. It's been a while since I compared the two speeds, but it's roughly 3x - 4x the performance.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/difference-between-usb-3.1-gen1-usb-3.1-gen2,36941.html
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/usb-type-c-thunderbolt-3-one-cable-to-connect-them-all/

 

[Insert_Nickname]

So my MB: Aorus B450 Pro Wifi only has 1x USB 3.0 header for the 2x front USB 3.0 ports. My case: Lian Li Lancool 2 has a USB C port in front. I'm doing a lot of work from home these days and have my phone connected 40 hrs a week and also use a usb drive / micro usb to charge my wireless headphones / misc. things.
Do you guys think its a good idea to buy an add-on PCI-E card with an internal USB C header?

Do you have space for a powered external hub? That'll be way easier then adding an internal card with the Type E interface. Unfortunately, your case doesn't have a 5.25" expansion bay. That would allow an internal hub to be easily connected.

Also, while expansion PCIe cards with Type E sockets do exist, they tend to be on the expensive side. You can even get cards with dual sockets:

https://www.delock.com/produkte/1141_USB-3-1---3-2/89906/merkmale.html

If i have this set up, and i use a USB C - USB C cable for my phone work, will it be any faster than a USB A - USB C 3.0 cable?

Nope. Your phones interface itself is the limit there. Type C is mostly about the reversible plug and USB Power Delivery on phones. Most still only use a basic USB2 connection for actual data transfer.

Also, are USB C flash drives faster than standard USB A 3.0 flash drives?

R/W performance depends completely on the drive itself. The Type C interface only mandates a USB2 connection after all.