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Anyone have any problem(s) with VIA USB chipsets?

Synomenon

Synomenon

Lifer
Ok, so for the last 10 years, I've avoided any USB PCI card or motherboard with a VIA USB chipset because I had problems with them. Problems ranged from corrupt data from whatever peripheral was connected to intermittent signal loss to just plain not working with some peripherals.

I have a new motherboard now that has no firewire ports or headers. I also need more USB ports. So the past couple of days I've been looking for USB/FW combo PCI cards w/:

NEC USB chipset
Any firewire chipset
At least 3 external USB ports
At least one internal firewire header or port


In the past days I have been searching, I haven't been able to find exactly what I am looking for. I have found cards with everything above, but w/o the NEC USB chipset. Almost all have a VIA USB chipset.

So, please check out the poll if it applies to you (if you have a motherboard or PCI / PCIe USB card w/ a VIA USB chipset). If you do have one and you have had problems with it, please reply with details of the problem(s) you've had.
 
My vote is not directly applicable to your question because you have not distinguished which Via USB2 chipset. I had the first they made, don't recall the part #, and the problem was it was abnormally slow compared to NEC or Intel integrated at the time, and use in conjunction with sound card playback caused crackling. Then again, it was sitting on an abnormally sluggish Via southbridge, PCI bus too, but I vaguely recall online sources also showed it benched slower in general.

Point being, the next-gen chip was faster, but I avoided it not wanting to take a chance again when NEC was field proven to be about as good as it gets.

These cards don't usually cost much, I suggest buying one with good reviews at Newegg regardless of chipset, then returning it if it doesn't work out.
 
I don't care what firewire controller the card has. I'm only concerned with the USB chipset since that's what I use 95% of the time. I just need the internal firewire header or port so that I can connect my case's front firewire port.
 
Although I hate Via with a passion, I can't say I've had any noticeable problems with Via-chipset USB cards. But I haven't clocked them for speed, if that's what the concern is.
 
I'm only concerned with reliability. With past VIA chipset based USB cards, I've had the reliability problems mentioned in the OP.

@ VirtualLarry, sure do you know of a USB / FW combo PCI (not PCIe) card that has a NEC USB chipset?
 
Adaptec, maybe?

Offhand, I don't know of any for certain.

Edit: Yes, Adaptec makes a card with NEC USB, and Ti Firewire. link $10 at geeks.com
 
So I've given up looking for this mythical card. Ordered one w/ a VIA chipset from Newegg. Device Manager shows that the card has "Via Rev 5 or later USB controller". Been using it for around a week now and suddenly today, I get popups in the taskbar about USB device being capable of running faster if plugged into USB2.0 ports. Also, my webcam suddenly doesn't work if connected to this card.

WTF? 8 years later and VIA still can't make a decent USB chipset.
 
I want one with an internal firewire port or header. Don't want to be routing external cables from outside to back into the case.
 
I have a mATX board w/:

- 1 pcie 16x 2.0 slot
- 1 pcie 1x slot
- 2 standard pci slot

__
__________
______
______

in that configuration. I have a TV tuner card in the pcie 1x slot and a GTX260 in the pcie 16x slot which is blocking the pci slot next to it. That leaves me w/ one free pci slot.
 
Originally posted by: IsLNdbOi
So I've given up looking for this mythical card. Ordered one w/ a VIA chipset from Newegg. Device Manager shows that the card has "Via Rev 5 or later USB controller". Been using it for around a week now and suddenly today, I get popups in the taskbar about USB device being capable of running faster if plugged into USB2.0 ports. Also, my webcam suddenly doesn't work if connected to this card.

WTF? 8 years later and VIA still can't make a decent USB chipset.
Click to expand...

I wonder if this is the same reason my Rosewill internal card reader doesn't work right. I get the same error on a brand new X58 mobo which works fine with every other USB product I plug into it.
 
Originally posted by: IsLNdbOi
You have a USB2.0 PCI card w/ a VIA USB chipset and your Rosewill card reader is connected to this USB2.0 PCI card?
Click to expand...

No. Sorry! I didn't explain myself well at all. My card reader is plugged directly into my mobo, but I still get the USB performance error. Since the card reader has a USB port I thought it might have the VIA USB chipset which is causing the errors.
 
Tried another combo card that uses VIA's chipset for both the firewire and USB on the card.

Worked ok in Vista. Installed 7 RC earlier this week and the card hasn't worked since. It shows up in the Device Manager and Device Manager doesn't show any problems with the card, but when I plug anything into any of the USB ports on the card, nothing happens.

Tried re-seating the card and that didn't help. Reinstalled Vista x64 and XP SP3 and the card worked fine. Installed 7 x64 again and the USB ports don't work again.
 
Why are you married to VIA?
It can't be price alone, because they aren't that much cheaper than higher quality chipsets.
 
I'm only using these VIA based cards because I can't find a card w/:

NEC USB chipset w/ at least 3 external USB ports
Don't care what firewire chipset as long as it has a standard, internal firewire header or port


All the cards I've found that have an internal firewire header or port also use a VIA USB chipset for the USB ports.
 
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