USB 2.0 PCI controller card recommendations?

[bgc99]

Newegg has a zillion of these things and most of the manufacturer's names are unfamiliar. I need some recommendations for reliable USB PCI controller cards.

Thanks,
BGC

 

[jadinolf]

Just pick something around $14 and you'll be fine but I have never found one that didn't work.

 

[eplebnista]

Link

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
Link

:thumbsup: for NEC

 

[Peter]

Generally it is a good idea to match up what your board already has, in terms of USB controller programming model.

Intel and VIA use their jointly defined proprietary UHCI ("Universal") protocol, while everyone else uses OHCI ("Open").

So if you got an Intel or VIA chipset mainboard, you want a card that features a VIA chip (Intel doesn't make any discrete USB controller chips). In case you got anyone else's chipset, you use anything with a non-VIA chip - ULi (formerly ALi) and NEC being the usual suspects. ULi have a nice combo chip that throws a couple of FireWire ports in for free.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: eplebnista
Link

Wow, I have a couple of these. The price has sure come down.

 

[Dizway]

Avoid the via stuff like a plague. I'm having trouble with the onboard usb 2.0 controller using the supplied drivers. So I went on Newegg and bought this card.

I bought the card before doing enough research and... surprise! I got another via controller. It also doesn't work on my winxp sp2 system. The problem is documented all over the net and there's a long thread in expert-exchange. The controller installs fine but no devices install properly. These via controllers require proprietary drivers not available in the OS. Supposedly, NEC's 2.0 is supported natively.

I wish I had purchased the NEC instead, which I will do today from Fry's. At least I can return the product if it didn't work, where as the one I got from Newegg isn't even worth returning.

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: Dizway
Avoid the via stuff like a plague. I'm having trouble with the onboard usb 2.0 controller using the supplied drivers. So I went on Newegg and bought this card.

I bought the card before doing enough research and... surprise! I got another via controller. It also doesn't work on my winxp sp2 system. The problem is documented all over the net and there's a long thread in expert-exchange. The controller installs fine but no devices install properly. These via controllers require proprietary drivers not available in the OS. Supposedly, NEC's 2.0 is supported natively.

I wish I had purchased the NEC instead, which I will do today from Fry's. At least I can return the product if it didn't work, where as the one I got from Newegg isn't even worth returning.

Thanks for the warning and sharing your experiences! 😎:thumbsup:

 

[LED]

NEC is the best chipset for USB High speed followed by VIA and the worse being ALi...I would also recommend gettin a Firewire/USB combo card as it'll come in handy as well as Firewire is faster then USB Highspeed...

 

[Arcanedeath]

I'd suggest an NEC chipset based USB2.0 card stay away from Via or Uli/Ali

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: Dizway
Avoid the via stuff like a plague. I'm having trouble with the onboard usb 2.0 controller using the supplied drivers. So I went on Newegg and bought this card.

I bought the card before doing enough research and... surprise! I got another via controller. It also doesn't work on my winxp sp2 system. The problem is documented all over the net and there's a long thread in expert-exchange. The controller installs fine but no devices install properly. These via controllers require proprietary drivers not available in the OS. Supposedly, NEC's 2.0 is supported natively.

I wish I had purchased the NEC instead, which I will do today from Fry's. At least I can return the product if it didn't work, where as the one I got from Newegg isn't even worth returning.

The VIA controllers do NOT require "proprietary drivers", who's spinning that myth? In fact, what VIA offer as a discrete PCI chip is exactly the same thing they integrate into their southbridges.