USB 3.0 header extension

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
Anyone care to comment on the wisdom of USB header extensions?

I can't plug the cable from the front USB ports into the motherboard socket. The motherboard socket is right at the edge of the board, and the adjacent passthrough is ... misaligned, shall we say. The edges of the hole in the back panel are offset enough to prevent the plug from seating fully.

You can buy right-angle adapters/extensions. I'm not sure either would clear the passthrough enough to run a cable through to the back side.

Kind of wondering if having an intervening extension would degrade the connection to the front USB ports.
Kind of looks like a Cable Matters' cable is the only option. $22.
No one approves of cheap solutions like this ...

61gELVL84FL._SL1200_.jpg
 

mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
8,762
1,765
136
If it makes a good connection, is not straining the mechanical integrity of the pin sockets by having the cable at a funny angle, then you should have minimal to no degradation, though it's anyone's guess how much it might droop voltage at high current. USB3 only necessarily handles 900mA and whether something made like that even tries to match that, is anyone's guess.

It is certainly going to be better than not having a cable connection at all.

However you wrote $22 and I see some on Amazon for $6.
https://www.amazon.com/Female-Extension-Adapter-Motherboard-Mainboard/dp/B07FKLQ8JL

Oh, now I see you had an embedded link to one even cheaper, but I don't see what is substantially different about it than what you pictured? Okay you didn't picture the one from Cable Matters.

I'd still try the $1.64 adapter. It's not much money to lose.
 
Last edited:

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
The picture that the OP posted, that's the OPPOSITE pinout of a mobo's pinout. I mean, to mate with one. I guess, I don't get what those cables are for, to plug into the rear of the ATX I/O bracket USB3.0 external ports, and to give you a mobo socket, to plug a front-panel case cable into, for front USB3.0?
 

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
VirtualLarry - yeah, those cables in the photo - not sure what they're about as they're using the adpater's male socket that should be plugged into the motherboard header. It DOES illustrate why the seller has confused upward and downward - and caused several reviewers to buy the wrong one.

I mentioned Cable Matter's cable because it's the only extension cable I found with a right-angle plug. It's pricey at $22, and is 20" long - not the tidyest solution.

I'd prefer the cheap cable-less adapters I posted a pic of, but they don't seem built to withstand more than a single plugging. Might try one though - price, price baby.
(yes, I'm aware the seller's photos of the product are mislabeled and Down is actually Up. I'm worried that the Downward adapter won't extend the socket enough to clear the adjacent passthrough - so I'd have to order an Upward ("Downward") one to be safe. )

Either solution might not clear the adjacent passthrough (next to the mobo) - so I'd route the cable down through the floor passthrough.

Decisions, decisions.
(I'm looking on Newegg too)
 

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
I was kind of hoping there were other options out there someone could point me to. :confused: