USB Ports on Lian-Li PC60 USB 2.0 Compliant?

[Slogun]

I have an older Lian-Li PC60 case which has 4 front USB ports.
Now that I have a new Abit IC7-G Max II mobo installed in that case, anyone know if they are getting USB 2.0 speeds from those ports?

I don't have any USB 2.0 devices yet, so I don't know of a way to test the speeds myself.

I did some searches on this topic and went to the Lian-Li website, came up empty.
I know people say that it may be determined by the quality/type of cabling inside the case.

 

[TRUMPHENT]

I have the same case and same dilema. I suspect that there won't be issues connecting USB 2.0 devices but I can't verify it either. Bumps to you sir.

 

[pspada]

It depends. Some of the front panel USB ports I've seen do support USB2 - but some of the older ones appear to be non-compliant. When a USB2 device is plugged into them, the dreaded "HI Speed device plugged into a non-HI Speed hub"message pops up, and in this case only the back ports do USB2 properly.

 

[Slogun]

OK. Thanks.

I guess I will perhaps borrow a USB 2.0 device from someone and see if I get an error message unless someone else has already been through this and will post their results.

I will post my results when I get a chance to do it.
I know someone at work who has a new flash drive that must be a 2.0 device.

 

[MichaelD]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but IIRC, older USB 1.0 ports have very thin connecting wires w/little or no shielding. USB 2.0 wires are thicker, shielded wires. That's one way to tell.

I would say if your case is over a year old, then it's not USB 2.0 compliant, but that doesn't mean it won't work. One way to find out.

 

[Slogun]

OK, well I answered my own question and I will post the answer here for anyone who might need the info.

I ran out to BestBuy today and bought a SanDisk USB2.0 CF Reader for $15.00.

The short answer is that the front ports on this old Lian-Li PC60 apparently DO support USB 2.0.

Connecting the new reader to a front USB port, it installed automatically and I received no error message.

I copied a 187MB file onto a 256MB CF card.

Using a front port it took 119 seconds.
Using a rear port on the mobo (a USB2.0 port) the file copied in 129 seconds.
Copying the file using my old USB 1.1 reader via the front port took 195 seconds.

Not the 5x speed difference I might have expected, but I think this proves that the front ports are at least as fast as the USB 2.0 ports that are on the rear of the mobo.

It is possible that the 256MB Kingston CF card itself limits the speed of the transfer. It is labeled "high speed" but beyond that I don't know the specs. Probably a slower Type I card?

 

[Mitzi]

Originally posted by: Slogun

The short answer is that the front ports on this old Lian-Li PC60 apparently DO support USB 2.0.

I have the same case (I've had it for nearly two years and still love it), I've always assumed that the front ports would be USB 2.0 compliant as I believe that its the USB controller which dictates the speed of the ports, not the ports themselves though I've never been able to confirm as I don't have any USB 2.0 devices.

Cheers for clearing that up for me!

 

[Slogun]

Sure thing....

Yea, apparently the ports have nothing to do with it, but a lot of people say the cables that connect between the ports and the mobo headers have to be able to handle the flow. Some say these cables need to be shielded, perhaps twisted pairs, but the cables in my case appear to be neither.

I'm still going to see if I can borrow one of those new USB 2.0 mini flash devices and see how fast that can handle data and also see if there is a speed difference between front and rear ports.