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Author Topic: USB Card  (Read 4785 times)

Offline Simon

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USB Card
« on: January 05, 2003, 22:03 »
I've just ordered a 4 port USB Controller Card, which in addition to my existing USB ports, will make a total of 10 external USB ports.  I don't envisage using all of them, but I was just wondering if there actually is a limit to how many USB devices can be plugged in at the same time?
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Adept

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2003, 22:10 »
I seem to remember the number 127 popping up somewhere Simon. I can't remember whether this is 127 in total or 127 per controller though ::)

Offline Simon

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2003, 22:19 »
WHAATTT??!!!   Oh well, I have nothing much to worry about then!   ;D
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Offline Sandra

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2003, 22:33 »
You may have a problem if you run them all as self powered from the ports Simon,your ADSL modem is 495ma so if you get a few more taking up to the max 500ma per port you may end up overloading your power supply and /or bus  :-*

Offline bat69

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2003, 22:59 »
You're right Adept ... 127 but can't think how someone will use that many :o ::)
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Offline Simon

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2003, 23:34 »
Well, at the moment I have my Keyboard, Scanner, Digital Camera, and ADSL Modem on USB.  The camera is obviously only on some of the time, and the scanner is self powered (i.e. plugged into the mains), so at the moment, the only components that are powered from the ports are the ADSL modem, and the Keyboard.  What I potentially may wish to add is a new printer, which would be USB, as they all seem to be now, and possibly a front panel display, but you never know what else might come along!   ;) ;)
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Offline Sandra

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2003, 01:14 »
As long as you bear in mind Simon that 120 devices drawing 500 ma each adds up to 60 amps so even if you had a 400 watt power supply you couldnt run all the devices at once even without the drives and other flashing lights you'll be adding to your PC over the next few months  ;)

Offline Lona

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2003, 02:00 »
I have 2 usb ports on my keyboard. My mouse is in one and I plugged my digital camera into the other one. HP told me not to do that as it could cause problems. What's the point of having 2 if you are advised to use only one of them ???
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Offline Sandra

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2003, 02:20 »
Theyre probably just covering themseves lona.If you had something like your mouse and a low consumption device attached it would probably be ok but may not work too good running a printer or scanner  :-*

Adept

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2003, 09:14 »
Rather than having all these ports hanging out of the back of your machine, why not get a USB hub?

The advantage of these is that they are self-powered, making the load on your motherboard and PSU lighter and can take some of the wiring away from the back of the PC, making your cabling somewhat neater.

Offline DualBoy

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2003, 09:19 »
Did you get a USB 2.0 or a USB 1.1 Card?

Offline Simon

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2003, 11:26 »
As long as you bear in mind Simon that 120 devices drawing 500 ma each adds up to 60 amps so even if you had a 400 watt power supply you couldnt run all the devices at once even without the drives and other flashing lights you'll be adding to your PC over the next few months  ;)

This is getting confusing - where does 120 devices come into it - I've only got 2 that are powered from the ports, the printer I may be adding would be self powered (by my definition, that means by a mains plug, yes?), so the only other thing might be a front display panel.

Sorry, Sandra, I'm not well up on amps / watts etc!   ::) :-[

Rather than having all these ports hanging out of the back of your machine, why not get a USB hub?

I've heard that some devices don't work very well with hubs - or was I dreaming?   ???

Did you get a USB 2.0 or a USB 1.1 Card?

It's a USB 2.0 card, DualBoy.
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Offline DualBoy

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2003, 19:03 »
Ah tres cool. I have USB 2.0 on my system but not sure what I want to buy for it yet. Ever think about some of those External Hard Drives for USB 2.0 or Firewire and there are USB 2.0 Scanners which have increased scan speed. But there really are not too many other USB devices which can make use of the 480Mbit rate yet. What about USB networking It would be interesting to see an increased market in a 480MBit network standard instead of teh 10/100 but I expect that the Gigabit networking will catch on in the next 3 to 5 years.

Adept

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2003, 19:09 »

I expect that the Gigabit networking will catch on in the next 3 to 5 years.


Maybe quicker than that :o I notice there are a few mobos out there with Gigabit networking built-in 8)

Offline bat69

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Re:USB Card
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2003, 19:15 »
You're right there Sean, the one I got has it built in ..as does the Asus nForce board, although you have to get the more expensive one. Boards also come with 6 USB2.0 ports aswell, which can't be bad  ;D

I'm thinking about making use of the Lan feature sometime, just for a bit of fun ... gawd knows why  ;) ::)
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