Overdose on USB ports?

massahwahl

massahwahl

VIP Member
Is it possible to have to many USB inputs? I need another USB card in order to support all of my devices but I dont want to overdue it. Heres what I have plugged in currently:

4 main on the back: Mouse, Keyboard, IR sensor for remote, External 80gig HDD

4 from expansion card on back: AGP power backup, USB cable for phone and camera, Cubase security dongle, and Kensington Tracball

2 ports on front: Zune, and 2gig pen drive for Speedboost

Ive got a 500gig external drive on the way, and I have to unplug my Cubase key to plug in my xbox controller. Ok to add another expansion card?
 
You can have up to 127 USB devices connected at a given time, so you aren't anywhere near the limit. However you may need to buy a powered USB hub if you are using multiple USB hubs.
 
Yeah I have an open PCI-E slot so I will utilize that. Is there any difference in how fast it collects information compared to a hub?
 
I would assume that the PCI card would be faster, because with say a 4 port hub, all 4 ports are trying to send data down one USB cable.
 
The only other limitation I could think of would be power... all of those devices take power, but as long as you have a decent power supply you should be fine.
 
PohTayToez said:
The only other limitation I could think of would be power... all of those devices take power, but as long as you have a decent power supply you should be fine.
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Thats what I was worried about, and if he was using multiple hubs I would recommend using powered hubs, so high-draw devices won't cause issues.
 
Yeah, power's a major problem with my mac. Certain hubs seem to work better than others for using multiple devices. I've run into some that won't power anything that requires juice from the machine, but then my current Belkin will easily power 2 flash drives and charge my MP3 player.
 
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