USB2 upgrade on PCI slot

[markc]

My computer has 4 rear USB ports (on MOBO) and 2 front ones. When I plug in a USB storage device I get a message that the port is not USB2, but it still works at reduced speeds. So I'd like to make the front USB ports USB2, I suspect it would also make down loading from a camera faster as well.

Would I just buy a PCI USB2 card with internal port, and run a USB cable to the front? If so, I guess I''d have to buy a kit or some kind of connectors? The front ones have the wires going into the MOBO, I don't suppose that simply plugging in a PCI USB2 card into the MOBO would make the front USB2 through the MOBO?

Any recommendations for a PCI USB2 card from Newegg? (lots of choices there, and I plan on ordering a few things from them soon)

In case needed the computer specs are:

Compaq Presario 6010US.
MOBO: Micro Star MS-6553 (re-capped).
AMD Athlon XP 1600+ (1.4GHz)
512mb Ram (2x256 266MHz DDR)
Hard Drive: 40GB UltraDMA
Radeon (NorwoodMicro) 9250 256MBDDR @AGPX4
Power supply: 200W
Drives: DVD, CD-RW, 3.5
OS: XP HE
Open Slots: 3x PCI (no PCI cards installed)

Thanks :)

[jcnoernberg]

You would need to get a USB2.0 card if you dont have it on your motherboard. There should be little pins on it to connect to your front usb connections. it's theoretically 40 times faster, but do you really need the speed is the question. it's your call, im sure the cards are dirt cheap now anyhow.

[saphalline]

Mice and keyboards don't need the extra bandwidth that USB 2.0 provides, but flash drives and external hard drives can certainly benefit! We're talking 12 Mbit/sec vs a whopping 480 Mbits/sec! :eek:

That's a big jump, even if most drives never fully use it. Even so, my own small external hard drive transfers about 20 times faster on 2.0 vs 1.0. No small amount, I assure you. And the time savings are immense when you're transferring large drive images in the GB range. My early USB 2.0 flash drive also performs noticably better in a USB 2.0 port, by a factor of nearly 10.

So yes, I consider the extra speed of USB 2.0 to be well worth it. Definitely shop for a PCI USB 2.0 card.

[markc]

Thanks for the replies :)
markC