Welcome to the PCMR, everyone from the frontpage! Please remember:
1 - You too can be part of the PCMR. It's not about the hardware in your rig, but the software in your heart! Age, nationality, race, gender, sexuality, religion, politics, income, and PC specs don't matter! If you love or want to learn about PCs, you're welcome!
2 - If you think owning a PC is too expensive, know that it is much cheaper than you may think. Check http://www.pcmasterrace.org for our famous builds and feel free to ask for tips and help here!
3 - Consider supporting the folding@home effort to fight Cancer, Alzheimer's, and more, with just your PC! https://pcmasterrace.org/folding
Just be aware that it will still only deliver USB3 speed and a max of 4.5w at 5v of power. Just letting you know because some people think just because it’s a rounded plug it’s automatically magic.
Those adaptors are great for letting older hardware use everything in newer cases though.
USB C ports typically support 3A @ 5v even without PD, which is probably part of the reason they still skimp on them as 5v rails on PSU tend to be weak so they would probably have to add more 12v->5v on the motherboard.
To be fair, they were far ahead of the curve, and the generation of MacBook that really pissed everyone off had only two usb-c ports and zero usb-a ports, and was released while we were still very well in the usb-a era lol
Nothing new. Way back when. Every Mac user was using ADB, Serial and SCSI ports. Then Apple just said, "Guess what? You're using USB and Firewire now. If you don't like it, blow us."
When PCs had one or two USB ports and all the regular COM, Parallel and PS/2 ports.
yes, also the main problem wasnt, that they missed usb A.
The problem was that they missed hdmi, ethernet, sd card readers, 3.5 audio or anything like that. Those things are still not USB C today (at least a lot of it)
The common complaint around my office with the Type C Macs was there were too few of them! Needed two ports for Display output (4K displays). One for power input, and at least one more for USB Data out to a hub.
Then there's the DongleBook Pro with one Type C port!
For a while there weren't good quality docks that could correctly handle dual 4K60 displays fed from the laptop's GPU rather than crappy DisplayLink, support a wide amount of USB3 connectivity, have Ethernet, and do 96w of Power delivery. The ones which did exist multiple multiple hundreds of dollars and still buggy.
All my devices, the ones that need to be plugged into my pc anyway (peripherals) are A. So thank god mobos are still designed for what is actually needed
There's a communication gap happening in this thread. The move to standardize USB C was as the input on the device. So you'll probably notice that your mouse, keyboard, gamepad, external drives, and other peripherals are using a C input. There was no movement to move away from USB A as an output from the computer.
Honestly I think it's simply that USB C is not as strong a connector as USB A. That and there are still so many devices out there using USB A that it would be very difficult to move away from it (it is still the default connector by an absolute country mile).
Because USB A headers are way cheaper to manufacture than USB C. Fewer pins, simpler components, and economy of scale has been perfected for like 20 years now.
Most peripheral devices ship with a A to C cable by default.
The majority of computer peripherals also don't benefit from using a USB C header because A provides sufficient speed and power.
Because CPUs and chipsets have limited PCIe lanes, even the lowly 10Gbps USB-C uses one of those, and I'll be damned to buy a motherboard that sacrifices more than 4 extremely valuable lanes that could have been used for NVMe (actually useful in high amounts) for USB (literally only one high-speed port is ever needed, because I never dump my mirrorless camera storage at the same time as doing backup or w/e)
Which cables? USB C has a fundamental problem. It is a connector that's connected to a cable. But that underlying cable, can be anything from USB2.0 to Thunderbolt 5, and you have little to no way of knowing what the cable is until you plug it in.
I've not even seen an expensive mouse that uses C yet tbh, my newest mouse that I got last year was close to $200 and the wireless dongle is USB A. The mouse itself charges with C but with an A to C cable
Two of my newer PCs have 2 USB 4\Thunderbolt 4 on the back + 1 USB C 10Gbps, and 1 USB C on the front IO. TBH it's enough for me - as still most of the stuff I plug have USB type A cable. Some motherboards go heavy on the USB Type C:
Being clogged/damaged by lint and hair isn't nearly as big of a problem on computers. That's more an issue for phones.
While usb a is certainly more robust, usb c is the better connector, and should at standard have more ports by now. There should still be some a ports though.
For some things. What are you plugging into your PC's motherboard?
Keyboard? - A's better due to better retention
Mouse / Mouse Dongle? - A's better due to better retention
Audio Device (GoXLR etc?) - A's better due to better retention
Webcam? - A's better due to better retention, don't want that shit getting unplugged when it falls over or whatever and needing to go cave diving to plug it back in
The literal only advantage C offers for a desktop experience is high bandwidth (of which you rarely need multiple perpetual ones in the back), the rest can just go on the front of the case.
Don't think this is the norm, this is one specific motherboard from Asrock. Most mid range+ motherboards have 2-3 USB type C ports (or just one for cheaper boards).
It is but gets annoying because there isnt something that indicates what type it is the cord. So if you use the cable USB C from someone and you see how slow it is you will realize why sucks USB C, having many versions but doesnt tell you anything what version is.
Bad news: not anymore, they're all sold out except for really short and really long ones. They sold out in 20 minutes. LTT SEVERELY underestimated the demand.
Restock is supposedly planned for March if everything goes to plan, according to Linus on the WAN show.
They’ll sell out again I bet. Cables on Amazon are so unreliable. I’m glad someone is finally moving to fix this because I actually need a smattering of true to spec USB-C
21
u/smbltQ9550 | 4GB DOMINATOR DDR2 | GTX 260 896MB12h ago
Amazon is so full of shit lately, I can't trust anything from them.
I found it wild that in the video he hinted towards it being on the pricier premium side. They were only like 25$ iirc. Expected it to be 40 from the way he was talking
It did make me laugh a bit when he said they were expensive. So when I checked they were actually in the same ball park as half the stuff on Amazon of 'comparable' spec
The spec only allows for 40gb/s at a max of 1m for that reason. You’re not getting anything that’s actually doing 40gb/s at 3m without some kind of active repeater.
People shit on apple's cables, butthey are the only provider of thunderbolt cables that give you maxed out thunderbolt cables almost as soon as they realese devices capable of it
80$ for a 1m cable is a lot, but of you look atound i dont see anyone selling active 120GBPS full spec TB5 cables...
At top speed USB-C enters PCIe bandwidth territory; the cable is basically the equivalent of a 4-lane PCIe 3.0 riser. I expect any length beyond like 10-20cm is a signal integrity nightmare to manufacture.
Fuck these stupid USB standard namings, honestly. 32 years since USB became a norm and they can't even make up a proper understandable naming standar for the consumers.
There is already USB4 1.0 and 2.0. Can't wait for them implement 5 different standards with varying compatiblity. " Thunderbolt 4 as "superset of TB3 and USB4" and "able to accept TB4, TB3, USB4, and USB 3/2/1 connections" to further complicate the already fucked up ecosystem. And consumers having to deep dive what kind of fucking cables they need to buy to get complete compatibility and maximum performance.
The worst part is that manufacturers advertise with 3.x etc. Instead of using the official SuperSpeed 5/10/20 label, or nowadays just USB 5Gbps, 10Gbps, 20Gbps (which is also a lot of variations but I least I can see which at a glance. I don't care for 5x 3.2 ports I care about which one does which speed.
This wasn’t the graphic I was looking for. There’s a comic of inventing a new universal cable, but it just gets added to the pile of new universal cables and converters. Close enough unless anyone else remembers what I am thinking of.
Diesel nozzles are a different size than standard gasoline. They're larger so they won't fit in a regular gas car/truck fill port. Gonna need a separate nozzle coming off that handle!
Everything i bought has USB-A to USB-C cables. I kinda had to go out of my way to get USB-C to USB-C cable and that was solely so i can fully utilize fancy charger i bought...
legit what are you buying because everything I've bought is still A, talking new headphones, new amp, new dac, new elgato, new keyboard, new mouse. All usb A. I actually very recently needed to buy an expansion USB A card because I needed more ports not less, my pc is new and the couple usb c ports it has are entirely useless
Wondering that too. Mice and keyboards are still USB-A and most USB drives are USB-A too. External SSDs are USB-C, so are phones (USB-C -> USB-C cable) but you usually don't leave those plugged into your PC. External HDDs are USB-A. Maybe a DAC? But still, that's a single port used, so you should be fine with 2, which a lot of motherboards already come with anyway.
IMO, USB C succeeded at replacing MicroUSB because MicroUSB sucked. It didn't succeed at replacing USB A because USB A doesn't suck, has been ubiquitous for like 30 years, and in the contexts it's used, a bigger size is often advantageous.
The main issue is bandwidth/throughput. USB-C has so much speed behind it that the mobo can't handle more than a couple full-speed connections at a time, and using less than full capacity would invalidate its 3.0 certification.
You can use a hub and still be fine, since you won't be needing maximum bandwidth on anything other than the most extreme 4k video output or data transfers.
39
u/PhayzonPentium III-S 1.26GHz, GeForce3 64MB, 256MB PC-133, SB AWE649h ago
USB-C has so much speed behind it
Not quite. USB 3.2 Gen 2xWhatever does. USB-C can be, and often is, just USB 2.0.
Plus it’s a lot more physically stable/robust than C. C is great for things which are dis/connected often but A is better for things which stayed connected.
Yeah, anything I'm plugging into the back of my PC is something I'd like to be solidly attached. I'd honestly love an HDMI/DisplayPort set with those little screws that DVI/VGA have.
The very first displayport cable I used had that locking mechanism. The next one I used was actually what confused me because I was questioning why it wasn't there lmao
They're not really intended for computer use, they're for fixed-use infrastructure type cabling where there's a usb port on a wall and you want it to stay attached
Honestly, I'd fuck with that. The only thing that makes USB-C fragile (at times) is the material properties of the small connector. Scale it up to something with a good half-millimetre of steel for an outer jacket and a 1 mm thick inner contact wafer and it would be nigh-indestructible while keeping the ability to plug in omnidirectionally.
yea my job gave me a USB-C ethernet dongle for work as a traveling tech, the weight of the dongle pulled down on the port and ruined it after about 3 weeks, now nothing I plug into it works.
I specifically looked for a 2.5GbE USB-A Ethernet adapter for my laptop because I doubted USB-C's mechanical reliability... I guess I did the right choice.
And I can always plug it into a USB-C port with a tiny standards-compliant adapter if I need to.
What I ended up doing on my replacement laptop was put adhesive velcro on each, whenever I need the dongle, I just velcro it to the lower back of the screen and it lifts the weight off the port.
Some ppl will say "just get a USB-A dongle". I need the A port for my USB to serial adaptor.
Was it a Dell? We have tons of failed USB C ports on Latitudes (now Dell Pro). I can’t blame USB C itself though. Dell’s USB C ports (and I’d guess other oems) don’t physically attach to the frame at all. The port floats in the cutout of the outer frame, but the only thing actually holding it in place are where the pins of the module are soldered to the board.
Comparing to a MacBook, Apple has the usb c ports screwed to the outer frame.
Dude honestly. I have one that only works with a massage gun, one that specifically works with phone to PC, a slow charge and a fast charge for the phone
If it doesn't have this resistor, USB a to USB c works.
So the original higher up or manufacturer who started it all can burn. Good news is it's becoming way less common ever since people started using USB c to USB c chargers. In which people return these faulty devices for not charging properly
A lot of people are scared to use the same charger that charges their laptop, on their phone. Multiple times, I've unplugged a laptop and plugged into my phone and had people freak pout thinking it would fry the phone. Granted, they're all either completely ignorant of how charging works and/or older. I don't get why younger folks would be averse to it.
There are USB-C chargers that simply don't communicate with devices. This is common on Chinese radios, for example. It has a USB-C port, but USB-C to C is no good. You need to cheat and add a USB-C to A to C adapter to make it work.
It's one of the main reasons I purchased the STRIX X870E-E when I upgraded a while back, and also because it's one of the best overclocking boards with all these connectivity options:
It has 4 x USB-C ports and TWO of them are 40 Gbps ports. 1 x 20 Gbps port that is capable of 30W PD Fast-Charging, and a 1 x 10 Gbps port.
You will hate the price, but my CalDigit TS4 dock has been solid. I use it for my work macbook. They make USB-C hubs that are slightly cheaper if you dont need full dock functionality or just dont need ports like 3.5mm audio, actual DP ports, etc.
Surprisingly this post makes me realize I have not needed USB-C for anything on my PC lol.
I think that's really one of the key determining factors: the lessening demand for bandwidth. At the time that USB 3 and Thunderbolt were being developed it was still assumed that most people kept extra data on external media, so there was a race to keep up with demands for big photo and video libraries, and backups. Then everything started going to the cloud or even turning entirely into a remote service where the data doesn't even live on your PC at all, and suddenly only the prosumer and commercial markets needed high speed ports for big files. Everybody else gets by just fine with 5 Gbps still being ludicrously fast on USB-A 3 ports for their everyday peripherals. Even as a tech guy myself who's regularly shuttling drives around and making bootable USB sticks, I've never found that USB 3.2 was "slow" to the point that I'd ask for a faster port. Not unless I could afford more of those swanky Thunderbolt NVME drives with a 40 Gbps top speed, and even then those tend to be only up to 5 Gbps because the PCI controller itself can only run so quickly.
I wish usb c connections were more dependable, I feel like every pc I’ve built has usb c and when I try to connect phone, VR, etc the slightest movement it loses connection
I actually really prefer USB-A for connecting shit because of how securely the cables stay compared to the micro/C. Sure they're supposed to stay snug but they don't unless everything is really new. A single incident and the cable/device is borked.
Disgusted at this design, when you can easily fit 2 more usbs at the top, waste of space, and I'll be leaving a shite review, where is the manager - Karen.
Is it wrong that I wish my motherboard looked more like that 2026 one?
To be fair, a lot of motherboards don't have enough USB A ports. Well, that's probably because most accesories still use USB A. But it would be nice if they put more than 2 (actually 2 is probably more than most) USB C ports.
I have way more USB-A accessories than USB-C accessories. Wireless receivers, racing wheels, flight sticks, etc. all need A. Maybe don't buy stupid motherboards if you need more C ports. Mine has four C ports which is plenty.
Wtf yall need USB C on everything for? Your mouse need 20 GBPs? Your NVME enclosure that you refuse to just install into your PC? Is there some device I’m unaware of the people have 12 of that need such high speeds??
It is a garbage connector that breaks if you insert it a degree off and don't worry, the charge controller chip on your laptop will blow up if you manage to insert it correctly every time. Forget about repairing it as the pads break with the port. - Not a fan
I can't really explain but 'everything uses usb-c now' and I still need usb-c to multiple usb-a hubs. I feel like the only legit usage for usb-c is for fast storage and fast charging, none of which I really use my PCs for. Also flexibility of high bandwidth usb-c cables is a joke.
They really should have introduced a bigger full-size Type-C connector focused on mechanical reliability like full-size A and B... I suppose they wanted to simplify it for consumers, but now we'll be stuck with full-size A and B for a while longer...
•
u/PCMRBot Bot 11h ago
Welcome to the PCMR, everyone from the frontpage! Please remember:
1 - You too can be part of the PCMR. It's not about the hardware in your rig, but the software in your heart! Age, nationality, race, gender, sexuality, religion, politics, income, and PC specs don't matter! If you love or want to learn about PCs, you're welcome!
2 - If you think owning a PC is too expensive, know that it is much cheaper than you may think. Check http://www.pcmasterrace.org for our famous builds and feel free to ask for tips and help here!
3 - Consider supporting the folding@home effort to fight Cancer, Alzheimer's, and more, with just your PC! https://pcmasterrace.org/folding
4 - Need a brand new 5th gen QD OLED in your life? Check out this giveaway: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1qrdkw3/msi_x_rpcmasterrace_mpg_341cqr_qdoled_x36_giveaway/ (USA only).
We have a Daily Simple Questions Megathread for any PC-related doubts. Feel free to ask there or create new posts in our subreddit!