Adding card reader to a desktop computer

<p>I have an HP Z600 workstation which only has USB-2.0. What is the best option to add a USB 3.0 based card reader?</p>

<p>Stuff a card with a pair of USB3 ports into a vacant mainboard (cards) slot?</p>

<p>yup. that machine has plenty of PCIe slots. bounce over to newegg or something and find a good board. I imagine they're fairly cheap these days. Something like 661 choices!</p>

<p>I have bought three boxes with a usb plug /cable<br>

and slots for several different cARDS IN THE FRONT.<br>

THEY WERE DESIGNED TO REPLACE A FDLOPPY DISK DRIVE OR FIT IN A SECOND FLOPPY DISK HOLE.<br>

nEITHER WORKE IT IS TRICKY IF THE DRIVE HAS A SEPARATED HEADER CONNECTOR<br>

TO REPLACED THE 10 PIN CONNECTOR ON THE MB.<br>

THERE ARE OTHERS THAT WILL PLUG DIRECTLY IN A REAR OR FRONT USB SLOT SANF SIMPLY BLUG IN ANY USB PORT.<br>

DSPITE THE LOW COST EBAY / FROM CHINA<br>

i HAVE HAD BAD LUCK GETTING ANY TO WORK.<br>

BE PREPARED TO GET A DUD.</p>

 

<p>I have bought three boxes with a usb plug /cable<br>

and slots for several different cARDS IN THE FRONT.<br>

THEY WERE DESIGNED TO REPLACE A FDLOPPY DISK DRIVE OR FIT IN A SECOND FLOPPY DISK HOLE.<br>

nEITHER WORKE IT IS TRICKY IF THE DRIVE HAS A SEPARATED HEADER CONNECTOR<br>

TO REPLACED THE 10 PIN CONNECTOR ON THE MB.<br>

THERE ARE OTHERS THAT WILL PLUG DIRECTLY IN A REAR OR FRONT USB SLOT SANF SIMPLY BLUG IN ANY USB PORT.<br>

DSPITE THE LOW COST EBAY / FROM CHINA<br>

i HAVE HAD BAD LUCK GETTING ANY TO WORK.<br>

BE PREPARED TO GET A DUD.</p>

 

<p> AN ALYERNTIVE IS A USB TO CARD READER<br>

selling for 5 cents to 99 cents.<br>

the one I like best is a Pod 1 1/2 x 3 12 with a detacable cable ( none usb to standard usb)<br>

the mini end works on many cameras.<br>

If you are like me you can hold the pod end up and easily insert the card<br>

Price is about $3.00- buy 2</p>

Before you get carried away with a usb3 pcie card, you best

check that your motherboard can do usb3

<p>Walter may be talking about something like an Addonics AEIDDSAUWP-X. There are a few different flavors, so be sure you know what you need before ordering. <br>

They mount internally in a 3.5" opening. Some connect via USB, some SATA & some have both options. They do have a floppy drive style power connector (Berg connector) so plan on adding a $2 adapter if your powersupply does not have one already. They also have a jumper so you can select if you want your memory card treated like a removable disk (thumb drive) or a fixed disk (hard drive) which requires a "Scan for new hardware" if not present at boot. <br>

Mine has both CF & SD slots, as well as 2 or 3 other slots I have never used.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Before you get carried away with a usb3 pcie card, you best check that your motherboard can do usb3</p>

</blockquote>

<p>How do I know? There is no mention of anything USB-3.0 in all the manuals and specs.</p>

<p><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=5994753">BeBu Lamar</a>, Jan 23, 2016; 09:40 a.m.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Before you get carried away with a usb3 pcie card, you best check that your motherboard can do usb3</p>

</blockquote>

<p>How do I know? There is no mention of anything USB-3.0 in all the manuals and specs.</p>

<p>I would contact HP and ask them if a USB 3.0 board can be added to your specific model.</p>

 

<p>I'm really not understanding his statement. The whole point of a set of card slots ala PCIe is that you're adding functionality ala USB3 via the hardware card and the associated drivers.<br>

Does a motherboard have to support RAID in order to add a RAID card?</p>

<p>I'm really not understanding his statement. The whole point of a set of card slots ala PCIe is that you're adding functionality ala USB3 via the hardware card and the associated drivers.<br>

Does a motherboard have to support RAID in order to add a RAID card?</p>

<p>USB 3.0 must be supported by BIOS on the motherboard. <br>

Chances are USB 3.0 is not supported. As mentioned go to the HP website and check on the specs for your computer model. You can also try just googling the model number and look for any reviews. USB 3.0 cards and external readers just revert to 2.0 if attached to a computer which doesn't support 3.0.</p>

<p>USB3 is not supported well in older HP work stations and Windows 7. You can install a card, but you may have to search on line (e.g., Microsoft.com) to find a compatible driver. Even then, it may not work as well in a newer computer. Make sure the BIOS is up to date.</p>

<p>A couple considerations here. It does not matter what the USB instructions on the bios are--once you install a USB root hub card what goes into the PCI bus is no longer USB-anything--it is a data stream.</p>

<p>It is important that the card be powered--meaning that it has a Molex connector that can be plugged into one of the spare power supply pigtails. The PCI bus simply does not have the juice to run a bunch of USB devices each sucking down 5VDC.</p>

<p>Have a look here at this simple article:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/199461/the-htg-guide-to-upgrading-your-computer-to-usb-3.0/">http://www.howtogeek.com/199461/the-htg-guide-to-upgrading-your-computer-to-usb-3.0/</a></p>

 

<p>Thank you all but I am now even more confused than before.</p>

<p>Hi BeBu,</p>

<p>This is the card I used to add USB 3.0 capabilities to my PC</p>

<p>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815150222&cm_re=siig_usb_3.0-_-15-150-222-_-Product</p>

<p>Download the appropriate driver (download the driver to get the latest and greatest) from:</p>

<p>http://www.siig.com/download/search/?keyword=JU-P40212-S1<br>

Download the manual and read it over. It should answer most of your questions.</p>

<p>You probably want the Win7 or Vista driver.<br /> Plug the card into an PCIe 1x or 4x slot in your computer. Install the driver, reboot, and you are up and running.</p>

<p>This is the card I use; it has worked perfectly for me for the past 4 years. It uses the TI chip and drivers, which is good.</p>

<p>The computer came with Windows 7 when new but I have upgraded to Windows 10 now. Shouldn't I use the Windows 10 driver?</p>

<p>Two things--<strong>Siig is a VERY respectable provider of peripheral controller cards</strong>--one that is well supported and keeps drivers updated. Their rated performance reviews are excellent--as would be expected with a company of this stature. I use one of their SATA expansion controllers, as well as one of their USB 2/3 USB PCI expansion root hubs. As a former IT/IS Department director and administrator for a major US university, I recommend them highly.</p>

<p>Once you install a 3.0 card, you will still need to select a card reader to either plug into the back slots of the card--or attach to the header pins of the internal card and connect to a front panel mounted interface that gives you the ability to directly plug in a variety of memory cards and have additional front accessible USB 2/3 port jacks.</p>

<p>Others may give a lot of advice--and it is always nice to save money. <strong>But here is the reality and an old chestnut. Good and Cheap are almost always mutually exclusive.</strong> Trying to "save" money on a quality USB interface system will leave you with hardware that the weirdly named Chinese manufacturer disappears from sight--leaving you with no drivers when you update your operating system. It presents you with shoddily made stuff that the connectors that the memory cards plug into fail very soon and behave erratically. Granted, most of this stuff is made in China--but there is a wide variance in quality between major suppliers such as Siig and Dowanquai Paradise brands... :-(</p>

<p>Money saved turns into money spent for the very same thing that you already bought and took a dump on you. And Fleabay sucks. <strong>Go with a respectable company that is solid and offers return policies and warranty protections that are real</strong>--not some badly written marketing dreck that will leave you hanging. I mostly do business with Newegg.com or BHphotovideo.com for a lot of things.</p>

<p>Here are a couple links. Yes, you will end up spending anywhere from $40-100USD for the right stuff. But you will end up with a quality addition to your computer and photography that will survive the test of time, and give you excellent Return on Investment. <strong>That is what it is all about.</strong></p>

<p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Card-Readers/SubCategory/ID-69">http://www.newegg.com/Card-Readers/SubCategory/ID-69</a></p>

<p>Here is a great Siig USB 3/2 PCI card that has a header connector for a front mounted panel, and two 3.0 jacks on the back.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0ZX2C33874&cm_re=siig_usb_3_pci-_-15-150-262-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0ZX2C33874&cm_re=siig_usb_3_pci-_-15-150-262-_-Product</a></p>

<p><br /> Remember, you can do it right the first time, or you an spend again, again, and again trying to save a buck with cheap rubbish. Your choice!</p>

<p>I added a Anker 4 port PCIe card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7BP35M4560&cm_re=anker_pci_card-_-15-579-001-_-Product to my Dell XPS that shipped with Win8. It is a powered card via the computer power supply. It has worked flawlessly since installation. I either got it off ebay or amazon. I now run a clean install of Win 10.<br>

<br>

I also tried a self powered PCIe card and it was a POS so I returned it. Don't waste your time and money on that type of card.</p>

<p>Yes, you should use the Windows 10 Driver, which is part of the Windows 10 System (see the driver download page, first section). Just add the card and reboot; no need to load any extra driver.</p>

<p>The power connection is a SATA power plug. I connected the one on my card - just in case. I recommend you do, also if you have an extra SATA power lead in your case.</p>

<p>@Patrick Thrush</p>

<p>I looked at the 2 port SIIG Card you recommended. According to SIIG Specifications it has only the two external ports; there is no internal connection other than the power connection.</p>

<p>The specifications are silent on which chip is used. It may not be the TI Chip, which is the Rolls-Royce of chips. </p>

<p>IMO, usb2 is fine for connecting memory card reader. But if one is going to add external usb3 ssd drives, it makes sense to add usb3 add-on pci-e-card. Some may work even without sata-power connection with low power requirement devices, but naturally work better when supplied power.</p>

<p>@ Brooks,</p>

<p>Sorry, I copied the wrong link from newegg. The correct one to use with a front end header (and have an extra port on the back is this one:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815150222&cm_re=siig_usb_3_pci-_-15-150-222-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815150222&cm_re=siig_usb_3_pci-_-15-150-222-_-Product</a></p>

<p>It also uses the TI chip, and if you read along in the reviews links to download the TI drivers instead of relying on the native Windoze drivers can be founds...</p>

<p>Hi Patrick,</p>

<p>That is the card I have and the one I recommended in my first post (above). </p>

<p>The fourth port is not a header for front panels, but a female Type A socket. You can see it in the photos of the card; it is in the upper left rear of the card. The standardized USB 3 front panel headers came after this card was on the market.</p>

<p>It is a rock solid card. It works very well with my USB 3 flash drives and my external disk drive. </p>