Motherboard USB 3.1 motherboard header

[jeshikat]

I read through and article is interesting, but maybe i missed the "kick" part >.<

The header has a metal exterior that is soldered to the motherboard, which should prevent users from accidentally ripping it off the board, unless you go all Hulk on it like a certain forum member.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

No I only go Hulk on cell phones. Oh and also a Yoga Tab (windows) that I bought a couple years ago, and my Xiaomi MiPad a few times (which is built like a Nokia but slow as crap).

 

[ricochet]

https://benchlife.info/msi-z270-motherboard-leak-before-announce-12212016/

Here's a good look at the USB 3.1 motherboard header from a MSI Z270 board.

Great article; very informative and well written. Cheers.

 

[Qrash]

Here is the cable I want from Lian Li. It has the new USB 3.1 internal connector on one end and a Type-C port on the other with easy mounting holes (no mention of the spacing between the center of the holes). The cable is 450 mm in length.

http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pw-ic01nh45/

 

[jeshikat]

Nice, I may buy one just to mess with.

 

[ricochet]

Here is the cable I want from Lian Li. It has the new USB 3.1 internal connector on one end and a Type-C port on the other with easy mounting holes (no mention of the spacing between the center of the holes). The cable is 450 mm in length.

http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pw-ic01nh45/

Thanks for sharing!

 

[iFreilicht]

Nice, I may buy one just to mess with.

Yeah me too. Would fit perfectly in the Brevis S, I believe. That's the exact reason why I wanted to make the Front I/O mounting a 3D-printed piece

And after seeing the new pictures of the Strix Z270I it seems like the angled connector won't be a problem either. I wonder when that internal connector will get added to the public version of the USB3.1 documentation. Maybe there are keepout zones that actually require an angled connector like this to work?

 

[jeshikat]

While writing the Lian Li Computex 2017 coverage I realized that these cables look to be releasing soon: https://www.caseking.de/lian-li-pw-ic01nh45-usb-3.1-typ-c-i-o-port-fuer-pc-o11-geli-770.html

 

[munky]

Hi, I signed up just to share my experience about this cable. Hope it'd be somewhat helpful.

So back story is that: back in February this year, I got NZXT Manta case + Asus Z270i motherboard + NZXT Kraken CPU cooler. As you might have known that Asus Z270i doesn't have internal USB 2.0 header, so I didn't have anywhere to plug the Kraken into on the motherboard inside of the case. What I did was that I routed the cable outside through the back of the case and plugged it to the external USB port in the back.

Well, I wasn't satisfied by the look in the back that it had the cable poking out of the case and plugged back into the back, so I started to find other ways to solve this. And the internal USB 3.1 header on the motherboard was just sitting there, so I started to find an adaptor for that port so that my Kraken USB cable could plug into, inside of the case.

I found out about this Lian-Li cable from this forum! So I emailed them asking to buy this cable. Lian-Li was kind and listened to my problem. There were a few emails back and forth between me and them before they finally sent me a $29 PayPal request ($20 for the cable, $9 for shipping fee). Times went by and they successfully shipped the cable to me within a week, directly from China or Taiwan (sorry I can't remember).

Then I bought another cable (Monoprice Palette Series 2.0 USB-C to USB Mini http://a.co/1qu19sZ) to convert USB-C to mini-USB 2.0 so that my Kraken could use that internal USB 3.1 header on the motherboard.

Here's how it's all connected: [internal USB 3.1] <--USB 3.1--- USB-C--> <--USB-C --- mini-USB 2.0--> [Kraken's mini-USB 2.0]. All of this is just to satisfy my OCD of not seeing a cable poking out of the case!

I hope this is helpful, and here's some pictures:


This is how it was before: the old cable was routed out to the back, from the inside of the case, through the hole of Manta's back panel light.

Here I got the Lian-Li PW-IC01NH45 cable ( http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pw-ic01nh45/ ) • Left = Internal USB 3.1 male • Right = USB-C female:

Then I got Monoprice Palette Series 2.0 USB-C to USB Mini ( http://a.co/1qu19sZ ) ** I picked this one because it's very short, and the cable is nylon sleeved**

both cables:

Empty internal USB 3.1 header on Asus Z270i motherboard:

Lian-Li PW-IC01NH45 cable is now plugged into the motherboard on the Internal USB 3.1 header:

Lastly, the Monoprice's Mini-USB header is plugged into the Kraken.

BOOM, everything works fine –– and no cable hanging out in the back!

 

[jeshikat]

What a strange coincidence! I was just discussing this possibility with someone on reddit with a similar problem a few days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/6gv122/mobo_header_question_31_20/

 

[munky]

What a strange coincidence! I was just discussing this possibility with someone on reddit with a similar problem a few days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/6gv122/mobo_header_question_31_20/

I discussed this issue before too here http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...-mobo-usb2-headers-make-work-aio-coolers.html and here https://pcpartpicker.com/b/GGfH99

 

[heatx]

Signed up to let you know there is now a solution. USB 3.1 Gen 2 > USB 3.0 header adapter cable so you can keep everything inside the case.

I used the native USB 3.0 header on the board to connect my Corsair h100i V2 (using a USB 3.0 > USB 2.0 header adapter) and used the aforementioned cable to connect my front panel I/O...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077PNJNGJ/?tag=theminutiae-20

 

[EdZ]

Was doing some unrelated spec-sheet diving and found something interesting: There is a "Key B" version of this header designed to break out into two USB Type A ports rather than a single Type C port, acting as a direct replacement for the existing dual-Type A USB 3 pin header. There is also a double-wide 40 pin variant that can breakout as two Type C ports, a Type C + Type A, or two Type A ports (sadly there is no Key B version, so no 4x Type A ports from a single header).

 

[BirdofPrey]

Having to differently keyed connectors does seem like a missed opportunity, though.
I can't see the B keyed connectors taking over the role of the older USB 3 headers due to market inertia and potential consumer confusion, so I think they missed the opportunity to either make the connectors 22 pins to double the USB 2.0 channels or have a cable detect function to swap the SBU pins with additional D+ and D- pins and let them use a single connector for both use cases.

On a side note, though, since these headers DO have all the same connections as the actual USB C connectors, I am wondering how long it might be before we see someone try to use these as front panel Display Port or Thunderbolt connectors through USB C Alt Mode.

 

[EdZ]

The headers are required to comply with the same signalling spec as the regular Type C connectors, so there's no reason one couldn't be used for Thunderbolt or any of the other Type C Alternate Modes other than 'losing' an output you cold otherwise route to a rear port.

 

[tdingle]

I converted the Lian Li USB 3.1 Type-C front panel with the USB3.1_e1 to a standard 3.5" drive bay type front panel. Search on YouTube and Imgur for Usb3.1_e1.