CPU USB Type-C gen 2 mITX Motherboards

[lost_in_spice]

Hello
My aim is to build on A4-SFX v4.1 using AM4, but I cannot find many mobos that support USB 3.2 gen2 Type-C, so I could use front panel USB C.
Only one I found is Asrock B550i Phantom. Other B550i's only gen1 and Gigabyte null.
1. Is Type-C gen2 plug backwards compatible with gen1 header? Will it work if I connect it but with slower 5 Gbps speed or it won't work at all?
2. Will adapters compromise speeds or voltage?
3. Will adapters fit in this case?
4. On dan's website they recommend to buy low end mobos and save some money for GPU. I would like that, but which boards I could use that can still let me utilise full functionality of the front panel USB Type-C gen2?
Thanks

 

[SFFMunkee]

Man oh man do I hate the USB terminology clusterf---
For the sake of my brain, let's use:

• HEADER types:
• USB2.0 (9-pin) - up to 480Mbps
• USB3.0 (19-pin) - up to 5Gbps
• Type-E header - up to 20Gbps (but usually only 5-10Gbps)

Your front-panel connector also needs to be compatible, so you could have an adapter but it will operate at whatever the lowest common supported speed is.
That is, you could connect a Type-E to 9-pin adapter and use a USB2.0 front panel, but you obviously won't get greater than 480Mbps even if the motherboard supports it. Or vice-versa, you can connect a USB Type-C 3.2Gen2x2 (see what I mean about terminology, UGH) front panel to a 19-pin header using an adapter, but it will be limited to USB3.0 (3.1? 3.2gen1?) 5Gbps speed.

From my experience, don't expect >5Gbps on an AM4 ITX board, I'm not sure any support 10Gbps front panel connectors, so don't even worry about if it has a Type-E or 19-pin header. Get whatever you can get for a reasonable price and has the features you actually need.

 

[lost_in_spice]

First of all I would like to apologise for posting under CPU. But I cannot find a way to edit this post in order to correct mistake.
Big thanks for your reply. I do agree it's a proper mess with all the naming standards. This reminds me when we talked about USB in IT classes in 2006 - that USB is biggest innovation and we haven't had breakthrough as big in computing so far. It seems that this trend continues just the names are getting more crazy.

Let me summarise:

1. Dan A4-SFX v4.1 has: "USB 3.2 gen2 Type-C front port with internal Key-A" aka USB-C 10Gbps aka gen2x1 connector and it will work with Type-E header
2. Dan A4_SFX v4 has: "USB 3.2 gen1 Type-C front port" aka USB-C 5Gbps aka gen1 connector and it will work with Type-E header
3. Speed of a Type-E header depends on motherboard chipset and varies between 5-20Gbps.
4. If I connect USB 3.2 gen2 Type-C front port with internal Key-A to a USB 3.2 gen1 5Gbps Type-E header it will still work but with speed limited to 5Gbps
5. USB-C gen1 and gen2 ports have the same shape but they are somehow different?
6. Using USB 3.0 (19pin) to Type-E (20pin) header adapter will allow speed of 5Gbps but lower Power Delivery.

I think I have grown a new synapsis or two trying to wrap my head around this...

 

[SFFMunkee]

Yeah it’s especially stupid because they changed the name of some things AFTER they had already been released and marketed.

As far as I’m concerned it should be

USB1 (1.5-12Mbps)
Connector: Type A
Signalling: 1 half-duplex pair
Power: 5V ~200mA)

USB2 (480Mbps)
Connector: Type A
Signalling: 1 half-duplex pair
Power: 5V ~500mW

USB3 (5Gbps)
(aka usb superspeed, usb 3.1, usb 3.2 gen1x1)
Connector: Type A
Signalling: 2 full-duplex and 1 half-duplex pairs
Power: 5V ~900mW

USB DUMB 3.1,3.2,etc STANDARD NAMES

USB4

 

[SFFMunkee]

Type A header (not to be confused with Type A external connector) is the 19-pin one I think

Type E header is the 20-‘pin’ newer-style one

You can get 5Gbps or 10Gbps from the 19-pin header I think, depends on the motherboard support.

You can get adapters for Type A to Type E, but almost every board should still have a Type A header.