No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world Ziggurat @sh.itjust.works 1y ago

Why do (desktop) PC have so few USB ports ?

I just bought a new PC, based on Lenovo Legion gaming desktop. It comes with 2 USB port in the front, 4 regular USB port in the back + 1 USB-C port. That's a total of 7 USB slots.

It's been like 2 decades that every possible hardware device comes with an USB interface. Keyboard, mouse, joystick, hard-drive, memory stick, headset, webcam, spot/photo camera, and many others.

Of course it's my fault, I should have thought about USB connectors when shopping for a new PC and check before buying. but seriously, 7 USB slots is so few compared to all the device I have using USB

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126 comments

Answer: the vast majority of people don't use 7 USB devices at a time. You are an outlier and should have purchased accordingly
- Also, it's generally cheap and easy to install a PC IE board for the back of your pc, if you really need it, and you'll have another 6 or 7.
- Thank you. I was getting very confused.
  
  7 ports seems like heaps. How could anyone use that many at once.
  
  Keyboard, mouse, usb extension to have a port on my desk, wireless charger, dac, xbox wireless controller dongle and a usb microphone. That's 7 and I'd use an 8th port to charge my vr headset. So yeah, it's not that hard to use 7 ports at once.
- I mostly use 3, sometimes 4 or 5 at most.
  
  I have 4 things plugged in permanently (mouse, keyboard, audio interface, wireless headset receiver). It used to be 5 but I haven't used my wireless controller since I built this PC.
  
  I have a midi keyboard I plug into the front when I'm going to use it. And a USB cable in the drawer if I ever need to plug my phone in (which otherwise sits on a wireless charger plugged into AC)
- My bedroom media pc (old-ass enterprise tower) has 8 on the back and 5 on the front. So 13 usb ports. It doesn’t have any wireless anything, physical ports only, and there’s no room to add internal cards for it, but plenty of usb ports for dongles!
  
  I use 3 of those ports at most (I use Ethernet, since it’s my acquisition machine, or it’d be 4), and 2 are for keyboards and mice (one handheld with touchpad, the other a normal set).
  
  I’m struggling to even come up with 7 things that would all need to be plugged in together.. I guess webcam, mouse and keyboard if they can’t run off a single port, and headset maybe if you got one that bypasses the audio jacks for whatever reason.. but that’s still only 4.
  
  There's plenty of legitimate reasons to need a ton of USB ports but it's not on the PC manufacturer to appease the edge cases like OP.
  
  It's like getting confused why your house doesn't have a 20amp outlet to the dining room for your 48U server rack.
7 USB ports seems like a decent amount, to me.
Those modern high speed USB controllers are not free. They used up available PCIe lanes. The more you add the less PCIe lanes available in the motherboard.

If you have a lot of low speed USB peripherals, just buy some large USB 2.0 hubs so you can reserve the high speed ports for high speed applications such as external disks.
7 seems like a pretty good amount but if you need more, you can always add them if you have a free slot (if not, there's always hubs). Alternately, you could build your own next time you need to upgrade.
- There are USB headers on EVERY motherboard most have 2 usb 2.0 that can be expanded into 4 usb each
You can get an USB hub to expand that number as needed. With USB 3.2 ports you can connect all of the things you listed over a single port without any performance issues.

You could literally connect hundreds of devices to those ports, if needed.
- Sure, but just like the PCIe USB port option, it's quite frustrating to add another device to a new PC.
  
  You're the one with exorbitant usb needs. That means you'll be the one who expansions are made for. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I'd wager the vast vast majority of pc users don't use beyond 4.
  
  Most people will only need 3-4 usb ports…. Ever.
  
  1-2 for the KBM, another for a printer (which are increasingly WiFi enabled,) and another for a sub stick.
  
  Hubs aren’t that difficult and a single cable will look neater to your desk anyhow. Run your KbM/joysticks to the hub instead. (And you can get some 3m VHB tape, or far less permanently, the 3m command adhesive that’s double sided, to mount it somewhere like the back of the KB tray.)
  
  I guess I've been using laptops for so long, the concept of not having a USB hub seems alien to me. But they are really cheap and you just need to plug them in (so much easier than installing a PCIe card).
  
  Also some peripharals come with addition USB ports. My monitors provide 3 USB-A ports each when connected over USB-C. They are only USB 2.0 ports but that's perfect for plugging in the mouse and keyboard.
  
  What? It's easy as hell, man. Shut off pc, take off side and plug in the pcie hub, one screw, put the side on, and turn on PC again. Usually don't even need to install the driver yourself. I don't even think you listed more than like 7 things to plug in, anyhow.
You bought a prebuilt system, which in general tend to not be very expandable and cut corners in various ways because they target the average customer, and not the enthusiast.

On a similar note, my pet peeve is the limited number of pcie slots in modern motherboards (and to a lesser extent, pcie lanes), but this is also understandable given the trend away from using those ports (except for GPUs).
Because the USB standard allows the number of USB ports to be significantly expanded through the use of hubs.
- Try finding a simple 8 port USB hub with USB-C. It's a shitshow too!
  
  I'd love to find additional hubs that have more than two type C. The largest number I am aware of is 4 from a company called Satechi, but the form factor is a little weird and I wouldn't mind more options.
  
  I'd love to find a vertical USB hub with like a 4x5 array of ports
  
  USB-C is a shitshow, period. Whoever invented that garbage needs to be fired. Out of a cannon. Into the sun.
  
  Depending on just the cable I plug in (all else exactly the same, same PC, same port, same electrical plug, etc), I get fast speed (from PC) and charging (from a power outlet) on device 1 and slow speed and charging on device 2, and another cable gets me exactly the opposite. And others, slow speed and fast charging or vice versa.
  
  What the fuck.
  
  This is not the behavior of a fucking "standard". Meanwhile, microUSB just fucking worked regardless of which of the tons of cables I used, all exactly the same.
  
  USB-C needs to fucking die. Oh, but boohoo, people had to figure out which direction to plug in a microUSB cable. Cry me a fucking river, nobody cares, that's not a real problem.
- I've actually found that I cannot add too many more ports without it being a powered USB hub. Expanding 3-4 is fine, but if you're trying to add on like 10-15, it won't work unless the hub is powered.
  
  Yeah, the spec is only 1A or something, if you try to share that with 5 devices that all need 250mA it just isn't going to work.
I don't know if this is a gaming PC or high end etc, but for me 7 USB slots is a lot. I usually need 2, in most extreme situations I would need 4 I think. So maybe the PC is just designed for an average person who is not too tech savvy? I have to think really hard about what I would do with 7 slots.
- I have to think really hard about what I would do with 7 slots.
  
  This is roughly what is plugged to my PC
  
  Keyboard,
  
  Mouse
  
  Headset
  
  Joystick
  
  Rudder pedals for flight sim (OK that one is a bit specific)
  
  Audio interface (OK another one a bit specific)
  
  Webcam (which isn't even always on)
  
  USB 2 wire to load/connect some devices
  
  USB C loose wire to load/connect some device
  
  USB stick/hard drive on a case by case basis
  
  Why would you need usb headset when you have audio interface?
Buy a USB hub buddy
- Exactly. USB is designed so that you can have multiple devices attached to one port. 7 slots on the PC is plenty.
  
  And in fact, they probably already have a hub. I can't remember the last monitor that I bought that didn't have a couple USB ports on it. Put that thing to use. Webcam, USB headset/mic, keyboard and mouse can all run perfectly well off a monitor hub as can most other accessories. Save the direct ports on the mobo for things that need the bandwidth like storage devices.
I mean... That one's on you, you should have looked at the specs to make sure the PC fit your needs and could have built one yourself (especially if you're into flight sims, why waste money for sub par tech?)...

My motherboard has more ports than your whole PC plus I've got two ports at the front...
that depends on what you bought, my motherboard has 10 in the back, and my case has 5 most are usb 3

granted my case and mobo are both 250 usd individually
My x570 motherboard has like 10 usb ports lol. And then my case has 2 more on the front. I think Lenovo just sucks lol. They are the OEM for their desktop motherboards right? Like Dell?
Your mistake was buying a prefab.
- Yeah, the pattern with a lot of prebuilt PC makers is they'll build the PC to be marketable with a few buzzwords that get the most attention and then go as cheap as possible for everything else.
  
  Though even those big main ones can be gamed, like only reporting the CPU is an i7 or r7 when that covers new CPUs as well as ones from a decade ago. Or only giving RAM size because most people don't even think about the speed (and maybe aren't even aware that it's possible for a machine with 16GB of RAM to run circles around one with 128GB of RAM).
  
  Some companies even use proprietary connections to make upgrading more expensive (in that you need a new motherboard to go along with your new PSU).
It all depends on the case and mother board you buy.
My desktop has 12 USB ports with the option of installing quite a few more by using the internal headers.
You can buy pcie usb controllers to give you more ports.

Unless it's like the stupid HP Omens where the motherboard has only one slot and that's for the graphics card.
Install a PCIe USB expansion card. Will give you an extra 4-8 slots.
Nice counting. Now let's do SATA ports and fan power connections. only 3 or 4 for 20 years. What's up with that?!?
- I think that depends on the power supply?
Usb PCIe cards are a thing.
- As well as USB hubs. It’s generally true that the rear USBs are hard to reach anyhow, amd hubs on the desk are more convenient and offer better cable management than a tower case offers anyhow.
- Hubs
That's why I built my own PC, get it the way I want it.

Though even I rarely used more than 8 at a time.

mouse and keyboard

wifi antenna

printer cable

webcam (only sometimes)

the CD reader takes two, one for power and one for data, but that's only used rarely

if I'm playing games with my kids that's four controllers at most, and I don't leave those plugged in
- A WiFi antenna doesn't plug into a USB port, it screws directly into the WiFi card. Or do you mean you have a USB WiFi card, instead of an internal one?
  
  One of my PCs didn't come with wifi on the motherboard so wifi is through an USB antenna, nothing unusual with that...
  
  Could be one of those adapters with an antenna attached, so it looks like one big antenna.
  
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Well things like motherboards can only be so large. It needs to be a certain form factor to fit in a standard case. And that motherboard needs to offer all the standard physical connections as well. So basically, there’s a finite space where everything needs to fit.

Adding ports to the case is quite nice. And technically there’s no reason why OEM’s couldn’t just add a ton more ports.

But I guess the average user doesn’t really complain about it. And us powerusers simply buy hubs.

Personally, I’d need about a dozen ports to connect everything.
Sorry @Ziggurat but you might be the one behind the times; keyboard/mouse/headset - Bluetooth, External Hard drive/ memory stick - cloud/ WiFi, camera - WiFi/Bluetooth, Webcam is still USB.

The true connector crime here is that single USB-C, any new PC should have more than that.
- Bluetooth keyboard and mice add latency which isn't great for gaming. Bluetooth headsets aren't great either since audio quality drops when you use the mic on it. Plus there's latency too.
  
  In my experience the latency on Bluetooth mice and keyboards is so low that it doesn't matter. Most people who aren't playing in like the top 1% of their game should be fine.
- The true connector crime here is that single USB-C, any new PC should have more than that.
  
  Yeah... even the expensive motherboards Ive bought have like two max, it sucks
- Bluetooth is pretty much useless for peripherals and I’d never trust it.
  
  Cloud storage is slow, expensive and small. External drives are still significantly cheaper per GB than cloud storage.
- Worst part is, you can't even really find a USB c hub that's just USB c. Bunch of other shit you don't need because everything uses A or C. I just want like 5 USB c ports and I'll be happy. I updated everything I own to USB C, and I never have enough ports.
  
  5 full speed USB-C?
  
  For PC, get a usbC pcie card. Lots of choice there. Possible issues with GPU clearance/ heat though.
- I built a midrange PC last year. Non of the motherboards in my budget had USB-C.
  
  When I built my mid-range PC about 4 years ago, my specifically made sure it had connections for USB C.
I got 5 type As and a type C. I'm kind of happy tbh. I need the type c for my yubikey so it comes it clutch.
I had to buy an expansion slot to give my PC more USB ports lol

But it's my own fault

I have my keyboard, my mouse, my mouse pad wich is powered for a USB slot on it that I use to dock my wireless controlled, an external CD tray, aired headphones, a little USB powered desktop fan, USB flashdrive, and a USB cable I keep plugged in to easily plug in another device if I need like my phone
Build your own PC bro. Its dead simple. And you can choose a mobo with lots of usb ports. You fucked up buying a prebuilt
Get a dongle or docking station. A laptop is supposed to be movable, so it makes very little sense to unplug and plug 7 cables every time you move it.

Also, if you're running Windows it will also make for a cleaner setup if the things are in a dongle and you always use the same port for the dongle. This is an issue for people using several midi controllers.
- They mention it's a desktop PC, not a laptop
if you connect a few USB hubs and like 20 devices at the same time, you will find out why
Bluetooth ftw

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