pci slots and blanks; usb

[End of Road]

Hello,

My PC's mobo (845e chipset) allows for 6 pci slots (+ an agp slot). The
atx case, however, would only let me put up to 3 pci cards. What I mean
by that is that the little piece of metal at the back of the case have no
screws, they're kinda sealed. Is it safe to break the blank?

Second question: I have a usb card, that came preinstalled when I bought
the machine (4 years ago). The card has one external port and the rest
are internally connected to ports that are accessible on the case. Now,
most of those ports don't seem to work anymore. I plug a device, it's not
recognized. I plug another device and an already plugged-in one
disappears. Anyway, it's all screwed up. So I'm going to install a brand
new card with 4 usb ports (and I have a usb hub) which means I won't be
needing the case ports anymore. Do I (or, actually, the machine) going to
suffer from my unplugging all usb internal wires?



Thanks

 

[End of Road]

Yes, that's how many cases start out and probably all of yours were
blanks broken off one at a time for the 3 slots available.

ok, that's good


If you don't want to use the case ports you don't need to do anything to
them. Some people would instead want the case (front) ports connected
to the new card so in that situation they would need to unplug them from
the old card or motherboard and plug them into the new card (after
verifying the pinout is the same).

thank you

 

[Paul]

Hello,

My PC's mobo (845e chipset) allows for 6 pci slots (+ an agp slot). The
atx case, however, would only let me put up to 3 pci cards. What I mean
by that is that the little piece of metal at the back of the case have no
screws, they're kinda sealed. Is it safe to break the blank?

Second question: I have a usb card, that came preinstalled when I bought
the machine (4 years ago). The card has one external port and the rest
are internally connected to ports that are accessible on the case. Now,
most of those ports don't seem to work anymore. I plug a device, it's not
recognized. I plug another device and an already plugged-in one
disappears. Anyway, it's all screwed up. So I'm going to install a brand
new card with 4 usb ports (and I have a usb hub) which means I won't be
needing the case ports anymore. Do I (or, actually, the machine) going to
suffer from my unplugging all usb internal wires?



Thanks

If you want, another option is just to leave the existing mess
as it is, and if there is a free PCI slot, to place your new card
in there. Then, if you want a USB connection, you could plug into the
back of the computer to the new card. That saves on the nuisance
of figuring out what to do with the old wiring.

Cards are pretty cheap, at about $10 each.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166002

HTH,
Paul

 

[End of Road]

If you want, another option is just to leave the existing mess as it is,
and if there is a free PCI slot, to place your new card in there. Then,
if you want a USB connection, you could plug into the back of the
computer to the new card. That saves on the nuisance of figuring out
what to do with the old wiring.

Cards are pretty cheap, at about $10 each.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166002

HTH,
Paul

ok, so I leave the wires alone. I have a usb card and a firewire one;
gonna install both.