My Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 motherboard has six "normal" USB ports and one USB Type-C port on the back IO panel. I currently have the following connected:

• Mouse
• Keyboard
• Center touchscreen USB
• Targus USB which controls left touchscreen and also video
• Charger cable (used for charging the mouse, headset, powerbank, cellphone... and also used to transfer images from cellphone/camera to PC)
• USB Hub

The USB hub is a powered, 7-port hub where my simming stuff is connected:

• TM WH stick
• TM WH throttle
• Saitek rudder pedals
• TrackIR camera
• External HDD
• External HDD

My PC case also has two USB ports on the front of the case which I use when I need to transfer files onto a USB flashdrive and more recently, one port is used for my wireless headset. I never thought I'd be running out of USB ports but I'm now considering adding a PCI-E USB expansion card for an extra 2-3 USB ports. I definitely need at least one port for my HTC Vive; I don't want it plugged in on the front USB port. I'm not sure what I can transfer from my motherboard IO to my USB hub to make space.... maybe my center touchscreen USB cable?

I wonder if anyone has any experience with USB expansion cards? Most of the PCI-E stuff I see seems to need a Molex or SATA power cable... do they need to be powered that way or is this optional? My motherboard can support two more USB 3.0 ports via the internal USB headers (two are used by the case), but I can't find a expansion cart that uses this... plus I wonder if it's better to use the PCI-E ones instead?

I had good luck with this one to connect my Oculus Rift as my motherboard USB3 ports were not compatible with the Rift:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FPIMICA/

I powered it with a single SATA power cable.

Thanks kludger! So it DOES require a separate power connection...

Are you using all the motherboard headers? Presumably the front USB sockets are connected to one, but according to this image there are three others (2x USB 3 on the right, 2x USB 2 at the bottom) and each will support a pair of sockets.



You can use those with a bracket at the back or in a drive bay. Google a bit more thoroughly and you'll find ones that have four sockets.

I've got the same board.....as Brun says, that's an additional 8 x ports from those headers;

For USB 3.0, either connect to your front panel (if supported on your case) or get something like 2 of of these

For the USB 2.0, get something like this

I've also got a 5-port PCI USB 3.0 card (molex or 20-pin connector for power) that hooks up the oculus/sensor and provide 3 x spare ports on extension cables to my desktop.

You know what's a good look for a motherboard? A candy cane. Said someone at Gigabyte, apparently.



The Jedi Master

Yep, that's my board!! One of the USB headers (I didn't know that was the term for it) is used by my case's front USB 3.0, but most of what I could find online were PCI-E expansion cards. Obviously, I was looking at the wrong places!!



Thanks for the links! I think a couple of USB 3.0 ports and I'm sorted!



I did get it during 2015 Christmas season, so....
Not an issue though as my massive Noctua cooler hides most of it and my Corsair Carbide 500R case doesn't exactly do much for showing off the insides of the case.