i'm considering building my own machine. the motherboard i'm planning on using has an onboard usb 3.0 header, but the case only has usb 2.0 ports on the front. would the ports still work as 2.0 or would they not be recognized at all?

USB 2 ports should work. Can you link me to the motherboard?

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130653

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156223

Yes you will be fine. The mobo has a front panel header so you are good to go.

Note: You would not get the same usb 2 speeds if you use the front usb ports as ports physically built on the mobo tend to be faster.

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but the 2.0 ports on the case will still be recognized even though the header on the mobo is 3.0?

Originally Posted by LaraCroftsLeftBoob but the 2.0 ports on the case will still be recognized even though the header on the mobo is 3.0?

It should since (as far as I know) all headers are the same. (compatibility wise)

You should buy that motherboard and a CPU from http://www.microcenter.com

if you get a combo price, the motherboard will only cost $55 with an additional $10 rebate if it comes through. The CPU's are cheaper at Microcenter as well.

I don't like MSI motherboards though, they have a history of making BIOS revisions that end up killing the motherboards.

Also they are all now made in China, not Taiwan, so they are using cheaper parts. I went to Microcenter and opened MSI vs Asus, vs Gigabyte. I saw better components used on Gigabyte. Also when Asus switched farms from Taiwan to China, everything has seemed to go to pot for them on quality. I saw a lot of yellow sticker sold as is motherboards from Asus in the clearance area at Microcenter. Saw on Gigabyte because it was soo old.

it's going to be a computer for work, so i have to get the parts from where we have an account.

we've now replaced all the computers here except for my boss's and mine. i think we're gonna wait til next year to do ours. we only have about $1200 left in the new computer budget this year. if we wait til next year we'll have about $5000 for our two machines. i can go a bit crazy then.

Originally Posted by LaraCroftsLeftBoob but the 2.0 ports on the case will still be recognized even though the header on the mobo is 3.0?

The board also has 2.0 headers at the bottom which you will need to use. 2.0 headers are totally different than 3.0 headers. Shape and pin configs are totally different.