extra usb ports required

[Friar]

planning ahead...not quite sure how far ahead at the moment.....but in preperation of me getting trackir, i will need some extra usb ports. I am planning to go the pci board route.

1. does cheap = poor ie http://kryton.clickandbuild.com/cnb/sho ... egoryID=23

2. is there any thing i need to look out for?

3. can anyone see why a dell would not like to receive such a board?

any help / pointers welcome

S!

[Cold_Gambler]

That one looks fine to me-

1- I don't understand why some 4 USB port dongles go for up to 40$ (18 pounds), I've seen them as low as 7$ at some clearance bins.

2- I think the main thing to watch for is that they are USB 2.0 compatible, which this one is (1.0 versions have slower data transfer speeds).

3- So long as you have a spare PCI slot left there should be no problem (you might want to open your case to make sure)- it should be very easy to install... not even any drivers.

[Friar]

Many thanks for the reply. I thought that would be the case.

I will double check my case tonihgt when I get home and then get it ordered. Step 1 to trackir........

(OT. I am watching a trackir 3 with vector expansion and hat on e-bay at the moment, currently £40 + £3 delivery. Not sure if to go for it or not, that or wait untill i get £100 together for v4 brand new from edimensions.)

[guitarman68]

I have the trackir 3 pro with vector and it works a dream for what i need.If you got the cash to spend then go for the 4.

[delta7]

this is fine colin - cant see any problems with it - far better to go pci than have a hub

I bought a cheep one from a local pc shop , and just plug it in and away you go

[Waldo.Pepper]

The only thing I might worry about is the size of your computers power supply. If it is huge - i.e. lots of extra capacity you should be fine.

[Blairgowrie]

I just got a similar PCI USB card and installed it yesterday. It seemed to install fine with Windows driver and when I checked the device manager it was ok. But it created havoc with my computer and screwed up all my other USB outlets. Tried it in a different PCI slot but no better.

I took it out but had to reload some driver for MSFFB2 and CH Throttle.

Anyone ever had similar problems?

[Friar]

no mine seems ok, although i am getting the game return to desktop sometimes. alt-tab show the process still running and i have been able to get it back up a couple of times. i am thinking of upgrading the power supply (note to self-contact quazi) also i only have 768mb of memory. 512+256 i also think that i made need to put a matched pair of 512 in.

[Blairgowrie]

If you are thinking of a ram upgrade, you would be a lot better off going to 2 gig (2 x 1 sticks). Il2 runs fine on 1 but I believe you will need 2 to run BOB. Might as well bite the bullet now and save yourself money in the long run.

[Friar]

i think the max that my dell supports is 1gb dimension 4500

[sged]

You're saying that BoB needs 2 gig RAM BG??...oww....so, what would be better, buy 2 new sticks of 1 gig (if that exists) or buy 2 additional 512's..got 2 more slots free

[Blairgowrie]

Much better to go with 2 x 1 than 4 x 512 if you have a dual channel board. Next upgrade I am going to replace all my ram and move the existing 2 x 512 to my back up computer.