I'm building a PC with a Ryzen 5 5600, an ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WIFI II motherboard, an RX 9060 XT 16GB graphics card, and a Lian Li V100 case. The case documentation says an adapter may be needed for the USB front-panel headers. What happens if I connect the case to this motherboard without the required USB 3.2 Gen 2 header adapter? Can I still use the two front USB ports, and is it safe to leave the front USB-C cable disconnected?
3 Answers
Your motherboard has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 internal header, but it doesn’t have the newer USB 3.2 Gen 2 front-panel header required by the case’s front USB-C port. You can use an appropriate adapter or add a PCIe expansion card with a Gen 2 internal header, but neither is required for the computer to work.
Yes. The two front USB-A ports should work when connected to the motherboard’s USB 3.2 Gen 1 header. The front USB-C port simply won’t function unless you install the correct adapter or use a motherboard or expansion card with a compatible Gen 2 header. Leaving the unused cable disconnected is safe.
You can build the PC with this case and motherboard combination. Connect the case’s USB-A front-panel cable normally, and leave only the USB-C header cable unplugged if you don’t need that port. Since you already have rear USB-C available, there’s no urgent reason to buy an adapter.
So I can just leave that cable disconnected and skip the adapter?