Gaming Looking for an internal card reader for a desktop.

[Rydian]

I'm looking to a 3.5 (or 5.25) internal flash card reader for my desktop.

I've got this case...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811815005
And this motherboard...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131616
According to the motherboard specs (don't want to open the machine now)...
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Soc...#specifications
It's got two internal USB connectors/heads. I know one is currently in use for the two front USB ports on the case.

So does this mean I'm limited to getting an internal card reader with only one USB slot? I know internal USB connectors make pairs, and that card readers would only need one of the connectors for the actual card reading part (so the other USB connection it's taking would just be presented to me plainly)...

I've been told some card readers like that act as a hub as well in order to offer more USB ports, my concern is if they're powered as well (I don't really consider unpowered hubs useful), and if so, what type of connector do they need? I can grab my PSU's stats if needed later.

Are eSATA to SATA cables feasible? I'm seeing them for a few bucks on monoprice and such, and might consider a card reader with an eSATA port if all I need is a cheap adapter cable like that to plug into an internal SATA port. I wanna' make sure all the connectors my motherboard comes with are externally usable as possible, you know?

As for the actual card reader, I'm looking for one with SD, MicroSD (without the use of an adapter!), Memory Stick, and all those damn variants. SDXC over SDHC would be a minor plus, but I have a portable SDXC reader anyways and no XC cards/uses so it's not an issue.

Does anybody have more info, and can they recommend certain products? I've already browsed around newegg of course, just not sure what I'm looking at sometimes.

 

[Originality]

Your internal USB ports won't be powered. Each one will only be able to provide the standard 500mah for USB 2. If you insert an internal card reader that acts as a hub, that 500mah will be divided among the ports, making it less useful. I also believe such hubs require an internal USB port (not header), which means you'd need a pci USB card. To best use your available headers, you should probably just stick with an internal card reader with just one USB port - that's what I did.

My experiences with eSATA so far have not been favourable. Speeds aren't greatly improved and sometimes I encounter IO failures or BSODs. That could be due to the external SATA controller, but I've reached the opinion that it doesn't beat USB2 in ease of use.

I personally believe it's better not to use build in microSD ports - the contacts for such ports are known for wearing out quickly. I find it easier to just use a SD adaptor - I have around 13 of them laying all over the house.

I may have a quick look at newegg later to recommend a couple products, but for now I've just woken up and I'm on my iPad so it's more effort than I'm willing to search for ones that meet your requirements.

 

[Joe88]

this one looks good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820815001

 

[Originality]

Double-posting, but I think it kinda warrants it. EDIT: No longer double posting.

Just a very quick search turned up 3 options (there are many more clones and varieties, but this was a quick search:
Option 1, 74-in-1 with MicroSD slot and USB. $17.
Option 2, "all-in-1" without MicroSD but with USB and eSATA. $20.
Option 3, 75-in-1 with MicroSD, eSATA (requires an external 5v DC plug for non-powered eSATA devices like 2.5" drives), and 3 powered (via internal molex connector) USB ports (works as a hub off one internal 9-pin USB header). $20, and there's a code to chop off another $8.

Spoiler

EMCKAKD66

If you want to see the "search" itself, click here. I just used the sites own navigation to filter the results, although it still came up with 60 hits.

 

[trumpet-205]

To use eSATA, it is recommended to enable AHCI in BIOS to allow hot swapping.