Which USB Ports Should I Use

Issue/Question

My computer has USB 2.0 (white ports) and USB 3.0 (blue ports). Which one should I use?

Resolution

USB 3.0 (blue ports) have higher data transfer rates than the older, USB 2.0, ports. USB 3.0 ports are great for storage devices such as flash drives, external hard drives, or video input devices that are USB 3.0 capable and require faster speeds.

Devices such as keyboards and mice, generally do not transmit enough data to justify using the higher speed; in order to conserve available USB 3.0 ports it is recommended to plug devices that don't support USB 3.0 into the older USB 2.0 ports. USB 3.0 is backward compatible with the older version, so there is no harm in plugging an older device into the faster port but there will not be any increase in performance.

Details

Article ID: 2703
Created
Mon 5/8/17 11:01 AM
Modified
Fri 2/19/21 3:13 PM