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I have the Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-03 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case and the ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard. This case for the front USB has a connector that (sorry I do not know the exact name) looks similar to a SATA connector.

Where on this board would that connector go?

enter image description here

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The only front ports/connectors on this case are audio and USB 3.0. What you are looking at is most likely the USB 3.0 motherboard connector. Here is what the USB 3.0 motherboard connection should look like:

enter image description here

Unfortunately this motherboard does not have this connection so the ports will be useless with your current config.

You have a few options:

1) Get a new motherboard that has a USB 3.0 connection.

2) Get a new case that uses USB 2.0 front panel connectors.. you have 3 hookups on your motherboard.

3) Get an addon card that has the connector. This particular one will give you both the extra USB 3.0 in the back of you PC, plus you have the front-panel connector to get your front USB 3.0 active.

4) As suggested by a commenter below, you could also get an adapter that converts a USB 3.0 connector to a USB 2.0 connection. You will of course only get USB 2.0 speeds using this method.

Since the price is reasonable, plus you get a few extra USB 3.0 connections in the back of your tower I would go for #3.

If you choose #3 and choose the card I suggested you have a few options where you'd like to place it. Since it is a PCI-ex 1.0 card you can insert it into either a PCI-ex 1x slot or the PCI-ex 16x slot (16x is the "longer" slots and are usually reserved for video cards but will function @ 1x if the card is inserted since there will be no contact/use by the extra slot pins). If it were me I would go for a 1x slot as there may be less compatibility/BIOS config. See the image below for your available PCI-ex slots:

enter image description here

Good luck!

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  • Thank you for that information. I was thinking the mobo did not have that connector. It was VERY helpful you provided 3 options, and I am def going with the 3rd. Thanks again!
    – user2676140
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:47
  • @kisk There is also a 19-pin internal USB3.0 header to USB2.0 adapter cable that is readily available, such as this one: newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812162025 (there are many others out there too) that would allow the front panel connectors to be used as USB 2.0 ports
    – acejavelin
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:48
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    @acejavelin yes this is another option but for 5 bucks more I figured suggesting the card. Good pointing this out though as another option.
    – kisk
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:55
  • @kisk - what port would that connect to on the mobo?
    – user2676140
    Jun 12, 2016 at 1:02
  • @user2676140 I have edited my answer with more information. Thanks!
    – kisk
    Jun 12, 2016 at 1:56

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