Asus motherboard USB choices

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Orion2000

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I've built a system based on a Gigabyte GA-Z87X-DH3 which is nice except that when I touch a USB port with a USB connector, my system crashes, resets the USB, or does some other strange thing.

(Details here: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2038783/static-electricty-usb-ports.html if you're curious.)

Since changing the PSU didn't help, my next shot in the dark is the motherboard and I'm thinking of Asus since they haven't let me down yet.

However, ASUS boards priced around my current board don't have quite as many USB ports - I have my choice of 6 USB 3.0 or 4 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0. I'm inclined to go with the former but I wonder if "pre-boot" environments like Windows system image recovery, Acronis True Image boot CD etc. will find USB keyboards and mice on USB 3.0 ports? They won't be running at USB 3.0 speeds, of course, but I'm wondering if the USB 3.0 controller will even be recognized at all by these sometimes limited environments. Perhaps they are backward compatible at the driver level? Anyone know?
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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I'm almost positive your crashing issue is ESD (Electo-Static Discharge). In other words, static electricity. I have had that happen myself during the cold winter months here. The house gets quite dry and I have carpeting in my computer room. I found that by touching the USB device (and myself) to a grounded part of the case, eliminated that. I also found that going to flash drives w/all plastic cases helped.
 
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Orion2000

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Thanks clutchc.

I agree that the original problem is ESD. I'm hoping though that I can change SOMETHING to get around it. I live in Oregon where it's raining and the humidity inside is 47% - really only a little dry. If I gently touch my case after walking across the room, I can feel a very slight / barely noticeable shock. I'm building systems for myself and my relatives - most of them are in the midwest where you touch your computer in the winter and it feels like it's going to fry your finger. So, if these computers are this unstable here, I fear how they will behave there. I have gotten nasty shocks from some of their computers and nothing odd happened. Those computers are around 6-10 years old which is why I'm switching them out.

It just seems like this degree of static sensitivity can't be normal/average. At least I hope it's not!

However, if everyone agrees that computers rebooting etc. from barely detectable shocks is common, then please let me know and it will save me some time and money trying to swap out components trying to make it go away!
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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It may seem like a little shock to you, but the average static electric shock is measured in the THOUSANDS of volts. It takes about about 20,000 volts to produce a spark that will jump 1/4". The reason static shocks rarely harm us, is because they are extremely low current... milliamp range. What happens, is the arc jumps to the grounded case and the electromagnetic field around the arc (close to the terminals of the USB port) causes the sensitive circuitry in the PC to shut down.
 
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Orion2000

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My comment about a tiny shock was meant to be relative. My current 2009ish PC has no problems with shocks of this magnitude and the family PCs I'm replacing in the midwest routinely experience shocks that are truly painful without the crashes and resets that I am currently experiencing, so my hope is to find a modern platform that is roughly as robust as the older stuff.

I lived in the midwest in the 70s and I could walk over get a painful shock from my Altair 8800. But all I had to do was press the Run switch and it would resume with no other issues. I realize of course that voltages are down, densities are up etc. but in the last couple of decades I haven't run into anything nearly as sensitive as this latest build, so I guess I'm just going to swap some more components and hope it gets better.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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I guess what I was referring to was the close proximity to the USB port. I can create a shutdown at will in the winter just by shuffling my feet on the carpet too much and inserting a USB stick in either of my desktops. Getting a ESD shock off the case in general isn't going to hurt the system.
But good luck with your troubleshooting.
 
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Orion2000

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I did find a post earlier where someone said that a case (an Antec if I recall correctly) used to have this problem with its front USB ports but they fixed it (somehow) in a later rev. I didn't pay too much attention since I don't have an Antec and because it happens for me on both front and rear (motherboard) connections but perhaps I should look at it again.
 
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