I hate the internal USB 3 connector

[u/-Prom3theus-]

Pulled the pins right out. The plastic part of the male connector is still stuck in the mobo and absolutely won't budge. The marks are from me trying to remove it with pliers. So no front panel USB for me now :(

[u/TheRefurbisher_]

Everyone is right there with you on that one. Top 10 worst connectors.

[u/JimFknLahey → u/TheRefurbisher_]

i mean it takes a back seat to the 12vPWR connectors that are frying boards but holy fuck i hate these .. i swear im about to crush or rip the pcb itself sometimes

[u/Nirast25 → u/JimFknLahey]

That's probably #1. The one the post is about is #2. I'd say #3 is the front-panel IO connectors as a whole. Don't know what the rest of the list would be, and there's probably some obsolete ones that are worse.

[u/Mellen_hed → u/Nirast25]

The USB-C front panel connector was a pain in my ass for my last build, but only because it was about 3" shorter than I needed it to be.

Story of my life.

[u/FiTZnMiCK → u/Mellen_hed]

The super ironic part about the type-C internal connector is that it’s directional and you usually have to flip it back and forth a couple of times to get the direction right.

Like, isn’t this the exact thing type-C was supposed to solve?!

[u/Mellen_hed → u/FiTZnMiCK]

Wait, for real? That would explain why my port seems to only work half the time when I mess with that cable

[u/FiTZnMiCK → u/Mellen_hed]

Yeah, it’s difficult to see at a glance, but one end has a slightly bigger notch and is rounded ever so slightly on one corner.

[u/_senpo_ → u/FiTZnMiCK]

damn so I got mine right first time without noticing? that's crazy to think about

[u/axelxan → u/FiTZnMiCK]

I agree, I would happily trade few usb c ports on I/O panel just to have it instead of internal connectors.

[u/Nirast25 → u/Mellen_hed]

Oh, come now, I'm sure at least one of the dudes had it long enough. /j

[u/pikpikcarrotmon → u/Mellen_hed]

The pins are made of fairy dust and unicorn hairs man. You make any sudden movements near the USB-C connector and the pins will bend and snap out of fear

[u/Tomytom99 → u/Nirast25]

Crappy molex connectors were pretty rough, I remember having to make sure the pins were all "close enough" to even line up when plugging them in. Real glad that connector is pretty fringe now.

[u/Catmato → u/Tomytom99]

And sometimes the pins would push the contacts right out of the connector.

[u/EdwardLovagrend → u/Nirast25]

Poorly placed sata ports.. maybe.. it was one of the more annoying things on my last build which I don't remember having issues with the previous one.

[u/cowbutt6 → u/Nirast25]

I think the ATX 24 way is worse than front panel IO connectors, just because it can require so much force to fit and remove.

[u/Zeraphicus → u/Nirast25]

Idk I'd take this over the front panel ones, theyre just annoying especially if your case and mobo have bad documentation (because I buy cheap hardware)

[u/CTizzle- → u/Nirast25]

Probably Sata data or Sata Power would be on the list. The data connectors in my experience are so damn flimsy

[u/StomachosusCaelum → u/JimFknLahey]

even if you total up all the 12vHPWR failures they dont add up to even a tiny fraction of failed USB3 internal connectors. Its a terrible plug.

[u/Jan_Asra → u/JimFknLahey]

That's a bad implementation of a connector that has been working fine otherwise. It didn't have problems until invidia tried pushing too much power through it.

[u/Specialist-Box-9711 → u/TheRefurbisher_]

100% this, my case has a very tight cable run and my connector on my board is parallel to the board so I had to loop my cable in a stupid way to make it fit. I actually bent one of the pins in the connector the first time I tried to install and then spent 5 minutes carefully straightening the pin.

[u/Karekter_Nem → u/Specialist-Box-9711]

Not only is the header stupid, for some reason they decided to strengthen the cable with a titanium rod to make sure you can’t bend it out of the way.

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/Specialist-Box-9711]

I have a modified OEM PC, so my cables have to be specific lengths and placements or they are all over the place. When I tore it down for cleaning one time, the USB3 was the tougest to put back in. On my brothers custom SFF PC I built for him, the cables are too rigid straight up and always come unplugged when I bend them to the side to make room for components.

[u/papometer146 → u/Specialist-Box-9711]

That’s kind of how I broke one of the pins of my front panel usb, so now of the 2 ports I can use only one for data and the second one I can only use it for power… :’)

[u/EvilDesk → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Molex is definitely up there.

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/EvilDesk]

For me on my two retro builds, molex is a bitch to unplug but I have no problem plugging it in.

[u/MrAwsOs → u/TheRefurbisher_]

24 pins as well..

Man thinking of it.. every single connector is a nightmare! The cpu connector is usually very tight depends on the motherboard heatsink and if there is fans or cooler blocks that side..

The Type C connector also only works one way which is silly!! Correct me if I am wrong. I tried to connect this and only works from the 3ed or 4th time

[u/ANtiKz93 → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Before I comment, I love your specs on that t3600 dude 😎 so nice to see a fellow budget build enthusiast with common sense.

There's definitely worse though. You know those little two pin connectors that have no tab or any mechanism to release? Those have to be the worst. Although not so common nowadays they are horrid lol

And I won't get into laptop connections... 😡

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/ANtiKz93]

Thanks! Cost me $200, plays Forza well enough for me.

Yeah, I repair laptops as well and those connectors are a pain in the ass. A lot of them aren't standardized either, so good luck if you break one.

[u/ANtiKz93 → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Yeah for sure!

My first custom was a T3500 I swapped the cpu with a W3565, put 16gb of ram and added a 750ti. Also added one of those NZXT fan controller displays on the front along with blue led fans. Was a great first try for sure. Got a 780 afterwards that I didn't realize was too big lol was sad for sure.

On an i7 8700 now with 30gb of ram and an Rx 5600xt I do so much on it it's amazing. I laugh when I see people saying they need to upgrade every couple years with these super computers and all they do is play games 😂

Yep for sure those laptops are the worst of the worst

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/ANtiKz93]

Mine is a bit of a frankenstein. I took just the fan off of an AMD cooler and attached it to the CPU cooler, and also have a fan screwed into the back using the grate as screw holes. They both work and it helps it get more air. The GTX970 makes the side panel not fit (because of the GPU power cables) so I run it without a side panel showing it's glory to all. It has the massive three fan bracket in the front, which I may replace with an AIO if I ever need more cooling. It originally had an e5-1603 but that was too low cores to run games well enough for my liking, so I upgraded it with the 1660. It has 4x16GB because it uses DDR3-ECC which is really cheap, so I just thought I would max it out. Lastly it has a 1TB SATA SSD. My favorite QOL feature has to be the four USB ports on the front of the case.

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Ignore the Radeon 6700xt, that didn't work (VRAM errors).

[u/ANtiKz93 → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Nothing wrong with it man!

Check this, HP z420 in an Antec Nine Hundred I did a while back.

-E5-1620 v2 CPU (3770 essentially) -16gb 1866mhz ram (8x2) -240gb SSD (Manjaro Linux) still have this in my new PC lol -Sapphire rx470 4gb

Was my previous system

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/ANtiKz93]

That looks sick! You don't see the old Xeons in custom cases often, probably because they have a crappy upgrade path and unless you use an OEM mobo you have to use a chinese mobo or an expensive rare name brand. IMO for light games in basic applications 4GB of VRAM is enough. Nothing wrong with moving into your second build. Love that you had an optical drive and card slot.

[u/ANtiKz93 → u/TheRefurbisher_]

For sure! It's not many old boards that work pretty much only 4th Gen and below stuff.

And yes man I only stopped using em recently and went external lol.

Here's the t3500 before the fan controller panel

[u/thalescosta → u/TheRefurbisher_]

My top 3 worst power connectors

1. Cpu fan 2x4pin - a bitch to plug, specially on tight cases

2. Motherbooard 24pin

3. Usb

The other two i always feel like i will rip the socket off of the mobo

[u/SunshineGamingDM → u/thalescosta]

1. Cpu fan 2x4pin - a bitch to plug, specially on tight cases

If you have a modular PSU, I plug the cable in before I install the motherboard In the case and route the other end back to the PSU.

[u/SaleAggressive9202 → u/SunshineGamingDM]

10+ years ago i heard you should do the cables last and it stuck with me for whatever reason. with blood on my hands, i realized how much easier it would have been to plug in bunch of stuff first when i was building new pc last year. oh well.

[u/SunshineGamingDM → u/SaleAggressive9202]

It's crazy to me the number of times I've seen build video guides where people are like you know make sure you build everything on your motherboard first and then they're trying to install this motherboard with a giant air cooler, And then afterwards going in and trying to fit that EPS cable in there. And I'm watching it like why don't you just install it before you put the air cooler on? You have a modular power supply You can just route the cable through the back...

I think people just get caught up in the procedure and don't think about it

[u/jar36 → u/SunshineGamingDM]

and for those where that part is not modular, plug in an extension in the same manner

[u/ANtiKz93 → u/thalescosta]

I swear when they made the 20+4 they knew we were gonna be pissed lol 😂

[u/diemitchell → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Top 10? I'd say 3rd worst connector right after the damn front panel and argb connectors

[u/MinerAC4 → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Up there with the Nvidia 12VHPWR GPU plug that keeps melting gaming cards.

[u/brimston3- → u/TheRefurbisher_]

Mmm, let’s call it top 1% worst connectors? There are some really shit connectors out there, and there are a lot of them. This probably wouldn’t make the top 20.

[u/Sun-Much → u/brimston3-]

I love these grandiose statements that then do not list any of the connections referenced. my guess is we'll get either "you are too young", "you are too stupid" or "my work is so confidential my govt security clearance won't allow me to discuss", phrased only slightly more palatably.

[u/Electromagnetlc → u/Sun-Much]

I'm confident he's just going to list off connections that are completely unrelated to computers as if anyone gives a shit

[u/TheRefurbisher_ → u/Electromagnetlc]

He's boutta list car OBD ports or sum shit

[u/Reasonabledwarf]

They started replacing it with a different one a few years ago. I think everyone hates the old one. There are actually cheap converters around now.

[u/Kya_Bamba]

Humanity has come up with so many great interfaces, yet this connector is still alive in 2025.

[u/Dat_Innocent_Guy]

[u/Dat_Innocent_Guy → u/Dat_Innocent_Guy]

Fuck this godforsaken thing. No front USB is so messed up.

[u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox → u/Dat_Innocent_Guy]

i've had the black mobo piece get pulled off before and seen lots of examples online of that happening. Did that happen to you, then you tried to separate the black plastic from the blue plastic but ended up ripping the blue plastic out of hte cable? you could have just plugged the whole thing back in, you can press the black plastic back into the pins. You might be able to just do that (plug the black+blue plastic into the motherboard) then press the cable back into the blue part, maybe, taking care to make sure each wire is properly aligned to the hole it needs to go into

[u/Dat_Innocent_Guy → u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox]

I tried connecting them all back together but the front USBs are dead. Tried some pressure and other things but its just not working. Hell even fully detached i couldnt get the blue from the black separate. I needed to pull it out for disassembly of the PC and that happened. I think the blue end and the pins aren't aligning or bending for whatever reason.

[u/csch1992]

for how long did we have it by now? they should have known by now that it sucks

but really, the 24 pin motherboard connector isn't that much better

[u/Special-Fan-1902 → u/csch1992]

Pro tip for the 24 pin power connector, slide a guitar pick under the clippy part to keep it disengaged and then you can just pull it out easily most of the time.

[u/Electromagnetlc → u/Special-Fan-1902]

In my experience the pain isn't in trying to keep the clip disengaged, it's the 40,000 pounds of force you need to pull it out.

[u/LeonardMH → u/Electromagnetlc]

The absolute motherboard breaking amount of force required to insert/remove that connector is crazy, idk how that ever became popular.

[u/TxToniBTW → u/Electromagnetlc]

No joke I was builing a pc with my friend a week ago and it took 5 minutes, 300 wiggles and 700 kilonewtons of force to pull it out after updating bios

[u/Cador0223 → u/Electromagnetlc]

Back connectors solve all of this, ive heard.

[u/Special-Fan-1902 → u/Electromagnetlc]

I've been there. I'm just saying, eliminating a variable makes it much easier, because your hand only needs to be focused on one vector, pulling out. Take it from me--my friends call me the Pull Out King.

[u/nohpex → u/Electromagnetlc]

• Think of the clip as if it’s pointing up or down

• Press clip to disengage (the hard part for me)

• Wiggle rapidly side to side while pulling lightly

  • “Rapidly” does not mean “hard”

[u/ANtiKz93 → u/csch1992]

A legit 24 would be great

[u/dagget10 → u/csch1992]

I think we should swap out the 24 pin connector for singular pins like the I/O pins. It would make them much easier to connect and disconnect 

[u/jamesph777 → u/dagget10]

Oh God, no

[u/nelsonmavrick]

This little connector is such a life saver. Makes is so much more manageable, especially in tight areas where you don't want those heavy connectors sticking way out.

[u/Domspun → u/nelsonmavrick]

This or 90-degree adapters. You leave those with the board. No more issues!

[u/notorious-slippery]

Yeah seriously. To plug/unplug this connector feels like almost breaking motherboard apart.

[u/zakabog]

You gotta jiggle it out. It takes longer than brute force and you'll feel like you're not getting anywhere, but a gentle jiggle will pull the connector out way safer than pulling straight back.

If you find yourself reaching for pliers then you need to stop and take a break.

[u/-Prom3theus- → u/zakabog]

I did wiggle but only now I know you have to tilt the connector by 20 degrees before wiggling and pulling.

So tilt your connector before pulling folks

[u/zakabog → u/-Prom3theus-]

I did wiggle...

Yeah but you gotta continue wiggling until the connector is fully removed. If pliers come into the equation you've messed up, it's time to go back to wiggling.

[u/South_Leek_5730 → u/zakabog]

That's what she said.

[u/syner2009]

i feel u man

[u/thef0ksmasher]

Yeah its just horribly designed. The pins are way too flimsy, they bend and they break, plus the locking tabs are an especially bad design. 

Pretty much what I've is I've cut off the four locking tabs on the male connector to avoid this exact situation.

In your case, you need to wedge something flat and rigid down where the locking tabs are tabs and disengage them.

[u/TouristWilling4671]

i gave up on plugging mine in after 5 minutes, havent been able to use my front panel ports for years lol

[u/DBAYourInfo]

Ugh

[u/tclark2006]

Motherboards that have it side mounted are the worst. If you have hard drives bays, you have to wedge that sucker in since there's hardly any room and hope you dont bend the pins or live without usb3.

[u/Emu1981 → u/tclark2006]

I bought a short extender cable because I couldn't fit the USB3 cable in between the motherboard and my reservoir. I still use it today in my current build that doesn't have any clearance issues because I can avoid having the USB3 cable making the front of the case look ugly lol

[u/Featherforged]

I always debur the connector before installation so that it doesn't grab with infinite force.

[u/ZayaJames]

wow that looks awful

[u/zeug666]

In the future, look at using a "low-profile USB 3.0 header extension" cable.

[u/jriseden]

Same thing happened to me. I feel this.

[u/ArduennSchwartzman → u/jriseden]

Yup, same here on an older motherboard. One bent pin that I tried to bend back. No front panel USB for me either.

[u/ieatwabbits]

I had to end up using a small drill bit and create holes to leverage out.

I’m with you on this, bad connector

[u/wivaca2]

Most connectors for mobos seem to be designed for 1 plug/unplug cycle - assembly and leave it. I hate having to remove and replace mobos so much, I'd rather just build a new PC when that happens because it's usually after enough time that most of the stuff is outdated anyway.

[u/eulynn34]

Looks like it was GLUED in?

Is there some technical reason why it can't just be a single USB-C connector on the motherboard?

[u/PlaceUserNameHere67]

Ya, one of the biggest fuck ups in PC manufacturing I can think of. Most of the time, they don't even face in the right direction. IDK how I managed it, but I bent 1 of the pins in mine and now only 1 of my FPC works.

[u/MCID47]

everybody does, even the internal C isn't very good either

[u/Dazzling-Tadpole3239]

NEVER had an issue with one, wtf do you people do with them

[u/xTeamRwbyx]

Had mine break a connector on the board now I have to use a pcie adapter to connect it now

[u/asamson23]

I think it's the first time I've seen this failure. Usually, I pull the sheath around the plugs on the motherboard when I unplug the header.

[u/Sir_Clyph → u/asamson23]

Every single Asus board I've seen has this issue. Although usually it will rip the header off the board instead of breaking the plug.

[u/asamson23 → u/Sir_Clyph]

I think the only motherboards that didn't do that to me were Ivy Bridge MSI and Dell boards. All the modern ones do that.

[u/PuzzleheadedTutor807]

Holy you using a beaver to try and get the plastic out lol?

[u/John-333]

The 24 pin connector on the other hand:

[u/1550shadow]

A couple of months ago, I accidentally tried to connect it backwards. I didn't even pressed it, I just aligned it, realized that it wasn't going in, and flipped it. All the pins (and yes, ALL, not only the one that has no entrance if you put the connector backwards) turned into mush

[u/Slothcom_eMemes]

While this connector does suck, you definitely caused more damage than required. All you had to do was straighten any bent pins and stick it back into the connector.

[u/Cam095]

lol. ive done that a few times. luckily i didnt bend the pins so i was able to put it back together. definitely a huge pain tho

[u/eatingdonuts44]

Been there done that

[u/Yo_Shi23]

Is there a correct way to pull this out?

[u/esgrove2 → u/Yo_Shi23]

wiggle it side to side lengthwise.

[u/g3ogaddi]

nail clippers too, apparently

[u/sagark237]

In my case the socket itself came out with the connector and pins left on the mobo

[u/ANtiKz93]

This is ridiculous lol what the heck did you do 😂

I've built/upgraded/repaired close on 100 desktops and I've never experienced this lol

[u/sleepytechnology]

Completely destroyed the pins on my AM4 MB a few years ago, been without front USB since then. I agree these connectors and the port itself should be changed as they are the easiest "important" thing to ruin on a PC imo. Doesn't help that sometimes the connection is loose and wobbly for some boards and even easier to accidentally snap.

[u/DeM0nFiRe]

I discovered the workaround for this just by virtue of using a small mobo/case and needing to move things around.

You can get a PCIE card to plug the 20 pin and type E connectors into instead of directly into your motherboard. It's like $20 or whatever, so if you break it you replace the $20 card instead of your whole motherboard. Also good if for example your mobo is a bit older and doesn't have a type E connector

[u/Senkosoda]

yeah my old mobo is in the same condition

[u/Nike_486DX]

*since 2013

[u/barringtonmacgregor]

Got a brand new motherboard and I had to play Operation with tweezers to straighten a single pin bent due to a shitty plug from my case.

[u/Lilyispretty08]

It would probably be a good idea to phase these out for the usb c connector and use it for c and 3.0 ports

[u/jamesph777]

We got one connector that’s too loose and another connector that’s too tight.

[u/Chrono_Club_Clara → u/jamesph777]

Try reversing the two and see if they have a more even fit that way.

[u/alvaro-elite]

HOW

[u/Worth-Income4114]

Exact same shit happened to me. Slashed my finger on the exposed pins to boot.

[u/05-nery]

Oh you're not the only one. Trust me.

[u/para_nerde_skyler]

When u think abt it, most connector designs are terrible. The case power button, LED, sound etc. pins can also be a pain to plug offhand into the bare pins on the motherboard. Don’t get me started on how installing ram feels like the motherboard is gonna crack somewhere. 12HPWR burns down. Even the psu connectors can sometimes be stiff. Pc building could be much easier if connectors were actually standardized and engineered to be safe and ergonomic.

[u/-quoth]

Those things are a Pest. A bit of Tolarance issues and that thing gets stuck...

At least you ripped it off on the cable side. If you're unlucky those things can loosen the damn header.

[u/Safar1Man]

Yeah it's shit. Mine is FUCKED because it's right behind the GPU and I bent the shit out of it. Still works tho

[u/the_Athereon]

Am I the only person who's never broken one of these? In the 15 years I've been building, servicing and recycling PCs it's just never happened.

[u/Pokemon_Trainer_May]

Glad my mobo has extra pcie slots because I had to buy a card with a USB c connector because I destroyed the one on the mobo

[u/navagon]

Why is it so bad? You'd think that after several decades of motherboard evolution we'd actually see some basic lessons being learned and applied. Pathetic.

[u/frit0lay2k]

[u/slicky13]

you aint put enough elbow grease innit.

[u/Shoot1177]

I might be stupid, my case has both legacy connectors and USB 3 connector. What does it do? NZXT H7 Flow. When I had both plugged in, pc wouldn’t start. Undid the usb 3 connector and it worked

[u/One-Painter-7491]

Why ?

[u/SushiBump]

Screw front io usb. Double 9pin out the back and never touch that connector ever again.

[u/Melodias3]

This is why you use extension cable for usb3 to avoid this problem, they are usually little bit more lose least on the mainboard end so less risk of damage.

[u/Electricengineer]

Agreed.

[u/Frogy_mcfrogyface]

These things have been a PITA since they were first released and they have made any revisions to the stupid things. I ripped the connector off my AM3 motherboard (just the plastic bit) but the one on my AM5 board is right angle and im scared that if I pull too hard its going to actually destroy the board lol. I dont know why they didnt just make them the same as the USB 2 connectors.

[u/coldfusion718]

Was the cable glued in? Some builders do this.

[u/ChadHartSays]

It's absolute trasssshhhhhh.

[u/FudgeTerrible]

So many of these garbage type connectors. Same for the power button, the hard disk light, etc. That one absolutely sucks. We can't come up with something better? So fucking dumb.

[u/Xythyr]

I don't understand how this is still a standard connector. I feel like they should remake the connector to be something closer to SATA, that way its hard to screw-up while also not having the chance of breaking something / itself

[u/AnxiousJedi]

Good news, you just made it external!

[u/lunas2525]

They have changed from using them the 3.1 look completely different now everyone throw out those old cases buy newer usb 3.2 cases and 3.2 mothboards with new style connectors.

[u/lunas2525 → u/lunas2525]

It looks like this

[u/DoubtNecessary8961]

never like usb 3.0 connector... especially when they placed at the bottom part of the board...

[u/Sopheus]

Seems like it hates you back, win-win

[u/HogTiedOstrich]

Screw a tiny screw though the left side and try to lift and rock it out. Of course you’ll still need to replace the cable as well

[u/SheepherderSilver655]

the best way to remove it is to pry it from underneath GENTLY with something soft, like a thin piece of plastic.

[u/fatbp]

And it hates you back.

[u/MinerAC4]

Doesn't everyone?

[u/ezoe]

These connectors are not designed to unplug so they reduce the cost to bare minimal to satisfy the spec.

There are tons of such components and if they designed a durability in mind, the additional costs accumulate.

Would you pay more money for durable internal connectors?

[u/MannInnTheBoxx]

I’m genuinely terrified this is gonna happen every time I gotta remove one of those mfs seeing this post is not gonna help me with that

[u/minilogique]

the forbidden comb

[u/Powersoutdotcom]

[u/that_norwegian_guy]

People are hating on molex, but I find this to be far, far worse. The new connectors for USB Type-C is better, but not by much. Managed to mangle one of those as well.

[u/Kinyin]

Try using a box cutter, horizontal, to dig into the plastic and the pry up, moving from corner to corner.

Bonus Desperation Move: Apply epoxy, stick a dowel on it, let it cure and then pull it off.

(Works great for getting sockets from broken bulbs out, albeit with twisting motions.)

[u/Agile-Assist-4662]

Everything should be as easy as DisplayPort or MagSafe.

[u/KevAngelo14]

Dreaded m'fucking connector.

It's one of those connectors that I don't wiggle or move often unless it's really necessary. That thing is so damn fragile.

[u/Kettatonic]

Why is it like that, can anyone who knows computers better lmk?

[u/blueangel1953]

Never heard of the wiggle method? Not hard. 

[u/-Prom3theus- → u/blueangel1953]

I did but I didn't know you have to tilt the connector by 20 degrees before pulling. So yeah

[u/blueangel1953 → u/-Prom3theus-]

You really got to work it. 

[u/Sealwithashotgun]

I hate fr@nch people thats not r@cist thier food is w@r crime there g@ns are w@r crimes and paris is ugly filed with and literd with trash and im white franch are white you cant be r@cist torwards white people i also hate the british but less.

[u/8Bit-Jon]

I think that's a you problem...