Quickly finding the fastest USB port may seem complicated, what with the sheer number of USB ports modern motherboards and cases are packing, but it’s actually fairly simple. Just follow the advice below, and you’ll locate the fastest USB port on your PC in a jiff.
The fastest USB port on your PC is likely on its back
The first thing to remember is that the fastest USB port on your desktop PC is likely on its back. USB ports on your case are usually slower than those on your motherboard’s rear I/O panel.
Front USB headers on your motherboard are usually limited to USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gb/s), but newer motherboards can support USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds (10Gb/s), even USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20Gb/s). That said, if your motherboard includes a 10Gb/s or 20Gb/s front USB header, it also packs at least a couple USB ports of the same speed on its rear I/O panel.
To use the maximum speed your motherboard’s front USB header supports, your case also has to support the same bandwidth. You can check the specs of both by reading your motherboard and case manuals or visiting their webpages and comparing them, but if you want to find the fastest USB port as quickly as possible, this method is anything but efficient. So instead of reading through manuals, just take a look at your motherboard’s rear I/O port.
Stop plugging these peripherals into the wrong USB ports
Computers have a lot of USB ports on them, but they aren’t all the same. Different accessories perform the best when plugged into different ports.
It’s usually a USB-C port
USB-A ports top out at 10Gb/s (USB 3.2 Gen 2). If your motherboard doesn’t include any USB-C ports, the fastest USB port on your PC is USB-A. But if you’ve got even a single USB-C port, it’s likely the fastest port on offer.
Luckily, you don’t have to consult manuals and online specs pages to find out just how fast each rear I/O USB port is. They’re usually clearly labeled, so all you’ve got to do is check the rear I/O panel yourself, or find a photo of it online if you don’t want to move your PC around. To find a photo of the rear I/O online, just Google the model of your motherboard and check out the image results.
Now let me show you how those labels look on different motherboards. Some vendors, like MSI, only include bandwidth and extra functionality labels (such as DisplayPort out) if the board has USB4 ports. As you can see below, the higher the number, the better. 5G ports have 5Gb/s bandwidth, 10G ports run at 10Gb/s, and the two 40G USB-C ports are of USB4 variety, topping out at 40Gb/s. You also have some USB 2.0 ports there, but they aren’t of interest since USB 2.0 tops out at 480Mb/s.
Next, we have an ASRock motherboard, which includes “SuperSpeed USB” labels and USB4 labels, but the gist’s the same. The SS5 ports top out at 5Gb/s, the SS10 have a max bandwidth of 10Gb/s, and the two USB 4 ports can achieve speeds up to 40Gb/s.
Lastly, take a look at a motherboard made for Intel CPUs that sports a couple of Thunderbolt ports. They are labeled with a lighting icon and top out at 40Gb/s. As you can see, the remaining ports are also clearly labeled, with the numbers indicating their maximum bandwidth in Gb/s.
Laptop owners should also look for USB-C ports
If you own a laptop, things are much simpler. If the device has a single USB-C port, it’s the fastest port on the machine. If you’ve got multiple USB-C ports, one of them is the fastest, but all should be fairly speedy.
In some cases, such as with newer MacBooks, USB-C ports are your only option. Thunderbolt and USB4 USB-C ports should be clearly labeled, so look for USB-C ports with a lightning icon or a USB4 label.
If your laptop only has USB-A ports, USB 3.2 ports should be clearly labeled—5G and 10G or SS5 and SS10. If they aren’t, you’ll can consult the laptop’s manual or look for its specs online.
Don’t Buy a Laptop if It Doesn’t Have Two USB-C Ports
One USB-C port isn’t enough (and it never was).
If you need a USB-A port, look for red ports on the rear I/O panel
If you specifically need a USB-A port, your best bet is to look for red USB-A ports on your motherboard’s rear I/O panel, since most motherboard vendors use red to label USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (10Gb/s). Some brands, such as ASRock, use blue for both 5Gb/s and 10Gb/s ports. If you aren’t seeing any red USB-A ports, just check the USB labels, and you should find the fastest port in no time.
So to summarize: the fastest USB port on your PC is likely USB-C. If your motherboard or laptop doesn’t have USB-C ports, check the speed labels on your USB-A ports. On desktop motherboards, 5Gb/s USB-A ports are usually blue, while 10Gb/s USB-A ports are red.
USB-C Didn’t Fix Anything After All
Can you USB-C the problem?
