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Your PC will need a spare PCI Express expansion slot and a spare 5.25in or 3.5in drive bay. As you want to add ports to the front of your PC you’ll need to buy a USB3 PCI Express expansion card and a USB3 hub that’ll fit a standard 5.25in or 3.5in drive bay. Shop around for an expansion card that has both external and internal ports, ensuring that the front-panel hub is compatible with the internal ports. Some cards have 20-pin ‘header’ connectors on a printed circuit board (PCB), while others have ‘normal’ USB sockets here instead. It doesn’t much matter which you buy but the front-panel hub must have the corresponding connecting cable(s), otherwise you’ll be stuck with USB3 ports only at the back of your PC.

For example, a card from Inateck (amzn.to/Inateck) has a 20-pin header connector, and a front-panel hub from Anker (http://amzn.to/Anker) has a matching 20-pin cable. Note that we’re not recommending these two particular products as we’ve not tested them, but two devices like this should work together. Fitting is simple. First, power down then open up your PC, ground yourself (by touching an earthed object, such as a radiator) and slide the USB3 expansion card with firm thumb pressure into a free PCI Express slot. Secure it to the backplate with the supplied screw.

You could at this point also fit the front-panel hub, but it makes sense to first test that the expansion card is working, so fire up the PC, install the supplied drivers and then plug in a USB3 device to make sure the ports are functioning.

Assuming all is well, once again power down and open up your PC so you can fit the front-panel hub to a drive bay. Depending on the design of your tower case, you may need to secure it with screws or slot it into place with sliders screwed to the hub. When it’s in place attach the cable to the internal port on the PCI Express card and put the PC back together. Launch Windows and you should now have working USB3 ports at both the back and front of your PC.