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ASRock Rack announces PCI-Express 4.0 conversion card RB4M2_G4
Cheaper than cheap and intended for servers, this actually might be a simple way to add four NVMe M.2 SSDs into your PCIe 4.0 system without much hassle.
The new card allows you to connect NVMe M.2 SSDs to PCI-Express 4.0 (x16) slots. Equipped with two M.2 slots on the front and back of the board, four NVMe M.2 SSDs with PCI-Express4.0 (x4) connection can be installed. If you use it on a server or workstation that uses the EPYC 7002 series, you will be able to build an ultra-high-speed storage environment. If course with a closed chassis anything compatible would do the job fine as well.
The supported form factor of M.2 SSD is M.2 2242/2260/2280/22110, and the board size is 144.78mm in length and 73.65mm in width.
ASRock Radeon RX 6800 XT Taichi Photos - 11/13/2020 09:18 AM
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tunejunky
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#5872030 Posted on: 12/28/2020 04:58 PM
the only thing new about this is pcie 4.0
nvme M.2 pcie adapter cards have been around as long as M.2 and before that they were sata/ssd
the only thing new about this is pcie 4.0
nvme M.2 pcie adapter cards have been around as long as M.2 and before that they were sata/ssd
EspHack
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#5872070 Posted on: 12/28/2020 06:23 PM
now that cheap nvme is at price parity with sata and hard drives are hardly worth the savings, I realized I might never buy anything but nvme drives going forward, only problem is most boards can barely fit 2 whereas sata is usually 4-6
this adapter thing might become quite common for gaming rigs, so instead of having a main drive at full speeds + secondary at half that + maaaaybe a third at x1 pcie, last 2 could share the second x4 port at least
now that cheap nvme is at price parity with sata and hard drives are hardly worth the savings, I realized I might never buy anything but nvme drives going forward, only problem is most boards can barely fit 2 whereas sata is usually 4-6
this adapter thing might become quite common for gaming rigs, so instead of having a main drive at full speeds + secondary at half that + maaaaybe a third at x1 pcie, last 2 could share the second x4 port at least
illrigger
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#5872078 Posted on: 12/28/2020 06:37 PM
ASUS has been selling versions of these for PCs for years, this would probably work fine provided the BIOS has the option for the older ones; ASRock and Gigabyte have versions as well. These are actually pretty simple beasts electrically, they just re-route the actual lines from the slot to the m.2 sockets. The issue is that you need a real x16 slot to use one, and unless you have an HEDT system the only one you have is likely filled with a graphics card. ASUS actually had a BIOS option that would let you slot one in an x8 slot back when they first started selling them, but of course you could only use two of the 4 m.2 sockets as a result; not sure if they still have that option though.
What really needs to happen is someone make a PCIe 4.0 x8 card that allows you to use 4 PCIe 3.0 SSDs, but nothing has materialized yet.
If it's cheap and built for servers, there's a very good chance this won't work in a desktop PC. Server PCIe multiplexers depend on a motherboard that actually support them. These kinds of cards have been around for years, and if they were actually any use to desktop PCs, they'd be selling like hotcakes due to miners.
ASUS has been selling versions of these for PCs for years, this would probably work fine provided the BIOS has the option for the older ones; ASRock and Gigabyte have versions as well. These are actually pretty simple beasts electrically, they just re-route the actual lines from the slot to the m.2 sockets. The issue is that you need a real x16 slot to use one, and unless you have an HEDT system the only one you have is likely filled with a graphics card. ASUS actually had a BIOS option that would let you slot one in an x8 slot back when they first started selling them, but of course you could only use two of the 4 m.2 sockets as a result; not sure if they still have that option though.
What really needs to happen is someone make a PCIe 4.0 x8 card that allows you to use 4 PCIe 3.0 SSDs, but nothing has materialized yet.
tsunami231
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#5872390 Posted on: 12/29/2020 07:27 PM
now that cheap nvme is at price parity with sata and hard drives are hardly worth the savings, I realized I might never buy anything but nvme drives going forward, only problem is most boards can barely fit 2 whereas sata is usually 4-6
this adapter thing might become quite common for gaming rigs, so instead of having a main drive at full speeds + secondary at half that + maaaaybe a third at x1 pcie, last 2 could share the second x4 port at least
Still not cheap enough Sata SSD and NVME SSD are about the same price NVME being slightly more expensive prices on BOTH still need to drop alot more
now that cheap nvme is at price parity with sata and hard drives are hardly worth the savings, I realized I might never buy anything but nvme drives going forward, only problem is most boards can barely fit 2 whereas sata is usually 4-6
this adapter thing might become quite common for gaming rigs, so instead of having a main drive at full speeds + secondary at half that + maaaaybe a third at x1 pcie, last 2 could share the second x4 port at least
Still not cheap enough Sata SSD and NVME SSD are about the same price NVME being slightly more expensive prices on BOTH still need to drop alot more
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If it's cheap and built for servers, there's a very good chance this won't work in a desktop PC. Server PCIe multiplexers depend on a motherboard that actually support them. These kinds of cards have been around for years, and if they were actually any use to desktop PCs, they'd be selling like hotcakes due to miners.