Question NVME x4/x2 adapter

Slartibartfast

Junior Member
Jan 25, 2004
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I've been searching a while for a PCIe x4 card to two M.2 NVME x2 drives. And I haven't found a single one. Most adapters are one PCIe and one SATA. The rest are x16 cards. I find it odd since I've seen x2 drives.
I know a PLX adapter is a better solution, but it's also quite expensive.
Either my google-fu is failing, or they simply don't exist. Anyone seen one?
 
Last edited:

Billy Tallis

Senior member
Aug 4, 2015
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CPU support for bifurcation of PCIe links is generally limited to splitting down to x4 links at the smallest, not x2. The only x4 slots on a motherboard that you can expect to be capable of functioning as x2+x2 would be ones coming from the chipset rather than the CPU, and even then I don't think there's BIOS support for this yet based on testing with the Optane H10. So the market for passive x4 to x2+x2 risers is pretty small, and x4 slots themselves are fairly uncommon compared to x8. Drives using just an x2 link may become more common once Intel has transitioned to PCIe 4 on their consumer platforms so cards like what you're looking for may eventually become available. But before then, I think your best hope is to find an affordable x8 to x4+x4 riser using a cheaper switch like ASM2812 or 88NR2241 (not that I'm aware of any such products being available yet).
 

Slartibartfast

Junior Member
Jan 25, 2004
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0
66
I don't have a x8 slot. I did find a couple of x8 adapters. But I'm limited to four lanes from the chipset in the last x16 slot on my Gigabyte X570 Gaming X.
I guess I will stalk eBay for a PLX adapter.
 

Slartibartfast

Junior Member
Jan 25, 2004
4
0
66
The Syba SI-PEX40129:


and SI-PEX40152:


both support x4 according the chips datasheets. However the card manufacturer has not replied on my inquiries regarding x4.