Question Why didn't "mining GPU" makers make them with a shielded USB3.0 Type-A port (carrying PCI-E signals) directly to the back/top of the card?

[VirtualLarry]

That would have eliminated the need to use those clunky PCI-E riser cards, with all of their issues.

There were also mining motherboards produced, that had just those shielded Type-A ports on the mobo sticking up. Just run a Type-A to Type-A shielded USB3.0 cable between the mobo and the card, what could be easier? I think, though I am not certain, that they could have kept the PCI-E x16 slot on the bottom of the card for dual-use purposes, when the owner was done with using it for mining, then they could use it in a system. Assuming that there was a display output on it.

 

[Feld]

I assume it has to do with the cards also expecting/requiring some power delivery through the slot, and that being the main purpose for the risers. They didn't want to go through the engineering process of redesigning a GPU to only draw power from the 6/8 pin connectors. Just my guess. What you suggest would have made an elegant solution though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

They didn't want to go through the engineering process of redesigning a GPU to only draw power from the 6/8 pin connectors.

That's a great point. I had forgotten about the power draw through the slot as well.

Maybe, instead of looking at this like retro tech, maybe GPUs should become like USB3.0 external HDDs did, ubiquitous and cheap, and possibly, future GPUs would connect via a USB-like interface, with a separate PSU / power-brick (300W power brick? Hmm. Maybe, maybe not.), and sit in their own little box, like an external desktop HDD does today. As an added bonus, those "box dGPUs" would be ubiquitous for laptops, too! And people who owned both a laptop and a desktop, could spend $800 on a "box dGPU", and switch it between their PCs, depending on how they wanted to play.

Kind of like a mini-PS5, hooked up via some future USB/Thunderbolt tech, around the size of a Gigabyte Brix mini-PC.

 

[nurturedhate]

That's a great point. I had forgotten about the power draw through the slot as well.

Maybe, instead of looking at this like retro tech, maybe GPUs should become like USB3.0 external HDDs did, ubiquitous and cheap, and possibly, future GPUs would connect via a USB-like interface, with a separate PSU / power-brick (300W power brick? Hmm. Maybe, maybe not.), and sit in their own little box, like an external desktop HDD does today. As an added bonus, those "box dGPUs" would be ubiquitous for laptops, too! And people who owned both a laptop and a desktop, could spend $800 on a "box dGPU", and switch it between their PCs, depending on how they wanted to play.

Kind of like a mini-PS5, hooked up via some future USB/Thunderbolt tech, around the size of a Gigabyte Brix mini-PC.

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Been done w/ thunderbolt. There's all sorts of them.
Thought this was interesting:

(not mine)