why is dual NVMe adapter so expensive?

iirc I picked up my Asus Hyper 3.0 quad card for 50ish. 4.0 is available now tho.
 
Those dual NVMe add-in cards that have a PCIe switch are expensive. Your linked one contains an ASMedia ASM2812.

The simple ones which do not have the switch are cheap. But they require host support for PCIe bifurcation.
 
Those dual NVMe add-in cards that have a PCIe switch are expensive. Your linked one contains an ASMedia ASM2812.

The simple ones which do not have the switch are cheap. But they require host support for PCIe bifurcation.
Make careful note, though, that the ASM2812 is only (PCI g3) x4 (max) upstream. It matters not that the card is "x8".

"The sh*t they pull, huh??" [Johnny Utah/"Point Break"]
 
Woah, that asus card looks like a steam even the chinese knock of x4 cards on Amazon are 20+ for singlt slot. Thanks will be getting on for server.
 
For that HYper m.2 x 16 card, for those who owns it, a few questions:

1) is that fan noisy? is it a fluid bearing fan?

2) can you install your own heatsink on each NVMe and remove the metal cover permanently?

3) do you have to run that card in RAID? can you run it as 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 independent drive?

4) does any major brand name drive works?

5) if I don't need RAID, then can any motherboards works on this? as the PCIe 3 card seems to be out for many years, so I assume any motherboard should see this

6) how do I know if my motherboard has bifurcation setting? does most motherboard have it?

==============================================================

chithanh [​

Those dual NVMe add-in cards that have a PCIe switch are expensive. Your linked one contains an ASMedia ASM2812.

where are you seeing this? where is this switch?
 
3) do you have to run that card in RAID? can you run it as 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 independent drive?

The card is very basic. All it's really doing is mapping the electrical lines from the PCIe slot to the individual SSDs. It's providing no RAID functionality of its own. Any NVMe SSDs connected to it will show as themselves to the system.


4) does any major brand name drive works?

Any NVMe SSD that physically fits should work. SATA SSDs are not compatible.


5) if I don't need RAID, then can any motherboards works on this? as the PCIe 3 card seems to be out for many years, so I assume any motherboard should see this

6) how do I know if my motherboard has bifurcation setting? does most motherboard have it?

As this is a basic adapter with no PCIe switch present, it will not work with any mainboard that does not support bifurcation. Unfortunately, this is most systems. To get bifurcation support you need a high-end desktop (HEDT)/workstation (e.g., Intel Core-X, AMD Threadripper) or higher-end server.


where are you seeing this? where is this switch?

A PCIe switch is a chip (sitting under the big heatsink on the card) that can adapt a slot intended for only a single device to allow multiple devices to connect to it. In broad, basic terms, it's similar to how an ethernet switch can expand a single ethernet port to multiple devices. It allows a mainstream desktop or other system that doesn't support bifurcation to support SSDs in a slot that otherwise would only support one. Unfortunately, compatibility (with either SSDs and/or mainboards) is sometimes an issue.
 
then the whole thing is no good. I just downsize from a workstation motherboard to a ROG gamer motherboard. So I suppose no bifurcation there

As to that RII Top card, are you saying if I were to put 2 NVMe there, there will be compatibility issue. Can you elaborate and give an e.g. of these compatibility issue?
 
What motherboard are you using? We can verify if it supports bifurcation or not.

If the board does not support bifurcation, then the Asus Hyper card is basically useless. You could buy it and install one drive, but the other three slots would not communicate with the host. It would just be a PCIe to M2 physical adapter for one SSD.
 
I can't find B250 on that link. The x299 motherboard and its CPU is very expensive

In the old days, when we have motherboard that c/w 6 SATA port, we can have up to 6 SATA drive. We don't need extra hardware

Since SATA SSD is quite phase out and a lot of manufacturer moves to NVMe, we obviously can't have 6 x NVMe

So what's the solution for people who needs a lot of storage?

Also, say you have all 6 SATA port used up, (5 SSD + 1 BD-rom), can you have a few more NVME SSD?
 
What about Adaptec? Long time ago, I saw one w/ a lot of SATA cables connects to the card, JBOD SATA card. I thought Adaptec is the king in this?
 
I never tried an Adaptec card, but I've used LSI cards and they work great. I had one in my plex server for years without a single hiccup.
 
where are you seeing this?
The ASM2812 is mentioned right there in the Newegg product description.
It allows a mainstream desktop or other system that doesn't support bifurcation to support SSDs in a slot that otherwise would only support one.
Also it allows to arbitrate PCIe bandwidth between SSDs, rather than a fixed PCIe lane split.
Unfortunately, compatibility (with either SSDs and/or mainboards) is sometimes an issue.
In addition, if your use case includes virtualization, they may have limitations regarding PCIe atomics and IOMMU groups.
 
anyone knows the speed difference of any NVMe adapter card vs. the speed of the M.2 slot on your PC?

Also, is it true that there are motherboard that c/w "sandwiched" type M.2 slot? i.e., 2 x m.2 slot , one on top of each other . If so, what's the proper name of m.2 slot like that?
 
I never tried an Adaptec card, but I've used LSI cards and they work great. I had one in my plex server for years without a single hiccup.
Adaptec is now Microchip (via MicroSemi) - good RAID cards, fewer HBAs (depends on what you need). LSI is now Broadcom - great HBAs, some raid cards. Used both, use both, will use both in the future.

You can do SAS/HBAs in a consumer level system, but not many of them - and you sacrifice something to do it. This is why I buy HEDT systems more - as storage needs increase, and as I move systems to servers later on, the PCIE lanes and storage options are far more "useful" than a consumer setup.

anyone knows the speed difference of any NVMe adapter card vs. the speed of the M.2 slot on your PC?

Also, is it true that there are motherboard that c/w "sandwiched" type M.2 slot? i.e., 2 x m.2 slot , one on top of each other . If so, what's the proper name of m.2 slot like that?
None, assuming that you have enough lanes.

I've seen the latter - it's just two M.2 slots next to each other. No special name.
 
I've seen the latter - it's just two M.2 slots next to each other. No special name.
I'm trying to find a photo of what that looks like, but I don't know what to key in at the google search engine. Because I want to find out how 1 screw can mount 2 x NVMe chip

and obviously, you can't heat sink the bottom NVMe if you sandwich 1 over the other
 
Those dual NVMe add-in cards that have a PCIe switch are expensive. Your linked one contains an ASMedia ASM2812.

The simple ones which do not have the switch are cheap. But they require host support for PCIe bifurcation.
Not to side track this thread too much, but on the newer boards that have 4 PCIe lanes from the CPU for NVMe - I'm only finding boards that support the M.2 slot. I have a PCIe based NVMe SSD and would want that running on the CPU lanes if possible. Are all these boards locked just to the M.2 slot for the extra 4x? I don't have a particular board in mind, just when I was looking at both 500 series boards from AMD and Intel that's what I was seeing.
 
w/ older motherboard, we have 6 SATA port. So since we are phrasing out SATA, and newer drive only comes in chip format, we should have 6 x NVMe port. But the newer motherboard only have 2. And I would need to buy 1 to 2 low profile PCIe 4X card to support 1 to 2 NVMe extra drive.

But noone can tell me the amt. of speed decreses vs. the speed of a m.2 slot.
 
w/ older motherboard, we have 6 SATA port. So since we are phrasing out SATA, and newer drive only comes in chip format, we should have 6 x NVMe port. But the newer motherboard only have 2. And I would need to buy 1 to 2 low profile PCIe 4X card to support 1 to 2 NVMe extra drive.

But noone can tell me the amt. of speed decreses vs. the speed of a m.2 slot.
Sata maxes at 6Gb/s. NVME is around 8GB/s. Capitals matter. That’s why you have Mandy sata ports, but fewer nvme ports. Also, SATA isn’t going anywhere. Still has a lot of uses.
 
Not to side track this thread too much, but on the newer boards that have 4 PCIe lanes from the CPU for NVMe - I'm only finding boards that support the M.2 slot. I have a PCIe based NVMe SSD and would want that running on the CPU lanes if possible. Are all these boards locked just to the M.2 slot for the extra 4x? I don't have a particular board in mind, just when I was looking at both 500 series boards from AMD and Intel that's what I was seeing.
Depends on the slot, and in reality, it doesn’t matter a whit. NAND speed is still the limiter u less you’re using Optane or similar.
 
Depends on the slot, and in reality, it doesn’t matter a whit. NAND speed is still the limiter u less you’re using Optane or similar.
True - but they do make PCIe based Optane drives. You would think they would allow that to be attached to the CPU lanes.
 
True - but they do make PCIe based Optane drives. You would think they would allow that to be attached to the CPU lanes.
You can, but still barely matters. Really it doesn’t. Top two slots go to the CPU. Only the last slot goes through PCH
 
Back
Top