M.2 higher Gen storage

[skkler]

So my work was throwing out a lot of Intel 660p SSDs, so and since they were wiped and no special data was stored on them they said i could have them if I wanted. my question is they are PCIE gen 3 x4, i want to find a way to integrate them into my home storage system, but it got me thinking. Gen 4 x2 is the same speed and so is Gen 5 x1, is there anything that exist that would allow me to put like 4 or 8 of these into a Gen 4 x16 / Gen 5 x16 adapter card if that's even a thing?

 

 

 

EDIT: i was thinking something like this

Amazon.com: PCIE NVME Adapter Card, 4 Port M.2 SSD NVME (M Key) to PCIE x 4 Controller Converter Expansion Card(ph44) : Electronics

but takes gen 3 and makes it gen 4?

 

 

EDIT #2:  instead of a switching chip or something like that, is it possible to do manual switching? so basically, buy GEN4  2 slot Bifurcation card so youd have gen4 x8/x8 then plug 2 nmve expansions card into it with each card having 4 gen3 drives on it??

[Sant_HH]

It does exist but will require a switch chip which makes it quite more expensive.

Here's one example https://www.highpoint-tech.com/product-page/ssd7540

[Tridefender]

Basically put 4 drives on x16 and all of them will be happy. If you don't use a switch chip then it will run at the lowest speed between the drive and your CPU.

 

Like, CPU supports 5.0 but you limited it to 1.1 in bios, then you use a pcie3.0 adapter card to link 4 4.0 nvme. In the end you will get 1.1 speeds

[skkler]

8 minutes ago, Tridefender said:

Basically put 4 drives on x16 and all of them will be happy. If you don't use a switch chip then it will run at the lowest speed between the drive and your CPU.

 

Like, CPU supports 5.0 but you limited it to 1.1 in bios, then you use a pcie3.0 adapter card to link 4 4.0 nvme. In the end you will get 1.1 speeds

so that part i get, but is there anyway to plug 8 gen 3 x4 drives into a gen 4 x16 slot? there bandwidth is there technically right?

 

 

[skkler]

25 minutes ago, Sant_HH said:

It does exist but will require a switch chip which makes it quite more expensive.

Here's one example https://www.highpoint-tech.com/product-page/ssd7540

looking more into that, it accepts GEN3 but does it keep it gen3 i wonder?

[Tridefender]

42 minutes ago, skkler said:

so that part i get, but is there anyway to plug 8 gen 3 x4 drives into a gen 4 x16 slot? there bandwidth is there technically right?

You will need a card with switch chip then, which is gonna cost alot.

Basically your chipset breaks 4.0x8 into alot of stuff

[Tridefender]

KALEA-INFORMATIQUE M2 PCIe 3.0 x8 Controller Card for 4 M.2 NVMe M Key SSDs. Chipset PLX PEX 8747 https://amzn.eu/d/dcEUEXw

Like this

[kokosnh]

How many drives, what capacity, and in what system do you want to plug in it ( cpu, mobo, gpu )

 

660p are cheap QLC ssd, you actually could think about buying a dedicated NAS for it like

Asustor Flashstor 12 Pro FS6712X, as pcie switch board cost just to much 

[skkler]

16 hours ago, kokosnh said:

How many drives, what capacity, and in what system do you want to plug in it ( cpu, mobo, gpu )

 

660p are cheap QLC ssd, you actually could think about buying a dedicated NAS for it like

Asustor Flashstor 12 Pro FS6712X, as pcie switch board cost just to much 

Like 40 or so 512gb drives

[kokosnh]

My best bet is on using 2 x mining PC, and lots PCIe X1 to M.2 adapters... 

mining PC can have like 18 PCIe x1 slots on mobo.

 

[Blue4130]

On 11/6/2024 at 9:58 AM, skkler said:

looking more into that, it accepts GEN3 but does it keep it gen3 i wonder?

 

On 11/6/2024 at 8:26 AM, skkler said:

but takes gen 3 and makes it gen 4?

The drives will ALWAYS run at the lowest  generation in the loop.  So if you get a mining board and put it into an x1 slot, it will run at gen 3 x1 speeds (assuming the board is gen 3). If you put it in a gen 5 slot, they will run at gen 3. If you put it in a gen 2 slot, they will run at gen 2.