https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09MSB4TXT is working perfectly

[frankol]

thank you for your informations regarding bifurcation! I did as you suggested and soldered the resistors and its working perfectly

[mgutt]

Could you please add some photos?

[frankol]

at the sata port is a 2tb ssd dissasembled. it fits perfectly

[xiaoran007]

Has anyone tried it on the M910X?

[badger707]

@frankol - nice, thanks for confirming!!! I could not make it working for me initially when probing/exploring this and just give up thinking its not going to work... So by seeing your post my thinking now is that either my my PCIe/M.2 card (PH45) is faulty (aliexpress) or my PCIe riser board/card SKU is not the one what I need... Can you reconfirm your riser card Lenovo SKU, or maybe post a label picture? Now I have ordered another PH45 card as per your picture and will try to give it another try...

[frankol]

[...]Can you reconfirm your riser card Lenovo SKU, or maybe post a label picture?

I ordered this one on ebay: https://www.ebay.de/itm/125280817080 " PCIE16 Erweiterungsgrafikkarte für ThinkCentre M920x M720q P330 Tiny5 01AJ940"

Dont think its a original one :-), but its working

[su-thomas]

hi @frankol and @badger707 - I am curious to learn more about this. Where did the resistor diagram come from? (I do not see it in the repo).

Additionally, which resistor pads sets which CFG?

[frankol]

hi @frankol and @badger707 - I am curious to learn more about this. Where did the resistor diagram come from? (I do not see it in the repo).

Additionally, which resistor pads sets which CFG?

There is a schematics availabe. Just try to search for "IQ3X0IL.-.NM-B511.REV1.0"

Regarding the pads and their function:

[badger707]

@su-thomas schematics you can get from this repo here. However I think you were looking for Lenovo P320 (non-tiny) solution as per you post here -- if your board and chipset on your box is same then you can try steps above from @frankol, if not same -- then you'd need schematics and boardview for your specific motherboard model. Even then it may or may not work well with your board BIOS. So it depends...

[su-thomas]

thanks for the info @frankol and @badger707

out of curiosity, when you do this mod on the m920q, does the BIOS show anything different? or it just silently works?

[frankol]

it just silently works

[systemerror-codenotfound]

any idea if this works in a M910X?

[marcojk]

at the sata port is a 2tb ssd dissasembled. it fits perfectly

Hi frankol. Can I ask what's that big heatsink in the first picture for? Does it have a lenovo PN?

[frankol]

at the sata port is a 2tb ssd dissasembled. it fits perfectly

Hi frankol. Can I ask what's that big heatsink in the first picture for? Does it have a lenovo PN?

Hi marcojk, sorry its a custom build

[marcojk]

Great work!

[frankol]

My final configuration is 5x NVME (2 from the normal nvme slots, 2 from the pcie-card and 1 from the wlan port (pcie-x1) with an cable adapter) and one ssd. A awesome storage monster :-)

[dxx-223]

Hi frankol. Out of interest, which CPU are you using?

The config table says "CFG[2], CFG[6:5] & CFG[7] are relevant for H and S-processor line only", but I'm not seeing any -H or -S processors that fit socket LGA1151.

Asking because I can't get this to work on my M920q and I'm wondering whether it's because:

1. I'm using a G5500T to test although Intel Ark claims it supports 1x16, 2x8, 1x8+2x4
2. my soldering isn't good enough
3. my motherboard is only rev 1.0 unlike yours which seems to be rev 3.0

My PCIe x16 riser, and dual M.2 m-key expansion card work in another M720q so I'm ruling them out as the issue.

Frustrating!

[frankol]

hi, im using Intel® Core™ i5-8500T cpu. You can test the soldering with a multimeter. What cpu are you using in the m720q setup?

[dxx-223]

My M720q has an i7-9700T - which I'll move across to the M920q if I can get bifurcation to work. Just to clarify: my M720q is not set up for bifurcation. I only mentioned it as a way to test the x16 riser, and dual M.2 expansion card work. The M720q is factory-standard x8 mode, with an M.2 card in the first slot in the expansion card, so using lanes 0-3.

I've just tried the M920q with a spare i5-8500T but no change. My soldering seems to be OK after some multimeter checks. I'm using 1K 0402 resistors.

Using your picture for reference, I've performed tests indicated by the loops in pink:

Has anyone else managed to get this to work? If so, could you please report in with with revision of your IQ3X0IL motherboard you have?

[dxx-223]

Sorry for the comment spam but it seems bifurcation is working for me. I tested each slot of the dual M.2 expansion card with an NVMe M.2 drive and both times it worked.

What I'm really trying to get working is an ASM2142 USB 3.1 M.2 card from AliExpress. But it never works in either slot of the dual M.2 expansion card, nor in a simple 1-slot M.2 expansion card. Turns out it doesn't even work in the M.2 on the underside! Maybe the USB card just doesn't play well with my motherboard, or doesn't like lane reversal. It works in the M720q.

The whole point of me trying to install this USB card is because the built-in USB root host is dedicated to a VM so I need another USB root host for the 2nd VM.

I can't use the USB from a B-key M.2 socket, or the built-in WLAN socket, or even the USB display daughter board because they all share the same USB root host that's dedicated to the 1st VM.

Hope this helps someone!

[frankol]

nice to hear bifurcation is working in general. Regarding the usb card, you could try the wifi pcie-x1 slot with an nvme adapter, like this one https://amzn.eu/d/4ou0rEt . Its not a good one, you see what i mean

[dxx-223]

If only I had read more of the documentation before commenting...

Regarding my earlier comment:

The config table says "CFG[2], CFG[6:5] & CFG[7] are relevant for H and S-processor line only", but I'm not seeing any -H or -S processors that fit socket LGA1151.

H and S-Processor lines aren't about CPU suffixes (e.g. 8100H) but more about the package / socket:

[zzs95]

Has anyone tried it on the M910X?

any idea if this works in a M910X?

I designed a tester PCB of LGA1151. Use a multimeter to measure the pin positions according to the solder joints of the CFG resistor on the m910x.

This measurement seems reasonable. CFG5 and CFG6 are in the same position as m920q, and CFG2 is in a similar position.

This M2 was inset in the first slot of the adapter (0-3 lanes). It's matched with the PCIE mapping.

Edit: I tried with PH45, however 2nd slot still didn't work. The conclusion of my attempts is: m910x is able to split lanes but cannot recognize the second device. I would try another kind of adapter for 1 NVME M2 and 1 SATA M2. And the SATA port in adapter will connect to the soft SATA cable that the motherboard comes with, through the male-esata extender.

Edit 2: 1 NVME M2 plus 1 SATA M2 method work fine without bifurcation. It's a easy way to and 2 drives. systemerror-codenotfound did the verification on m910x. The resistor points are correct and the m910x can do bifurcation.

[su-thomas]

Due to reversing the PCIe lanes, is it expected something like a single x1 card would no longer work? If someone could test, that would be helpful. I'm having issues when testing a x1 2.5Gbe card after this bifurcation modification.

[dxx-223]

Due to reversing the PCIe lanes, is it expected something like a single x1 card would no longer work? If someone could test, that would be helpful. I'm having issues when testing a x1 2.5Gbe card after this bifurcation modification.

I see the same problem with my two M.2 USB host cards, which want either x1 and x2 lanes. Neither work in the PH45 adapter BUT they do individually work in a simple, passive single-socket M.2 riser like this one:

(Illustrative: not exact same model that I'm using)

My conclusion is that clock-buffer-only bifurcation adapter cards like the PH45 only really work for NVMe drives for some reason that I don't understand.

I'm about to buy a cheap dual M.2 adapter card with a real PCI-PCI bridge chip, e.g. ASM1182, to see my USB host cards work with that. If so, that means I'll actually need something like a Glotrends PA20 (ASM2812) or StarTech PEX8M2E2 (ASM2824) in the longer term.

ASM2812: PCIe Gen3 but only x4 lanes from upstream adapter to CPU - x4 shared across both M.2 devices ASM2824: PCIe Gen3 and x8 lanes upstream from adapter to CPU - so full speed for both M.2 devices

There are cheaper ASM2812-based cards on AliExpress, usually with shiny red heatsink, but beware that there is next to zero gap between the M.2 sockets. People have reported that they can't fit two M.2 devices if either has a heatsink. The Glotrends PA20 has more gap but unfortunately costs way more.

I'll report back regarding ASM1182 compatibility, hopefully next week.

[su-thomas]

Due to reversing the PCIe lanes, is it expected something like a single x1 card would no longer work? If someone could test, that would be helpful. I'm having issues when testing a x1 2.5Gbe card after this bifurcation modification.

I see the same problem with my two M.2 USB host cards, which want either x1 and x2 lanes. Neither work in the PH45 adapter BUT they do individually work in a simple, passive single-socket M.2 riser like this one:

Hmm, in my case, I am using a PCIe form factor x1 card directly in the PCIe slot, and it is not being detected. Hence I'm wondering if the the PCIe lane reversal means that cards less than x4 cannot be detected because none of their lanes line up with the 0th lane, being not the first one anymore? I'm not sure personally.

[dxx-223]

Due to reversing the PCIe lanes, is it expected something like a single x1 card would no longer work? If someone could test, that would be helpful. I'm having issues when testing a x1 2.5Gbe card after this bifurcation modification.

I see the same problem with my two M.2 USB host cards, which want either x1 and x2 lanes. Neither work in the PH45 adapter BUT they do individually work in a simple, passive single-socket M.2 riser like this one:

Hmm, in my case, I am using a PCIe form factor x1 card directly in the PCIe slot, and it is not being detected. Hence I'm wondering if the the PCIe lane reversal means that cards less than x4 cannot be detected because none of their lanes line up with the 0th lane, being not the first one anymore? I'm not sure personally.

After some more Googling, it seems lane reversal support needs to be at both ends, so both CPU and end device. This might explain why we're both seeing issues.

I wonder if there adapters or cables that perform x4 lane reversal at the M.2 M-key socket or maybe x4x4 reversal at the PCIe slot.

Proof of concept would be via buying a PCIe x4 extension cable, desoldering all 4 lanes, then re-reversing / connecting what would be CPU lane 3 to PCIe slot lane 0. Does that sound about right?

I have a "PEXP4-SX" x4 extension adapter much like this one:

I can try to reverse one lane to see if that makes any difference. But a concern is that it adds about 2cm between the PCIe x8 socket and whatever is plugged in, so there might not be enough room for the PH45 after.

[dxx-223]

As I suspected, the PEXP4-SX takes up too much room, such that the PH45 dual M.2 card is blocked by the metal lugs on the CPU heatsink. These lugs are to support the 2.5" drive caddy. Even if I chopped those off, the PH45 would still be blocked by the CPU fan assembly.

An alternative to the rigid extension adapter would be a cable like this: ... but I think even then, the PH45 card would sit too high, or too low, or still be blocked by the heatsink/fan assemblies. That's without even considering the cable itself is 20cm and would take up space by being folded. I guess you could have the cable extend out of the case but that's really ugly.

Yet another option would be to attempt lane reversal at the M.2 end. e.g. buy an M.2 M-key x4 extension cable/adapter: and then break into the cable halfway to swap lanes. This would probably suffer from lack of internal space too though.

The ideal solution would be a version of the Lenovo 01AJ940 riser that performs lane reversal.

[dxx-223]

I modded my PEXP4-SX by desoldering all the socket legs that connected to PCIe lanes, then soldered wires to connect M/B socket / CPU lane 3 to PEXP4-SX lane 0. But my M920q didn't seem to detect either M.2 card, not even the one that only wants x1 lane.

Tried desoldering the PRSNT#2 for x4 lanes on PCIe pin B31 but that no effect either. Tried all the different BIOS PCIe speed settings: auto, Gen1, Gen2, Gen3 - no effect.

It could be that my soldering isn't good enough, the PEXP4-SX is somehow broken, there's too much 'noise' on the soldered wires? Run out of ideas really.

Maybe NVMe drives work well because they always try to negotiate a full x4 and the PCIe interface chips on NVMe drives are good enough to handle lane reversal as well?

[dxx-223]

Today, I installed both M.2 USB hosts into a Glotrends PA40 quad M.2 adapter card. The PA40 requires the motherboard/CPU to do the bifurcation - it's not done by the ASM1184e on the card. So x16 upstream to x4x4x4x4 but in our case just two x4. Neither M.2 USB card was recognised which suggests that lane-reversal isn't handled by ASM1184e.

As a final test, I de-bifurcated the M920q and after a reboot, either M.2 USB card present in the first slot of the PA40 is immediately detected.

I guess the overall conclusion is:

The 2-resistor bifurcation mod is only suitable for when you want to install two additional NVMe devices that are both x4, without the cost/power/heat that comes with an adapter card with a PCI-bridge chip such as ASM2824, etc.

Any x1 or x2 wide devices are unlikely to work.

[marcojk]

Chiming in to tell my experience with a modded and bifurcated m920q, confirming what @dxx-223 said. I bought a 2 disk NVMe adapter and a JMB585 sata port expander.

https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005005994194848.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.25.7604369681Cjzl&gatewayAdapt=glo2ita

When i stick the NVMes ssd into the adapter everything works fine. Then i put the sata adapter (which is x2 PCIe 3.0) into either one of the slot nothing happens, no blinky lights and no adapter found with lspci

Ok, let's put it in one of the bottom slots (where no bifurcation is present)

There I have my sata drives. A bit unfortunate, as having them underneat makes the whole thing cumbersome. Yes i can flip the m920 but that would trig my OCD.

So yeah, use the bifurcation mod only if you are going to use x4 devices.

[wociscz]

Any known riser/splitter/expansion card pci-e x8 to dual x4? I'm planing to use 10gbe mellanox (x4) with some sata (x2 or x4) card together (if possible). Can't find any suitable. And to the previous post - don't you need the 12V power connector connected to 12V somewhere? (the top left corner of the photo)

[kitor]

Hi, not sure if I got unlucky with my SSD choices, or this is something else. I have M920q running i5-8400 (non-T), already modded to dual NVME. I followed this topic, added two 1K resistors to switch into bifurcated x4/x4 mode, put two drives in adapter... and nothing. Or maybe not nothing, but drives are not detected.

What I see is the following:

• After I changed the resistors, for sure some PCI IDs have changed. NIC plugged into WiFI slot changed the interface name.
• If I plug "regular" x4 to single NVME adapter, drive in that adapter is still detected, but again -> PCI ID has changed +1 With single NVM adapter I see PCI bridge x16 at 00:01.0 and x4 at 00:01.2

However, when I plug dual NVME adapter AND power system up for the first time (after power was disconnected)

• if card is empty, nothing new shows in lspci
• if only one slot is populated, I see PCI bridge at 00:01.0 and depending on slot 00:01.1 or 00:01.2
• if both are populated, I see three bridges: 00:01.0, 00:01.1 and 00:01.2

Unfortunately in that state, no NVME devices are detected, only those new bridges. I tested every possible combination of 6 different NVME drive models I could find in home.

If I shut down system in this state via power button and turn it again (without disconnecting power adapter), on next boot none of those bridges is detected.

Linux lists 00:01.0 as x16, 00:01.1 as x8 and 00:01.2 as x4. That x8 seems weird to me but in output from grub lspci in #2 00:01.1 is 8086:1905 which would resolve as x8 bridge too.

Thus right now I'm stuck and not sure how to proceed in debugging this. My dual NVME card is this one from Aliexpress, based on sl28pcie14 clock generator.

[kitor]

Update: I bought card named EM5082NV, which uses ASM1182E but only for clock signal (like one @dxx-223 mentioned) and it works no issues with all the drives I tested. This means either my other card was broken, or there's some incompatibility with sl28pcie14 clock generator.

[crimeofheart]

Update: I bought card named EM5082NV, which uses ASM1182E but only for clock signal (like one @dxx-223 mentioned) and it works no issues with all the drives I tested. This means either my other card was broken, or there's some incompatibility with sl28pcie14 clock generator.

Which card did you buy in the end (the one that worked)? Can you share a link please?

[crimeofheart]

Hey all, another question. I dont have 1k smd resistors at hand but have 10k ohm ones. Would they also work?

[kitor]

Those are pull down resistors. In theory they could, but YMMV.

Card with "EM5082NV" on silk screen. I got one used. Looks identical and matches the specs of this https://www.glotrends-store.com/products/pa21

BTW: From schematics it looks like this motherboard slot has also extra x4 lines coming from chipset, unused on regular PCIe risers and described as for GPU. So there's a possibility of pulling another x4 slot, but that would require someone to make a custom riser I guess.

[e] Yes, from the photos - x4 riser BA7H68 uses those x4 lines coming from chipset.

[galvesribeiro]

Hello @frankol, thanks for the confirmation that it works!

I've ordered the parts that were described on the Dual NVMe mod (btw thanks @badger707 for that amazing mod!) so I can send to someone here that have better soldering skills than me.

If I understood correctly, the two resistors are R889 and R885, right? If that is the case, can you point if those resistor parts are any of the ones from the Dual NVMe repo list? If it is not, can you tell which part should we buy to put there?

I'm gonna send for soldering both the extra NVMe and those resistors.

The PCIe card I got one from AliExpress and already tested it on another PC and it works.

Thank you very much! Appreciate the help!

[kitor]

If I understood correctly, the two resistors are R889 and R885, right? If that is the case, can you point if those resistor parts are any of the ones from the Dual NVMe repo list? If it is not, can you tell which part should we buy to put there?

No, those resistors here are part of CPU PCI Express config, which you don't touch for dual NVME.

Here all you need is to solder down two 1K resistors, as on schematic on 1st post. That's it. Ah, and obviously find a bifurcation card that will work with this mod, as this thread proves some cards refuse to work here.

[galvesribeiro]

@kitor

No, those resistors here are part of CPU PCI Express config, which you don't touch for dual NVME.

Yeah I got it. Just asking if the resistors are any of the same I already bought for the dual NVME mod as I bough more than is needed for the mod so I don't need to buy any more.

Here all you need is to solder down two 1K resistors, as on schematic on 1st post. That's it.

Ok cool!

Ah, and obviously find a bifurcation card that will work with this mod, as this thread proves some cards refuse to work here.

I bought this riser which should arrive soon.

For the PCIe card, I got one that looks like the same @frankol.

@frankol btw,

at the sata port is a 2tb ssd disassembled. it fits perfectly

Can you point more details about your mod to have the SATA SSD even while using the PCIe card? It would be amazing to have it working here as well :)

On a side note, I'm trying to also convert the WiFi slot in a tiny 2230 SSD. I bought this which I can break the board and put an NVMe 2230 on it. Yes, it will behave as a SATA disk so I can't use the disk for heavy workloads like cache or anything, but it will be a good options for a TrueNAS Core boot drive.

[frankol]

at the sata port is a 2tb ssd disassembled. it fits perfectly

Can you point more details about your mod to have the SATA SSD even while using the PCIe card? It would be amazing to have it working here as well :)

Its a regular SATA SSD, just without the case. Mine was a "Intenso Interne 2,5" SSD SATA III", but it dont matter since the most are like this

I bought this which I can break the board and put an NVMe 2230 on it.

You wont fit a nvme without a extension cable since it go in the wrong direction. You could try this one: https://amzn.eu/d/2TYXzjP

[galvesribeiro]

@frankol

Its a regular SATA SSD, just without the case. Mine was a "Intenso Interne 2,5" SSD SATA III", but it dont matter since the most are like this

Ok but how have you "mounted" it bellow the PCIe?

You wont fit a nvme without a extension cable since it go in the wrong direction. You could try this one:

You mean because it will hit the front of the case? The guys on Serve The Home got it working and it have fit. Also, I wonder if those extension cables would fit anywhere as it is bigger...

[frankol]

its not mounted in a special way, just laying around at this position :-)

[j4cbo]

I've gotten this working with a 10G NIC plus two more NVMe SSDs by using a custom riser. As some others have posted, lane reversal is the key issue - automatic lane reversal is an optional feature of the PCIe spec and many devices don't support it.

I still need to design a 3D printed bracket to hold everything in place, but here's what it looks like for now. There's also a mini SATA SSD behind the two NVMe drives.

lspci output:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 8th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6th-10th Gen Core Processor PCIe Controller (x16) (rev 07)
00:01.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/E3-1500 v5/6th Gen Core Processor PCIe Controller (x8) (rev 07)
00:01.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/E3-1500 v5/6th Gen Core Processor PCIe Controller (x4) (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
00:08.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/v6 / E3-1500 v5 / 6th/7th/8th Gen Core Processor Gaussian Mixture Model
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH USB 3.1 xHCI Host Controller (rev 10)
00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH Shared SRAM (rev 10)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH HECI Controller (rev 10)
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH SATA AHCI Controller (rev 10)
00:1b.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH PCI Express Root Port #17 (rev f0)
00:1b.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH PCI Express Root Port #21 (rev f0)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH PCI Express Root Port #6 (rev f0)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH PCI Express Root Port #9 (rev f0)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Q370 Chipset LPC/eSPI Controller (rev 10)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH cAVS (rev 10)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH SMBus Controller (rev 10)
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH SPI Controller (rev 10)
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (7) I219-LM (rev 10)
02:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: MAXIO Technology (Hangzhou) Ltd. Device 1602 (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Aquantia Corp. Device d100 (rev 02)
04:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5763DL NVMe SSD Controller (rev 01)
05:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Shenzhen Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd. Device 1602 (rev 01)
06:00.0 System peripheral: Global Unichip Corp. Coral Edge TPU
07:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Phison Electronics Corporation E12 NVMe Controller (rev 01)

[galvesribeiro]

@j4cbo

I've gotten this working with a 10G NIC plus two more NVMe SSDs by using a custom riser.

That is awesome! Have you designed/built the raiser or found it somewhere?

If you designed/built can you share the design or where you found it? I would love to get my hand on it.

I got a short NIC like this but I'll only use it if I find a way to also include the 2 NVMe on the case, like with your raiser. Otherwise, I'll use 2x USB 2.5Gb ethernet NICs instead but ofc, 2x 10Gb would be better :).

The end-goal is:

• 2x 4TB NVMe in the back
• 2x 4TB NVMe on top
• 1x 2TB 2230 NVMe on the M.2 WiFi card slot (for boot and other temporary stuff)
• 1x 8TB SATA on top
• (and if I got your raiser) 1x Dual 10G NIC

Thanks!

[j4cbo]

It's a custom design. I'm still working on the design (the first rev required some bodge wires), will post more info once it's a little more finalized...

[galvesribeiro]

It's a custom design. I'm still working on the design (the first rev required some bodge wires), will post more info once it's a little more finalized...

Looking forward for it! :)

[kitor]

@j4cbo

This is x4 + x4 + x4, utilizing one extra link from chipset? If so, that's awesome!

And a slightly OT, but you are the first person I see with this TP-Link card. That's TL-NT521F, right? I was looking into it as this seems to be the only modern and relatively cheap 10G card that may support higher C states. From the minimal information I was able to find it runs some Aquantia/Marvell ACQ chipset - is that true? How are the card thermals?

Right now I'm running 2x 512G for OS, 2x 4TB for storage (on bifurcated slot) and 2.5G card in WiFi slot. 10G via TL-NT521F was in the initial idea, just got not enough lanes for that :)

[marcojk]

It's a custom design. I'm still working on the design (the first rev required some bodge wires), will post more info once it's a little more finalized...

THIS. Routing differential pairs is far beyond my abilities so I didn't even dare to create a custom riser, but having 12 lanes in a nice package would be great!

[j4cbo]

And a slightly OT, but you are the first person I see with this TP-Link card. That's TL-NT521F, right? I was looking into it as this seems to be the only modern and relatively cheap 10G card that may support higher C states.

Yes, it's an Aquantia AQC100. It seems to run very cool, but my CPU can't enter a package C-state past C3 with it in and it doesn't seem to support ASPM. But it was cheap and it's nice and small, so I'm pretty happy with it overall.

[wociscz]

It's a custom design. I'm still working on the design (the first rev required some bodge wires), will post more info once it's a little more finalized...

Nice job. Let us updated when you finish it. I'd pay some $$$ for it. I have 4x8TB u.2 nvme and plan is to somehow connect it to the tiny/micro sff (m920x possibly with bifurcation mod), which would be possible with this - similar as your setup 2x 8tb u.2 at the back 2x 8tb at the front, 1tb in m.2 a/e, and 10gbe sfp+ mellanox. All the u.2 connected via m.2->sff-8643 cards.

Does it mean that your riser works in x4+x2+x2 mode? Or what kind of magic is this? (I suppose that there is only x8 routed to the x16 slot on m920x/q)