Windows 10: Half height pcie X1 4 X SATA card -- are these things any good

Hi folks
Anybody used these things for increasing SSD / HDD storage

@CountMike --any ideas --you seem to be quite good with all sorts of bits of hardware !!!!

I've got a spare half height pcie X1 slot available and a load of old SSD's so I thought of using a card like this to add some more SSD's to my machine.

The power consumption of SSD's is negligible so no probs with a few Molex splitters and >>power part of SSD. Sata cables OK.)

Seems also boot device is supported. The PC I want to use it on is a small Cube type of thing (HP micro server) which has all 4 of the Internal HDD bays populated already. I don't need hardware RAID support but the idea of getting an extra 4 X SSD into the system seems like a great idea. I already have one SSD in place of the DVD drive.

Any ideas folks --Good, Bad or indifferent.

Ziyituod PCIe SATA Card, 4 Port with 4 SATA Cable, SATA Controller Expansion Card with Low Profile Bracket, Marvell 9215 Non-Raid, Boot as System Disk, Support 4 SATA 3.0 Devices(SA3014): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Cheers
jimbo

:)

 

Using a PCIe x1 card in a PCIe x16 slot


Here is something I recently found out. I have tired this and it works.

You can use a PCIe x1 card, or a PCIe x4 card in a PCIe x16 slot. They work fine. So if you think you are short of PCI-e slots, you may not be. A shorter PCIe card works fine in a longer slot.

On PCIe X1, X4 and X16 slots, the first 18 pins are all wired the same, so as long as the PCI-Express card fits in the PCI-Express slot, it should work.

This is not the case for the legacy PCI (32-bit, non-express) slots, that are not PCI-Express. Those are not compatable with PCIe cards.




Picture of assorted PCIe and PCI slots.

The top four slots, in the picture above, are, from the top to bottom,
PCIe x4 slot , PCIe x16 slot, PCIe x1 slot and another PCIe x16 slot. A PCIe card that can physically fit in any of these slots will work, even if it doesn't fill the entire slot.

The bottom, 5th slot, is a PCI legacy (32-bit) slot. PCIe (express) cards will not work in this slot. It only accepts legacy PCI cards.

Here is the PCI-Express page on Wikipedia showing pinouts, etc.
PCI Express - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YouTube Video showing PCIe X1 card in a PCIe X16 slot.


Here are links to discussions on this subject at Tom's Hardware.

"Can I install a PCI-e x1 Wireless network card in a PCI-e x16 slot?"

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/...-x16-slot.html

pci-e x1 card into pci-e x16 slot?

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/...-x16-slot.html

 

Using a PCIe x1 card in a PCIe x16 slot

Thanks. I didn't know that.

 

Looking for PCIe to SATA 3 Add-in-card

I'm looking for a PCIe to SATA 3 add in card that actually works at X4 rates, that is, it must use all four lanes on the PCIe bus. The card can either provide sata connectors or permit insertion of a 2.5" SATA 3 SSD onto the card. Examples of the types of cards that would work IF they were X4 cards are seen here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...4RCW5MS9&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...G9WPPLAW&psc=1
Most of these cards have X4 connectors but only work at X2 (two PCIe lanes are connected). Why is it important to me that the card work at X4? ANS: My Mobo only has PCIe slots that support PCIe Revision 1 rates. All my SATA connectors are SATA 2 connectors that don't take full advantage of my existing SATA 3 SSD boot drive so I want to add at least one SATA 3 port to the computer to speed things up. An add-in-card (or adapter card) that works at X2 would not support SATA 3 speeds on a Revision 1 PCIe bus. This is why I need a card that has a PCIe connector working at X4. For now, I've only seen cards that work at X1 or X2 but nothing higher. My hope is someone will know where to look to find one of these cards that works at X4. Thanks for reading.