plugging an UAD-2 Quad PCIE card into an M.2 slot?

Paul Pi · Apr 7, 2022

Lube Bag said: ↑

M2 to pcie adapters are both available and affordable:

ADT-Link M.2 NGFF NVMe Key M Extender Cable to PCIE x16 Graphics Card Riser Adapter 16x PCI-e PCI-Express for M2 2230 2242 2260 2280 (50cm) : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

EXPLOMOS M.2 Key M NGFF to PCI-E 4X Adapter Card, 4 PIN Power Cable (2 Pack): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

M2 is just the descriptor for the actual physical connector - an m2 drive can connect using either the nvme or sata protocol.

Since nvme uses the pcie bus to connect, these adapters don't have that tricky a job to do.

Just be aware that the pcie slot will be limited to x4 speed (since that's the max that will be assigned to an m2 slot). Although that won't matter in the case of a UAD card, as it's an x1 device.

This is similar to the way that the usb-c connector type can carry usb and/or thunderbolt, displayport, etc data, it doesn't dictate the kind of device that can connect through it. (Obvs I'm not saying every usb-c port is TB-capable, just that the usb-c designation refers to the physical connector, not a data protocol).

This isn't quite right - it's true that some pcie and m2 slots may share pcie lanes, but installing one type of thing won't prevent the other from working, ie: plugging in an m2 drive isn't gonna stop you from plugging a pcie card into a slot that shares pcie lanes with it.

If you exceed the max number of pcie lanes some or all of the devices may not operate at full speed (eg an m2 drive might step down from x4 to x2 speed) but it's incredibly unlikely to get to the point where something wouldn't function at all.

The manufacturers manual for the particular motherboard will have a diagram/table showing which slots share pcie lanes, and how many lanes are assigned, so you can check to make sure it will be appropriate.

@reverbmuddiesmix - If you do want to try going down the nvme-to-pcie adapter route, just be aware that particularly on windows, UAD cards can sometimes be a bit selective in what they'll "play nice" with in terms of connectivity.

And don't expect any help from UA if it goes wrong - while their customer service team is actually really helpful (I own Apollos and TB Satellites, and have corresponded with them a couple of times) they will be very unlikely to attempt to troubleshoot a very-definitely-unsupported use case.

If I were you, tbh I'd just ditch the UAD1 card, esp with UADx now being a thing.
Click to expand...

Very interesting & most certainly useful if @reverbmuddiesmix had already purchased the motherboard. As it stands, imho he/she would still be better off overall with a motherboard that didn't require a kludge to operate.

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plugging an UAD-2 Quad PCIE card into an M.2 slot?

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plugging an UAD-2 Quad PCIE card into an M.2 slot?

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