NVMe drive adapter for PCIe Gen 3?

Berserker · 7 Feb 2022 at 13:45

Looking for an adapter that'll let me connect two M.2 NVMe drives to an empty PCIe Gen 3 slot on my motherboard (which has no onboard M.2 NVMe). Any suggestions please?

I've seen the ASUS one that takes 4 NVMe drives, but while I do have empty x16 slots, my motherboard doesn't support 4 x4 bifurcation (only x4,x4,x8), so not sure if that will work.

Berserker · 7 Feb 2022 at 14:49

I can do bifurcation - just not the combination that the ASUS board needs.

I saw the Silverstone one, but declined because I already have an M2 SATA board (as I discovered when the NVMe drives didn't work).

I didn't realise that was what the cable out the top of the Akasa one did. If I don't connect the RGB headers will that be enough to disable that feature? My home office is already in danger of looking like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise - I don't need any more LEDs!

Berserker · 7 Feb 2022 at 17:26

Its a server board, so no RGB headers. As such, that SuperMicro option may indeed be the most appropriate choice.

If not, I'll just tape over the LEDs if they're objectionable (don't want to void the warranty by using violence). More than likely won't be visible anyway.

I'll have a hunt around, thanks.

Berserker · 7 Feb 2022 at 19:33

Thanks. Having been caught out once, I'd need to be sure those are all NVMe, and not SATA.

I have plenty of PCIe slots, so I have no issue with using these if they do what's needed (they work out cheaper than the SuperMicro alternative).