PCI-E Riser Question (not mining related)

Geek

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
920
There are plenty of PCI-E risers out there, I need one for a PCI X8 RAID card, so I can use it in an X1 slot. Obviously performance and reliability is important.

I wonder if just a simple device will do the trick, or if I need to spend a little more. I have read some posts that say there are instability in some of the powered devices, and I wonder if this would apply to a lower draw card. That said, I may opt for a powered riser as the RAID card will probably draw a bit more power than most PCI X1 cards.

Card is a Dell Perc 5

Admins please move, if not appropriate in this section.
 
I understand why you posted it here, because of the Risers and Miners deal with risers a lot. Buuuuuut, it should be in General, which is where I put it ;)
 
BlueSwordM said:
If you want the best of the best, you want this one, from Thermaltake:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812183053

16X, can be used for lower PCI-E cards obviously.

My problem is I need to go from X1 to X8. The Thermaltake one won't fit an X1 slot.

Basically the Dell Perc is a very cheap way to get extra SATA ports in my system, not to mention its RAID capability. I'm not too concerned about strangling its bandwidth, they top out at 300MB/s.
 
It will, once you have cut it to length :)
Generally you want a proper one, not these cheap chinesium ones. Check if you can get one made by 3M. Not sure if the one from Thermaltake is actually made by 3M, it could be.
Just for reference, expect prices between 30 and 80 EUR for a good quality riser cable, depending on length.
 
DarkRaven said:
It will, once you have cut it to length :)
Generally you want a proper one, not these cheap chinesium ones. Check if you can get one made by 3M. Not sure if the one from Thermaltake is actually made by 3M, it could be.
Just for reference, expect prices between 30 and 80 EUR for a good quality riser cable, depending on length.

Doing some googling I found this. Damn they are expensive. I may end up removing the GPU and using an old PCI card and the x16 slot for the raid card. Its just for a NAS - the GPU is not important

I might try my luck with these. The cable should be short enough to do the trick.
 
Why don't you get one of the crypto-mining riser cards and try using that? That's a 1x to 16x riser, and you can install an 8x into the 16x slot.
 
Because routing PCIe frames at high rates through what is basically a USB cable is probably not the best idea if the data you are transferring means anything to you ;)
This is as far out of spec as it is possible. It works for mining because the data rate and the amount of data is tiny compared to any proper real world applications.
 
DarkRaven said:
Because routing PCIe frames at high rates through what is basically a USB cable is probably not the best idea if the data you are transferring means anything to you ;)
This is as far out of spec as it is possible. It works for mining because the data rate and the amount of data is tiny compared to any proper real world applications.

This is correct. In fact, I will be using the limit of what is possible using PCI-E x1. Being that the card is 8x, and I am connecting it to a 1x slot, the better the connection the better the performance.

So my choices are - use a good quality riser, or cut the slot or card to fit. I don't want to cut the slot as this is just a 'temporary' solution.

I have reason not to cut the card as it is a spare for my server. I cannot cut the slot, as there are othercomponents obstructing the gold finger.

I have a really strong urge to cut the gold fingers on the graphics card.

However all the above aside, I do occasional encounter this scenario, and having a good reliable tried and tested riser to supply to my customers in the future would be handy.

I have indeed used them where a PC has a damaged X16 slot, to get a customer out of trouble until they can afford a new PC. Problem is those cheap Chinese things cause instability issues.

Years ago I used to be able tobuy them with a foil shield wrapped around the ribbon cable. Considering a DIY approach and doing this myself. They worked well. Ill share my results.
 
Back
Top