Asus unveils Hyper M.2 X16 PCIe Gen 4 card

[HEXUS]

The card features four M.2 slots, delivering fast and flexible storage configuration options.

Read more.

[Kanoe]

Interesting that they have changed the layout from the previous version.

Helps keep the Trace paths short from the connector to the drives at the expense of having a good air path for the fan.

I do run mine (the previous version) without the fan going and it still seems to be cool enough to maintain drive performance.

[Tunnah]

Although these say they'll run at 16x, I wonder how many people even have a second 16x slot that runs at full speed. Although tbh, even though my second only runs at 4x, this would still be worth it just to have 4 drives in such a tiny package (giggidy)

[chinf]

Although these say they'll run at 16x, I wonder how many people even have a second 16x slot that runs at full speed. Although tbh, even though my second only runs at 4x, this would still be worth it just to have 4 drives in such a tiny package (giggidy)

To be fair, the article (and the blog it references) talk about TRX40 (Mark might want to correct his typo) which will have multiple x16 lane PCIe 4.0 slots. The abundance of PCIe expansion will continue to be a key differentiator between mainstream and HEDT platforms, and if you already need such storage bandwidth, you'll already be wanting HEDT.

[Tunnah]

To be fair, the article (and the blog it references) talk about TRX40 (Mark might want to correct his typo) which will have multiple x16 lane PCIe 4.0 slots. The abundance of PCIe expansion will continue to be a key differentiator between mainstream and HEDT platforms, and if you already need such storage bandwidth, you'll already be wanting HEDT.

Oh it's definitely a want rather than need. But I disagree, storage hogs like myself don't need to move to HEDT, as this, combined with the abundance of SATA RAID cards out there, leave plenty of options without having to fork out for a whole new platform. But ya, those that have a NEED for 16x M.2 drives in RAID0 most probably have a HEDT need to go along with it!

[MRFS]

This is such a healthy evolution for storage in general. I can remember as far back as 10 years ago, when we started harping on the need for storage vendors to harness the upstream bandwidth of x16 mechanical slots. The upstream limit imposed by Intel's DMI channel was another clear motivation for giving SSDs direct access to the CPU. Along came "4x4" AICs and the requisite "bifurcation" in the motherboard's BIOS subsystems. PCIe 4.0 doubled the clock rate to 16G and that one change in the standard has clearly given an enormous boost to these "4x4" AICs. Lastly, I checked yesterday in a few QVL documents, and the very latest AMD chipsets are said to support auto-detection of these "4x4" AICs. The one natural evolution that appears to need attention is native motherboard support for all modern RAID modes on all integrated M.2 ports. This support for all modern RAID modes became an industry standard with integrated SATA ports, so it's only a matter of time for M.2 NVMe ports to have the same general support for all modern RAID modes, particularly bootable RAID arrays.

[MRFS]

Note the limitation reported here:

https://edgeup.asus.com/2020/the-asus-hyper-m-2-x16-gen-4-card-takes-raid-performance-to-the-next-level/

"If you’d like to expand M.2 storage capacity on your AMD X570 motherboard instead, you can use that platform’s CPU PCIe lane bifurcation capability to direct up to eight lanes of PCIe 4.0 to the Hyper M.2 X16 Gen 4 Card—enough for up to two more PCIe 4.0 SSDs."

[Dashers]

Ooo this looks interesting. Would a RAID on this be bootable? And the magic, how much is it going to cost?

I have the PCIe lanes for it (albeit only gen 3), might be a nice upgrade path for me. Quad NVMe RAID, hah, that is going to be insane.

[shaithis]

Ooo this looks interesting. Would a RAID on this be bootable? And the magic, how much is it going to cost?

I have the PCIe lanes for it (albeit only gen 3), might be a nice upgrade path for me. Quad NVMe RAID, hah, that is going to be insane.

I think it would be madness not to place a bootable ROM on the card...

[MRFS]

As far as I know, ASRock's Ultra Quad M.2 Gen3 "4x4" AIC is bootable
when it is installed in a compatible ASRock motherboard.

If/when ASRock offers a Gen4 version, that version should also be bootable.

https://www.asrock.com/mb/spec/product.asp?Model=ULTRA%20QUAD%20M.2%20CARD

[MRFS]

https://www.techpowerup.com/262924/asrock-to-launch-hyper-quad-m-2-pcie-4-0-expansion-card

ASRock to Launch Hyper Quad M.2 PCIe 4.0 Expansion Card

"The card uses the PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ...."

[MRFS]

> I think it would be madness not to place a bootable ROM on the card...

I believe the place where changes must be made is the motherboard's BIOS
e.g. a recent AMD QVL states that the latest AMD chipsets support "auto-detection"
of those "4x4" add-in cards. This implies that the User will not need to
enable "bifurcation" because the motherboard BIOS will detect the presence
of up to 4 x NVMe M.2 SSDs in that one AIC. And, I also assume that ASRock
motherboards will also support multiple 4x4 AICs installed in a single motherboard
because their Gen3 4x4 AIC does support multiple 4x4 AICs. See the DIP switch layout here:

https://www.asrock.com/mb/features/Ultra-Quad-M2-Card05.jpg