SPCR

So I'm planning an upgrade and am toying with the idea of hooking a PCIe audio interface into an M.2 slot with an M.2-to-PCIe adapter and a flex-riser. Power shouldn't be an issue, thanks to the adapter's Molex, and AFAIK the M.2 PCIe connection is just treated like just another PCIe slot, but no one seems to use M.2-PCIe adapters for anything but SSDs, and that makes me wonder if I've overlooked something. Has anyone tried anything like this before or know of any reason why it wouldn't work? What problems might I run into, aside from the usual PCIe adapter/riser fickleness?

Hi,

You may run into problems! This depends on your MB. I have a M.2 interface on my MB and did some research, since I considered buying a M.2 SSD (but went with a SATA3 SSD because there were too few M.2 options and the technoloygy hasn't matured yet; I was conserned about the hight temperature readings from M.2 SSDs, for example. Also, I had plenty of room for a 2.5'' drive).

First, the M.2 is keyed. The keys determine how many PCIe lanes the module will use. The host side (MB side) may support all M.2 modules (i.e. either PCIe or SATA mode) or SATA mode only. The notches are not enough to determine this (IIRC). So, make sure your MB can use all M.2 modules (not just SATA storage mode).

To make things more complicated even for the M.2 SSD buyer, I think there are M.2 SSDs that support SATA interface and those that support PCIe mode only. But I'm digressing here...

You may want to check this information via Google, since it was a while since I checked. And in the end, I didn't buy anything for the M.2 interface.

Definitely a good thing to know, though all the mITX mobos I checked out had PCIe-enabled M.2 slots. There was a lot of variability between 1x- and 4x-enabled M.2 slots, though, and I think the keying is incompatible, though I might be wrong about that. I'll definitely double-check before I buy anything.