Help me understand this product: Glotrends Quad Slot M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 X16 Adapter Card with ASM 1184E Chip

[Taddy27]

I wonder, why does a M.2 to PCIe adapter (see link below) have a need for a chip like that (ASM1184e, PCI express packet switch, see link below). This is an adapter that does require PCIe bifurcation.

• Why is such a chip needed in the first place? I thought M.2 to PCIe is just a wire connection from the SSD to the PCIe slot?
• This chip is ' 1 PCIe x1 Gen2 upstream port to 4 PCIe x 1 Gen2 downstream ports', so it should have a bandwidth of 0.5 GBps but the product is advertised as PCI 4.0 x16 (32 GBps). I doubt, that the adapter would only have the bandwidth of one PCIe 2.0 lane.

Quad Slot M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 X16 Adapter Card with ASM 1184E Chip, Only Work with PCIe Splitter Function Motherboard

ASM1184e

 

[sko]

why does a M.2 to PCIe adapter (see link below) have a need for a chip like that (ASM1184e, PCI express packet switch

Because a lot of desktop boards don't support PCIe bifurcation, which is needed to run e.g. 4 M.2 NVMe drives in one x16 slot "the right way".

Don't know what they messed up in that product description (or in the actual product?), but if the platform properly supports bifurcation, there is no need for a PCIe switch.

 

[ericloewe]

Simple answer: Super China Happy Sun just got some random thing from Shenzhen High Tech Company Limited and Company, with zero understanding of what they're reselling because their business model does not involve such things as "specifications" or "customer support".

• Why is such a chip needed in the first place? I thought M.2 to PCIe is just a wire connection from the SSD to the PCIe slot?
• This chip is ' 1 PCIe x1 Gen2 upstream port to 4 PCIe x 1 Gen2 downstream ports', so it should have a bandwidth of 0.5 GBps but the product is advertised as PCI 4.0 x16 (32 GBps). I doubt, that the adapter would only have the bandwidth of one PCIe 2.0 lane.

Just forget these things exist and spare your brain cells, you're not wrong. Life is too short to deal with companies like this. Buy your M.2 adapter cards from companies who can at least get a coherent description put together.

 

[Taddy27]

Because a lot of desktop boards don't support PCIe bifurcation, which is needed to run e.g. 4 M.2 NVMe drives in one x16 slot "the right way".

Don't know what they messed up in that product description (or in the actual product?), but if the platform properly supports bifurcation, there is no need for a PCIe switch.

Do you believe it does support bifurcation? If so, then at PCIe 2.0 x1 speed? Because that seems to be all that the chip can do.

 

[ericloewe]

All bets are off. Why do you care? Why would you want to give them your money if they can't even get the basics right?

 

[Tech Junky]

ASM1184e|ASMedia Technology Inc.

ASMedia Technology was founded in 2004 and went public in 2012 (stock code: 5269.TW). Headquarter is located in Taiwan. ASMedia specializes in high-speed interface technologies with strong expertise in high-speed SERDES in house development. Company strives for continual innovation and the...

www.asmedia.com.tw

Standard Compliant → PCI express base SPEC 2.0 and backward compatible with SPEC 1.1 & 1.0a → PCI Power management SPEC 1.2 Port configuration →1 PCIe x1 lane Gen2 upstream port to 4 PCIe x1 lane Gen2 downstream ports PCIe power management

ASM didn't clarify things much better. Is it one or the other but either way it seems to be limited to x1 electrically which if you have a Gen4 slot could be at least usable yet bottlenecked.



2GB/s isn't bad but, even the cheapest Gen3 drive does 3.5GB/s.

There are $30 adapter options though which are just pass through electrically but, that requires either Intel HEDT or AMD to bifurcate in the UEFI. PLX is mostly aimed at Intel consumer options since they don't split the slot.

Check out my list on Amazon

www.amazon.com

 

[nexox]

As far as I can tell from the single photo that shows the PCB traces, the m.2 slots are directly connected to the x16 host slot. No idea what the ASM chip is doing on there, if that's what's actually under the heatsink at all.

Still, don't buy it.

 

[Taddy27]

All bets are off. Why do you care? Why would you want to give them your money if they can't even get the basics right?

I thought that maybe this product makes sense in a way that I don't understand, but clearly, everybody else can't make sense of it either. So, no, I won't buy it. It did seem interesting to me because it is low profile and has support for 4x 22110.

 

[mattventura]

The listing is self-contradictory - "Only Work with PCIe Splitter Function Motherboard" in the title, but "Without PCIe Splitter Function" in the description?

 

[sko]

Do you believe it does support bifurcation? If so, then at PCIe 2.0 x1 speed? Because that seems to be all that the chip can do.

just get a standard quad carrier board for ~30$ and use bifurcation. no need to buy such weird crap...