How to connect U.2 SSDs with the least amount of adapters to an AsRock Rack ROMED6U-2L2T?

[jpmomo]

glad it worked out in the end. It is still strange that the other cable didn't work but that is what happens sometimes when you are on the bleeding edge!

 

[lihp]

glad it worked out in the end. It is still strange that the other cable didn't work but that is what happens sometimes when you are on the bleeding edge!

When it comes to NVME/PCIe drives you have several properties you need to look for in cables:

1. Fits to PCIe 4.0 standard. If it doesnt, it either goes into PCIe 3.0 mode or doesn't work at all.
2. Are all lanes connected in the cable? Way to many cables are set a PCIe x1 cables. So of course using a PCIe 3.0 x1 cable for a PCIe 4.0 x4 drive is an issue and downward compatibility doesnt always kick in (even though it should).
3. Due to the standardization SATA/SAS/NVME you got a lot of cables out there, where the connectors fit, but which are unable to offer the quality needed for NVME drives.

Bottom line: Look for PCIe 4.0 cables for PCIe 4.0 drives and look for the connected lanes, usually in Broadcom/LSI notation as 4i, 8i,... This becomes even more crucial if looking for breakout cables, which is the case here.