PSA: The nonstandard, long PCIe port on the ASUS KRPA-U16 can take regular PCIe devices

[sfpspf]

This server motherboard has a long port the documentation calls "24x" that is used to provide one x16 and one x8. However, It was never clear to me whether the port could take regular PCIe devices, and Asus doesn't sell the server riser directly to tinkerers like me.

So I used a multimeter and probed the "24x" port to ensure everything was connected as expected.

I then connected a crappy graphics card to a regular PCIe extension. There was no magic smoke!

After that, I connected a 3090. It's working perfectly.

NOTICE: I don't know if it's just my motherboard, or whether all KRPA-U16 are set up in this fashion, so do some probing before connecting anything to it! Be careful!

 

[RolloZ170]

NOTICE: I don't know if it's just my motherboard, or whether all KRPA-U16 are set up in this fashion, so do some probing before connecting anything to it! Be careful!

in the case there are mult. versions a wrong Riser can also result in magic smoke!
asus could use a mechanical diff. slot like all other vendors with non std. pinout though.

 

[sfpspf]

in the case there are mult. versions a wrong Riser can also result in magic smoke!
asus could use a mechanical diff. slot like all other vendors with non std. pinout though.

Agreed, you can never be too careful. I carefully probed all the pins to check for electric compatibility before connecting anything. And even then, it was not risk free.

 

[RolloZ170]

in fact any field service tech could put a PCIe card there by mistake.
if that gives magic smoke we have hoarded about.