I believe that's due to height restrictions on the back of the card -- there's not enough room to put M.2 connectors there without encroaching on the space of the next slot, and they would rather keep it single width.
Exactly. Amfeltec makes some adapters that have an offset edge connector so they have clearance on both sides of the card, but that's basically the only way to put M.2 connectors on both sides.
would make sense to me, at least if the m.2 card sit "flat" it should not encroach on any gpu or whatever above or below the card, hell IMO it would make perfect sense so that whatever m.2 cards are in there if the heatsink was properly attached it would allow them to "breath" better, how many gpu were released that are 2-3.5 card width, thi likely would only end up being at most like 1-1.5 card "thickness" last I checked m.2 drives are quite small, especially the ones that do not use any heatsink of their own.
hell even 2 m.2 on one side of the card and 2 on the other so that whatever heatpipes, air circulation etc can be used more effectively.
I looked at the picture of the asus one someone else listed and that is a cruddy small probably very loud fan compared to what it could have been ^.^
If the PCB is at the normal position (i.e. not offset to make room in the back), there is no room above the card - absolutely anything will encroach on the above slot's space. This is the case for GPU backplates, for instance.
Would love a card that also has a switch, so you don't need a board that does bufrication. The only one I know of is from Aplicata but it's x8 (although still quad NVMe M.2).
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The_Assimilator - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
AnandTech, fix your damn "Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2018 Coverage?" footer thing - the "Hardware" link goes to a 404.Ryan Smith - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
Thanks for the heads up. Fixed!The_Assimilator - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
I wish I knew why none of these manufacturers use the simple space-saving expedient of putting two M.2 SSDs on either side of the card.tomatotree - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
I believe that's due to height restrictions on the back of the card -- there's not enough room to put M.2 connectors there without encroaching on the space of the next slot, and they would rather keep it single width.Billy Tallis - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
Exactly. Amfeltec makes some adapters that have an offset edge connector so they have clearance on both sides of the card, but that's basically the only way to put M.2 connectors on both sides.Dragonstongue - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
would make sense to me, at least if the m.2 card sit "flat" it should not encroach on any gpu or whatever above or below the card, hell IMO it would make perfect sense so that whatever m.2 cards are in there if the heatsink was properly attached it would allow them to "breath" better, how many gpu were released that are 2-3.5 card width, thi likely would only end up being at most like 1-1.5 card "thickness" last I checked m.2 drives are quite small, especially the ones that do not use any heatsink of their own.hell even 2 m.2 on one side of the card and 2 on the other so that whatever heatpipes, air circulation etc can be used more effectively.
I looked at the picture of the asus one someone else listed and that is a cruddy small probably very loud fan compared to what it could have been ^.^
Hul8 - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
If the PCB is at the normal position (i.e. not offset to make room in the back), there is no room above the card - absolutely anything will encroach on the above slot's space. This is the case for GPU backplates, for instance.CheapSushi - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
Would love a card that also has a switch, so you don't need a board that does bufrication. The only one I know of is from Aplicata but it's x8 (although still quad NVMe M.2).davegraham - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
just got this card in the mail today from Aplicata. looks like a solid piece of kit.Death666Angel - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link
That's some expensive piece of equiment you need. For that kind of money, wouldn't a platform with bifurcation support make more sense? :)msroadkill612 - Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - link
Even a TR w/ 2x gpuS doesnt have a 16 lane slot spare - just saying.yep, it is dear but more complex too.
vFunct - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
This needs to be half-height to be useful in servers.msroadkill612 - Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - link
The $99 Applicata m.2 x 16 has a whole bunch of what look like caps on it? - interesting.https://www.amazon.com/Aplicata-Quad-NVMe-PCIe-Ada...