Which PCIe extender?

Hi all,

I have been thinking about fitting a second GFX card to my X5000 so I can use Linux and MOS without downgrading my current RX card. So I need a 2 (or possibly 4) x --> 16x PCIe.

However, I see some simply plug into the PCIe slot and the card plugs into them, while others use an external power.

Which would I need?

This video may be helpful as I did this earlier this year 2024.

https://youtu.be/ZpwUkdsYGpU?si=wlkRoKo984Sz7yMb

Depending on the orientation of your 2nd video card, mine was done in a Thermaltake case where the 2nd card is being connected to a certain bracket, this type of cable is what I used. Just match to the proper orientation so your 2nd video card can plug in properly, etc...

I think mine was the R23SF-TL the way I needed it to screw onto my mounting bracket and the video card pop out the back of the case right.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374929149484

Hope this helps.

The video shows you how I did mine.

TJ

@AmigaSociety

Thanks TJ, yes that was very helpful. Looks like I don't need power. My case doesn't have any right angle slots so my plan is to get a simple 1x to 16x slot adapter and plug into that.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006147522340.html

@daveyw

Is this a hardware limitation? I thought another would just plug into another PCie slot? I'm surprised if it needs to be extended somehow.

@Hypex

I have an existing RX560 plugged into the 16x slot. I can't plug a 16 lane graphics card into anything other than a 16 x slot. Poor choice of words on my part, I guess I should say "adapter" rather than "extender".

@Hypex the limitation is a physical one. The 4x slot on the x50x0 motherboards is right next to the 16x slot so unless you have a very basic, single slot graphics card, nothing is going to fit in that 4x slot. If you use an extender then you can bring it out clear of your primary card. An incredible oversight in design if you ask me, but maybe they never considered modern, or multiple cards during design?

@daveyw be aware that when it comes to MOS in particular, cards start to get very picky about working in the second slot. When I tried, I had a card that was allegedly supported by MOS, albeit a very poor card (an HD5450). It would work in the primary slot, but not the 4x slot. I think (but don't quote me) that I established that the extender / adapter wasn't the issue.

I do intend to revisit this at some point. I'm even considering what sort of impact moving my primary card to the 4x adapter would have, because we're likely not using the full 16x bandwidth or anywhere near it.

I've no idea how Linux plays with this, I only tested MOS at the time, but I do now have a second SSD that I was going to try Linux on, but since I learned that PPC Linux doesn't support RX cards, Linux will have to be on a secondary card too.

It's all a bit of a minefield. Plenty of people have done it, but it's annoying to say the least and involves some pretty ancient hardware.

@daveyw

I also purchased a decent brand adapter yours but you have to make sure the card you use has the right height, etc... so it can plug in and mount screw-holes to the case so it stays in place and not wobble. Maybe a 1/2 height type of video card is designed to plug into the extender and then mount all properly?

I was just gonna connect the extender, then plug a long extender cable into that and mount the full size video card elsewhere but that extender was wobbly and nothing locking it in so I moved onto that 4x slot and proper cable like mine where I could plug it in and mount the video card elsewhere.

The cards that work with MOS were harder to find one that for sure works, all are used, and luckily my case has a full slot I could run an extender cable too.

Good luck with your adventure!

TJ

@MartinW

Thanks for explaining. I can understand. Having recently learned about PCIe risers in solving PCIe issues I can see how this would be an issue.

I don't quite know why but the X5000, which has overshadowed the X1000 now, has unusual limitations. I knew of the SATA but now I find it's PCIe as well. It appears to be a jumped up Sam 460!

I suspect the Linux limitation is because the RX drivers are developed on x86 and little endian only. The hardware used to be dual endian and the drivers portable. Then AMD dropped big endian hardware support and soon after the drivers lapsed so they only had partial support and went faulty. The cards that work lack hardware 3d and Gnome support unless you have an old HD 6000. My X1000 has an R7 250 which worked ok with Ubuntu Precise, albeit without and hardware 2d or 3d, but broke with Xenial and needed work just to show a display. Later cards up a AMD Radeon RX 7600 are know to work in a Raptor POWER9 server, which uses little endian. I wonder if a little endian port of Linix to the X1000/X5000 would solve a lot of issues. Fienix is already a whole dedicated distro for PPC.

Here some usefull info:

https://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-01-00051-EN.html







Just search for the number and a AliExpress link can be found.

@MartinW

Thanks, I am interested in trying Morphos but my priority is getting Linux back which I lost when I upgraded to an RX card.

I am wary about using a 4x to 16x ribbon extender because it would mean, as all my case slots line up with pci/e connectors, it would be jammed up against an unoccupied motherboard pci connecter. Hence my plan to get a simple connector adapter and use that. I can see Skateman seems to not have this problem but I'm not sure my case will be as accommodating.

It's amazing that the latest Sam is the only motherboard to provide a practical solution to this problem.