Concept SFF with Custom loop + M.2 bifurcation for 10GB SFP+

alitech

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Jan 7, 2021
31
6
Just signed up today.

I have been around with block and have not been able to come across a solution for this concept.

I have 10GB almost everywhere in my house. I want to take advantage of that, but there is just one ITX mobo I have come across that has 10GB built in, by supermicro. Super expensive, not worth it and is server grade with IPMI etc etc mostly used for NAS setups.

I would like to get a portable build in SFF case like the Ncase M1. I would like to get it watercooled as I want to put in a Ryzen 3950x in there. It is a hot beast of a CPU and only really shines with a custom loop. What I would like to achieve is a SFF with everything watercooled and a spare slot for 1-GB SFP+ card. As GPUs with waterblocks take about 1.5 slots, I thought the M1 case with the 3 slots would be a good idea.

Thoughts please?
 

ermac318

King of Cable Management
Mar 10, 2019
655
510
Your best bet is to buy a motherboard with Thunderbolt and then get a 10GbE TB3 adapter. That's what I did (using ASRock Z390 Phantom ITX). Dealing with PCIe bifurcation and/or M.2 risers and stuff is too much work.
 

maped

Cable Smoosher
Jan 26, 2017
12
11
You could get a motherboard with 2 M.2 slots and use an pciex4 adapter and riser cable or a suitable combination thereof. I don't know about the specific logistics of M1, but ADT has a wealth of riser cables that should enable you to mount the card almost anywhere. I only have experience with Asus X470i and Asus RJ45 10GB card connected with a simple m.2 to x4 riser, but at least that worked faultlessly. You do lose an M.2 slot, but this way don't have to worry about bifurcation.
 

alitech

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Jan 7, 2021
31
6
You could get a motherboard with 2 M.2 slots and use an pciex4 adapter and riser cable or a suitable combination thereof. I don't know about the specific logistics of M1, but ADT has a wealth of riser cables that should enable you to mount the card almost anywhere. I only have experience with Asus X470i and Asus RJ45 10GB card connected with a simple m.2 to x4 riser, but at least that worked faultlessly. You do lose an M.2 slot, but this way don't have to worry about bifurcation.
thank you for this. this is exactly the solution i needed some guidance on. I think it is going to work well inside a louqe case.

i will also be doing a custom loop
 

alitech

Caliper Novice
Original poster
Jan 7, 2021
31
6
You could get a motherboard with 2 M.2 slots and use an pciex4 adapter and riser cable or a suitable combination thereof. I don't know about the specific logistics of M1, but ADT has a wealth of riser cables that should enable you to mount the card almost anywhere. I only have experience with Asus X470i and Asus RJ45 10GB card connected with a simple m.2 to x4 riser, but at least that worked faultlessly. You do lose an M.2 slot, but this way don't have to worry about bifurcation.
thank you for this. this is exactly the solution i needed some guidance on. I think it is going to work well inside a louqe case.

i will also be doing a custom loop
 
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PatitoStark

Cable Smoosher
Aug 23, 2021
9
0
You could get a motherboard with 2 M.2 slots and use an pciex4 adapter and riser cable or a suitable combination thereof. I don't know about the specific logistics of M1, but ADT has a wealth of riser cables that should enable you to mount the card almost anywhere. I only have experience with Asus X470i and Asus RJ45 10GB card connected with a simple m.2 to x4 riser, but at least that worked faultlessly. You do lose an M.2 slot, but this way don't have to worry about bifurcation.
can you show me photos?

What cable do I buy and how do I install it in the case.

Thank you