SFF.Network SilverStone's PCIe to M.2 Range Expands

TechPowerup recently revealed that Silverstone has launched two of their PCIe to M.2 adapters – the ECM23 and ECM25. While we saw these at Computex 2018, it’s great to see them finally ready for retail.

The ECM23 is a ...

Read more here.

 

[chx]

You forgot to mention the ECM25 fits 1U chassis! That's huge. OTOH it doesn't support 22110 length??? When the Intel Optane and the Seagate Nytro disks are 22110?? Especially given how this is obviously a server part... that's not the wisest design decision. See https://www.servethehome.com/intel-optane-905p-hits-1-5tb-finally-and-380gb-m-2-specs-up/ here. And there would be space -- there's a full 47mm from the PCI slot cover to the edge connector where this adapter starts so lengthening by 30mm in that direction would have been rather easy and not conflict with anything. https://www.moxa.com/edit_pic/CP_104EL_dimensions.jpg

http://www.holchips.com/series_P16NM01.html See?

 

[confusis]

I get the feeling that this unit is definitely aimed at consumers, hence the lack of support for the aforementioned, rather expensive, drives. @SilverStone would be better placed to comment on your thoughts - I'm just reporting the news, @chx

 

[chx]

Yeah but 1U support is big news

 

[confusis]

It is for ServeTheHome I don't know of any SFF cases that specify they are 1U compatible (although I do have some server plans in the works for my own home rack that may be SFF in nature..)

 

[chx]

Ha, Servethehome as I just discovered is so over this by now https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/cheap-1u-pcie-m-2-riser-why-dont-they-exist.14634/

 

[Therandomness]

Aww, what about the other way around?

 

[chx]

If you mean M.2 to PCIe then https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/10gb-sec-in-itx-w-gpu.2923/page-4#post-115033

 

[Therandomness]

If you mean M.2 to PCIe then https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/10gb-sec-in-itx-w-gpu.2923/page-4#post-115033

Oh I'm aware those exist, they're just a little expensive for my taste.

 

[Phuncz]

I've been waiting for the ECM23 ever since the reveal at Computex, it's an excellent fit for the In Win Chopin to add NVMe storage without modding.

 

[chx]

Once again: no need to wait, it's been on taobao for a while now (although I certainly didn't dig into it out until now because I never knew I needed one ), let me link Superbuy just because I had good experience with them https://www.superbuy.com/en/page/buy?nTag=Home-search&url=https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=527720505237 and unlike Silverstone it does take 22110 but it can be downconvertered to a 2280 version as well.

 

[Phuncz]

That's not the Silverstone ECM23., this is the ECM23: https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=809&area=en
I'm well aware of other PCIe to M.2 PCIe adapters, I already have one in another computer.

 

[LeDelmo]

I posted this in another thread. But, for anyone interested. I contacted SilverStone about these and they E-mailed me back stating they will be available this December. But, I didn't get a price.

 

[SilverStone]

I get the feeling that this unit is definitely aimed at consumers, hence the lack of support for the aforementioned, rather expensive, drives. @SilverStone would be better placed to comment on your thoughts - I'm just reporting the news, @chx

At the time of ECM25's development, commercially available bare 22110 M.2 SSDs were nearly non-existent. There was also the increased difficulty and cost associated with longer trace required from M.2 slot to PCIe slot if we increased the length of ECM25 to accommodate 22110. However, we are constantly monitoring the market trend of these things, so if availability improves or demand for this increases, we'll for sure release one!

 

[SilverStone]

Hi everyone, since we are here already, let's get more of your feedbacks before we proceed. For the future 1U adapter card that can accept 22110 M.2 SSD, are there any additional requirement / features you'd like to see? Should we make it also compatible with the wider 30.5mm format? (but this may increase height over 1U).

 

[chx]

I thought 30.5mm was extremely rare with like two models, one from Samsung and one from Adata?

 

[Phuncz]

Pardon my crappy lighting and editing in the following photos, I just used my desk lamp since it's too cold and dark outside and I don't have a good photo RAW workflow. Images out of focus are because of a manual focus lens that doesn't communicate with the camera at all.

The ECM23 landed in Europe recently and I got one to see if I could do what I wanted to, namely enable the usage of the PCIe slot of an mITX board in the In Win Chopin case:

The kit on the right and top, the SSD in the middle, the old PCIe to M.2 adapter on the bottom left.

The rear of the adapter, which looks pretty clean except for the highly irritating serial sticker.

Removed the four screws and backplate. The PCB has some some copper incorporated to also wick away heat. Notice the slot in the middle that centres the heatsink into the PCB.

Removed the PCB from the heatsink. Those four SMDs on the top or blue LEDs that shine through four pinholes in the heatsink.

Applied the first layer of thermal padding to the PCB where the M.2 will be making contact with.

After needing to use more pressure than I'm comfortable with to get the M.2 seated in the connector (it seems to be friction-fit unlike every motherboard M.2 connector I have encountered), the SSD still fit.

Assembling it the first time yielded the above image: a reasonably warped PCB. By re-doing the screws and maintaining pressure on the middle while installing the backplate, along with pushing the heatsink inside the slot in the middle of the PCB, I was able to overcome most of the bend. Enough for me not to worry but it wasn't perfectly straight. The copper sticker on the back of the recent Samsung 900 series SSDs seems to be the cause of this.

Time to see if it'll fit !

Oh yes, that's an SFF-approved fit. 1-2mm room between heatsink and power supply. You can also see the pinholes in the heatsink where the LEDs shine through on access. They all flicker at the same time, no 21st century lighting effects here.

Snug ! Just like that fan on the heatsink touching the inside of the extra roomy Chopin's perforated side panel.

Time to install Windows to see if it works ! I can see the drive for installation, no problems there ! But the point where the first phase of the installation finishes and the computer reboots to complete setting up, it doesn't...

Then I saw the text in the bottom red text box on the packaging:

I was planning on using it in my ASRock Z87E-ITX board and I remembered that the NVMe support on that chipset was basically not there, even though it was working for Z97 chipset without much fuss. With a lot of help from the guides at the Win-RAID forum, I managed to add NVMe functionality to the BIOS. Installation finished and my plan worked !

 

[LeDelmo]

Edit:

Are these adapters compatible with AMD Motherboards? I tried looking it up and so far I only see people using them with Intel.

But, it sounds like as long as you don't use it for a boot-drive it should be okay.

BTW, Amazon finally shows them as in-stock. Took them awhile to show up on there. I want to get the ECM25 for my Chopin case.