Thin mini-ITX powered PCIe riser 4x to 16x

Hi everyone,

@BillBaroud and I partnered with C_Payne from [H] to design and develop a reversed thin mini-ITX PCIe riser, allowing you to add a discrete GPU to your thin mini-ITX system.

We have currently 5 risers for sale.
We also have a 16x to 16x riser available.

We are asking 35€ per unit, excl. shipping (from France).


Original prototypes of both risers


Finished products with screw terminals for solderless operations




Please find hereafter some more explanations regarding this riser, which you can discuss on the original thread.

1. Three main features

- The riser allows your card to fold just over the IO to allow for very compact builds.

- Riser is powered since the on-board PCIe 4X slot cannot provide more than 25W. This is why the +12V line from the slot has been cut so that ALL the power your GPU needs (both slot and PCIe connectors) will be provided by the 12V source of your choosing.

- The riser integrates a MOSFET switch, based on a powerful BTS555 chip rated for 165A.
This circuit is triggered by the motherboard (not extra wire) and switches ON the +12V to the GPU when the computer starts, and switches OFF the +12V when the computer shuts down.

To sum up, no +12V will be applied to the GPU when the computer is turned OFF.


Riser Principle


The riser can be powered by any 12V source, such as AC-DC Adapters, Open-Frame PSUs, DC-DC boards such as HDPLEX, etc.

2. How to hook it up

- Input : two screw-on terminals, to let you easily connect the riser to your 12V source.
Alternatively, input wires can also be soldered (as seen on the prototypes).
- Output : one 8-Pin Mini-Fit Jr connector, to power your GPU or anything that needs 12V (fans, etc.).



Hereafter you will find some possible use case scenarios.

3. Some use case scenarios

-
Gigabyte GA-H110TN motherboard with a single 12V 10A AC adapter, powering a G4600T and a 750 Ti.
Great set up for ~ 120W builds. Only two wires !



- For more demanding hardware, you can use a Meanwell EPP-300-12...



... Or a HDPLEX board if you happen to use an Asrock thin mini-ITX motherboard (19V input only) with a GTX 1060.



Thanks for your attention !
 
Last edited:

aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
952
1,121
Up to 180W, this seems to be the perfect solution. Only 43 x 31 mm and integrated ON/OFF function :

The regulator’s enable input, EN, is pulled high (to 5 V) internally, which enables the regulator by default. The EN pin can be driven low (under 1 V) to disable the output and put the board into a low-power state. The quiescent current draw in this sleep mode is dominated by the current in an internal pull-up resistor and the reverse-voltage protection circuit, which altogether will draw between 5 µA and 10 µA per volt on VIN when EN is held low. To bring the board out of this low-power state, the EN pin should be pulled above 2 V. If you do not need this feature, you can leave the EN pin disconnected.