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
Hi @GuilleAcoustic, glad our first customer is French !

Total cost including shipping is 38,5 € (en lettre suivie). Yes, no problem for Paypal !
Let's continue in PM :)
 

aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
952
1,121
Thanks !
Both the resistor and the smaller chip - which is an other Mosfet - are part of the circuit that will trigger, upon boot, the larger BTS555 mosfet, which will handle the load (rated for 165A).

To quote the designer :

Usually one would need a pfet to switch the 12V to the GPU. Using nfet would require 12V+ around 5 V to fully open the BTS555 transistor.
It opens when the input is connected to ground, which I achieve with the additional npn inverting transistor. Thats about it.
GND is always connected. (seperately)
 
Last edited:

Windfall

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFFn Staff
Nov 14, 2017
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are these still for sale?
Could you make more?
I may need alot of them!
 

aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
952
1,121
Hi @Windfall , thanks for your interest.

Yes we have a few kits on stock ; I'll let you know the exact quantities asap.
BTW do you need 4X or 16X risers ?

Would you mind explaining a bit more what kind of project you have in mind ?
 

Windfall

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFFn Staff
Nov 14, 2017
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This is for a mini STX project. This will connect to the m.2 to pcie x4, adapter: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Z5YKXJ/?tag=theminutiae-20

and then uses a HDPLex pcie riser to get the GPU to where I need it.

However, I was wondering if you could customize this riser for my needs. I would have to have it be powered by a 8 pin connector instead of the three screw on power things, and have the 12v power removed, maybe. i can make some drawings to help you understand.
 

aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
952
1,121
This is what we have left in stock :

http://www.casimages.com/i/180406062921261677.jpg.html

You can solder the input wires instead of using the screw terminals. But you cannot have a 8-Pin Mini Fit JR instead (no matching holes).
On the output side, you can choose not to solder the 8-Pin connector if your are going for PEG-less GPUs.
 

Windfall

Shrink Ray Wielder
SFFn Staff
Nov 14, 2017
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Okay, is there anyway I could customize it though?
The way you power it is to finicky
For my uses it needs ajustement. Maybe make me a custom one?
 

aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
952
1,121
We studied the possibility to power the riser through a Mini-Fit Jr connector.
However, we all agreed on the fact that it adds unnecessary bulk and wires, while there are great chances the input wires will bump into the case back panel...



I'm not sure what you mean by "finicky" but you cannot make something more simple and sturdy than soldered wires or ring-crimped wires.

Are you powering your GPU with a HDPLEX 160W DC-ATX triggered by the system ?
If yes, you would just have to crimp both +12V and GND wires coming from the HDPLEX EPS connector into two ring terminals, like in the example below :

 
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aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
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Hi @Aki sure, I have some PCB left.
I have one already built but with soldered power input wires (around 20 cm).

Let me know if you need the screw-terminals input and we'll work something out :)
 

Aki

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Aug 9, 2016
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@aquelito
Hi, thanks for the fast answer. I'm really sorry to say, that I'm not intrested anymore for now, since I just woke up to way to many massages from the hd plex 400 ac dc thread as it's now listed on the website. With that unit out I might change my power supply setup completely, as it shoud fit my needs better than my current plan.
 

ExplodingWaffle101

SFF Lingo Aficionado
May 11, 2018
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I'm a bit confused on the whole pcie slot power situation but: a 1060 with a 6 pin still needs the slot power and therefore this riser, right? May want to purchase one in the nearish future


edit: would this be a good cad model (for the pcie at least) or can you provide one
 
Last edited:

aquelito

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Piccolo PC
Feb 16, 2016
952
1,121
Hi there,

Yes you'll still need 75W of slot power :)

Hereafter a link from which you'll be able to download to the riser Sketchup file :
https://we.tl/t-ArS0qw8Ch0

I have one piece ready to ship. You'd be interested in the x4 version, right ?