MIRTAZAPINEI am curious how the 4 nvme drive would be at pcie 4.0 x4 speed.

FrickSo I can have like four or five Promontory's in one computer? Crazy days.

Dr. DroCorrect, and configurations with two distinct chips are already found on all X670E and X870E motherboards. It's just a PCIe switch, really.

VraelonHuh, I actually bought this yesterday morning. No delivery date yet though.

TheLostSwedeLekuo, an add-in card manufacturer that produces just about any add-in card you can think of, has released what they call the SouthBridge Max PCIe 4.0 Multi-Function Expansion Card or PB65MX3. We found out about this courtesy of TPU forum member FoulOnWhite who spotted this commercial version of something that first appeared back in January this year as a DIY project, but Lekuo's version brings with it a lot more features. Based on the Promontory 21/B650 AMD chipset, the expansion card not only adds four SATA 6 Gbps ports and four M.2 NVMe slots, but also a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 port (20 Gbps), one USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) port and two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports.

The card requires a PCIe 4.0 x4 slot to enable full functionality, but Lekuo points out that it doesn't require support for bifurcation from the system to work properly. The card measures 174 x 69 mm (D x H) and it needs to be connected to a 6-pin power connector. Lekuo doesn't specify which systems it will work with though, but a safe bet is most AMD AM5 platforms, but as we saw from the DIY solution back in January, it should also be compatible with Intel hardware.

In addition to the PB65MX3, Lekuo also has a product called PR51RX1 or the SouthBridge Mini PCIe x1 to 10-Port Multi-Function Expansion Card. This product is based on the Realtek RTL9151—which was announced back in March this year—multi-interface bridge controller and adds four SATA 6 Gbps ports, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports and three USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports. The 110 x 68 mm (D x H) card connects to a PCIe 4.0 x1 slot and could be a handy expansion option for smaller form factor motherboards.

The Lekuo PB65MX3 has an MSRP of US$269, but appears to be on sale for US$129 at the moment. We were unable to find any pricing for the PR51RX1, suggesting it might not have gone on sale as yet, since none of the links on Lekuo's website worked.

Dr. DroThis was making the rounds on some hardware communities earlier today. Most prominent question seemed to be "Does it work on AM4 or Intel?", the answer is yes. Promontory is basically a PCI Express switch, it has quite a few interesting uses.

FrickSo I can have like four or five Promontory's in one computer? Crazy days.

Let3rAnd then you can use a m.2- PCIe adapter or hook up four of these to each one.

efikkanIt is more useful than a switch, since it can re-drive the signal as e.g. X4 2.0 or 3.0 speeds, which will be more useful for older devices, while a switch will just divide up individual channels.

TheLostSwedeLekuo points out that it doesn't require support for bifurcation from the system to work properly

WirkoWhat bifurcation would theoretically be necessary? A x4 card should work in any slot, whether it's x1 or x16 or anything.

The role of CPU bifurcation would just be to make other 12 lanes usable if the card is connected to the main 16-lane PEG port.

_JP_By the manufacturer's page, when using the four M.2 slots, the link will be at x2. Each x4 link is shared front-to-back.

TheLostSwedeLet us know how it works when it arrives.