Question NVME M.2 M-Key to SATA Adapter

[Angstromm]

I have an NGFF NVME M-Key PCI Express to SATA 3.0 6Gbps 5 Port Adapter Card but discovered that the M.2 slot I want to use is on the back of my mobo, so no clearance to run SATA cables off the adapter.

I see only two potential solutions: 1. Make a cutout in case under the mobo's M.2 location; 2. find an adapter that cables out to actual SATA ports, which can be mounted elsewhere in case.

I'd rather not cut the case--possibility of a few remaining metal bits in the case is unappealing.

So, does anyone know of such an adapter. I've looked all over the place without luck.

This, by the way, is a Mini-ITX NAS build--specs below

Thanks!

CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor AM5 Socket
Cooler	Noctua NH-C14S, Premium CPU Cooler + NF-A14 PWM 140mm Fan - 115mm H x 163mm D x 140mm W
Mobo	ASRock B650E PG-ITX WiFi AMD Ryzen 7000 Series CPU (Soket AM5) B650 Mini-ITX Mobo
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5-5600 CL40-40-40-89 1.25V 96GB (2x48GB) AMD EXPO 14.286 ns
Storage	Crucial T700 W/Heatsink 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME SSD CT1000T700SSD5 3.15” x 0.87” x 0.15" / 80 x 22.1 x 3.8 mm
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS 18 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS 18 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS 18 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS 18 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
PSU	Corsair SF600 600 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
Case	JONSBO N3 Black NAS ITX Case 8+1 Disk Bays Mini Aluminum Case SFX ≤105mm; CPU Cooler Height: ≤130mm; Display Card Length: ≤ 250mml long
Adapter	Xiwai NGFF NVME M-Key PCI Express to SATA 3.0 6Gbps 5 Ports Adapter Card JMB585 2280 SA-004

 

[USAFRet]

I do not believe there is a NVMe -> SATA adapter as you wish.

Solution:
A regular NVMe drive in the port, and an external 4-5 bay SATA enclosure.

Generally speaking, NAS use will not really have problems with performance, with some external adapter.
I know mine does not.

 

[thestryker]

You could just get a PCIe to SATA adapter since you don't seem to be using the slot. If this isn't an option then these are the options you haven't already come up with that I see:

The smart option: get rid of the PCIe 5.0 drive, buy a PCIe 4.0 one and use that from the back and your adapter on the front.

The not so smart option: get a M.2 to U.2 adapter (assuming one with a port design that will fit your case is available) and U.2 cable, then get a U.2 to M.2 adapter and run your M.2 to SATA adapter off of that.

 

[Angstromm]

I do not believe there is a NVMe -> SATA adapter as you wish.

Solution:
A regular NVMe drive in the port, and an external 4-5 bay SATA enclosure.

Generally speaking, NAS use will not really have problems with performance, with some external adapter.
I know mine does not.

Thanks USAFRet, appreciate the response and suggestion. I want a compact solution and my 8-bay, basically 8"-9" cube case (Jonsbo N3) works really well for my needs.

 

[Angstromm]

You could just get a PCIe to SATA adapter since you don't seem to be using the slot. If this isn't an option then these are the options you haven't already come up with that I see:

The smart option: get rid of the PCIe 5.0 drive, buy a PCIe 4.0 one and use that from the back and your adapter on the front.

The not so smart option: get a M.2 to U.2 adapter (assuming one with a port design that will fit your case is available) and U.2 cable, then get a U.2 to M.2 adapter and run your M.2 to SATA adapter off of that.

Great suggestions, thestryker, thanks! Yeah, I could lose the PCIe 5.0 drive, but bummer! That, of course, is the cleanest solution but the loss of all that performance...sigh. I also, at some point, was planning to set this up as a desktop computer and might want to game some, so keeping the PCIe x16 slot open was my plan.

Your "not so smart option" never occurred to me. Interesting. Not smart because of adapting back and forth? This is kinda what I was looking for (get to keep 5.0 drive and slot for future graphics card).

 

[SkyNetRising]

I see only two potential solutions: 1. Make a cutout in case under the mobo's M.2 location; 2. find an adapter that cables out to actual SATA ports, which can be mounted elsewhere in case.

You can swap M.2 sata adapter with M.2 drive already installed in your pc.
So - adapter goes into front and
M.2 drive goes into back of the motherboard.

 

[thestryker]

Great suggestions, thestryker, thanks! Yeah, I could lose the PCIe 5.0 drive, but bummer! That, of course, is the cleanest solution but the loss of all that performance...sigh.

Is there a use case you have for the extra sequential bandwidth? I have all PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 drives and there is no real difference between them other than peak sequential and they all have the same problems with random read/write (which is why I use several Optane drives in my server despite them being much slower sequential). It certainly won't help you out network access wise as PCIe 3.0 drives max out 10gbe.

I also, at some point, was planning to set this up as a desktop computer and might want to game some, so keeping the PCIe x16 slot open was my plan.

I was assuming that you had some sort of plan for it as it seemed like the most obvious solution.

Your "not so smart option" never occurred to me. Interesting. Not smart because of adapting back and forth? This is kinda what I was looking for (get to keep 5.0 drive and slot for future graphics card).

Yeah it's the usage of all the adapters which would be problematic. You'd be adding three points of potential compatibility issues and failure points as opposed to one. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but that it would be a nightmare to troubleshoot.

 

[Angstromm]

You can swap M.2 sata adapter with M.2 drive already installed in your pc.
So - adapter goes into front and
M.2 drive goes into back of the motherboard.

Thanks SkyNetRising, appreciate you responding. I'd like to keep the top slot for the greater bandwidth it offers (or OS drive). So, if possible, I'd like to fine another viable solution. But if nothing else suffices, then yeah, that's the way I'll have to go...

 

[Angstromm]

Yeah it's the usage of all the adapters which would be problematic. You'd be adding three points of potential compatibility issues and failure points as opposed to one. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but that it would be a nightmare to troubleshoot.

Right, agree, more opportunities for things to go awry. And this is for critical data transport, backups, etc. Don't want things getting FUBAR on me. I guess I could try it and run extensive testing to see if there are any potential issues.

Hey, and thanks again!

 

[DSzymborski]

Are you doing *extremely* large transfers of sequential files constantly? That's basically the only scenario in which the "performance" difference between PCIE 4.0 and 5.0 actually is relevant.

 

[USAFRet]

Are you doing *extremely* large transfers of sequential files constantly? That's basically the only scenario in which the "performance" difference between PCIE 4.0 and 5.0 actually is relevant.

And then, only between two like drives.