Connecting an external graphics card: how many PCI lanes are needed? Experiments and tests
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The most challenging task we face when creating our mini PCs is equipping them with a suitably powerful graphics card. The same problem arises if you already have a mini PC or laptop and would like to increase its graphics capabilities.
This is a problem because more or less powerful graphics cards are large. The natural urge is to move the graphics card outside the PC and connect it as needed.
We've already demonstrated how to solve this problem and even created universal solutions for external graphics card enclosures. But there's a problem here too. What should you connect it to? After all, miniature mini-ITX or mini-STX motherboards often lack traditional PCI Express slots.
You have to use either mini-PCI Express connectors or M2 Type B connectors designed for connecting a WiFi adapter, and make the adapter external. This is the most popular solution, and one we've experimented with frequently. However, it's important to remember that this only connects the graphics card to the PCI Express bus via one lane, compared to 16 on a full-size slot.
You can increase the number of lanes by connecting the graphics card to an M2 Type M slot, which is typically used for SSDs. If you use a SATA SSD, this slot can be freed up, giving you four PCI Express buses at your disposal.
Will this provide any benefits? And if so, how much? We'll try to answer these questions in our video.
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