MaxSun is working on a unique design for its Intel Arc B580 graphics cards that makes use of the entire PCIe slot. To do so, this model comes equipped with two M.2 slots that leverage the extra PCIe lanes.
With Intel’s second-gen discrete GPUs just days away from release, board partners have started showcasing their take on the new Battlemage chips. However, regardless of how far these custom models go, they will all end up connected via eight lanes of PCIe Gen 4. This means that half of the PCIe bandwidth will be wasted.
To avoid this, MaxSun has added M.2 ports on its card that can take advantage of the untapped bandwidth, similar to Asus’ RTX 4060 Ti concept. But, unlike Asus’ design, MaxSun went all in, offering two M.2 slots instead. And in case you were wondering, yes both slots are cooled so you can unleash the full might of your SSDs. That said, since the B580 only runs at Gen 4 PCIe, the remaining lanes will operate at Gen 4 speed too. Not a big deal as most users won’t pair an expensive Gen 5 SSD with a $250 card.
Since similarly designed products in the past haven’t included any sort of PCIe lane splitter chip to keep costs down, it’s likely the same case here. If correct, you’ll need a motherboard that supports PCIe bifurcation to allow a larger slot to act like multiple smaller slots by sharing the 16 available lanes between the GPU and SSDs in this example. Thankfully many motherboards nowadays support this feature. For example, Intel Z890 boards should support PCIe x8/x4/x4 lane bifurcation which is exactly what this card would need.
Lastly, this card seems to be based on the brand’s iCraft model. These are triple-fan cards featuring a large heatsink cooling the GPU, and now, probably the M.2 SSDs too. Interestingly, from the leaked renders, we can see that these M.2 slots will be accessible from the card’s side. In other words, you may not need to unscrew any part of the cooler to access your SSDs, which is great from a user-friendliness perspective.
It is always nice to see brands trying to leverage every part of a computer, especially when it concerns a valuable resource like PCIe. A fantastic way to offer a unique product without breaking the bank.
