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Build a US$20 ExpressCard to PCIe adapter


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Build a $20 Expresscard to PCIe adapter (x1 2.0?)

 

 

Parts needed [URL="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=riser+usb+3.0&_sop=15"] USB 3.0 to PCIe adapter [/URL]starting from $8 or more Expresscard to anything starting from $7 or more. You can even use an old or not working adapter. I used my old PE3A. Flat USB 3.0 cable M-M starting from $5. (optional)(there are cheaper cables but I decided to buy a male-male in case I ruin it. I can also use the other end for a mini pcie adapter :).

My PE3A died a few months back and I have been looking for something to replace it. I didn't want to spent money on more adapters cause my main gaming/video editing machine is an x79 build.

That's why I decided to fix my PE3A-riser setup. But it seems like corrosion took its toll... It wouldn't work and it would also cause my laptop to hang. Since I had a USB 3.0 to PCIe riser laying around from another project I thought that I could solder a USB 3.0 flat cable directly on the ExpressCard pins and then to the adapter. Wiring was one issue.

USB 3.0 to PCIe riser uses 8 signals (& GND). TX+ TX- RX+ RX- REFCLK+ REFCLK- PERST# WAKE#. Detecting which is which was a little bit hard cause the cable that I purchased used a little different colours than the default layout. The following table shows the default colour layout for PCIe TX and RX signals based on the USB 3.0 signal wiring

 

1

RXn

2

RXp

3

GND

4

TXn

5

TXp

 

and the default colour layout for REFCLK PERST# & WAKE based on the USB 2.0 signal wiring.
 

 

1

PERST#

2

REFCLK+

3

REFCLK-

4

WAKE#

 


All you have to do is solder every cable of the above to the correct pin on the EC from the EC standard pg.23.

Don't forget to pull both CPPE# and CLKRUN# to low.

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

dAKUS6D.jpg

 



Can this achieve x1 2.0 signal?

As far as AMD card is concerned, yes. I haven't tested with an Nvidia card but I can be positive that it will work without issues. It seems like with this setup I get better results with my R9-280x than with PE3A + riser setup which seems to had a toll on the signal integrity.

3DMark06 score using an R9-280x and a Dell E6430 along with the custom adapter:

xsJ3F39.png

i7-3630QM OC @ 3,56GHz 6GB @ 1675MHz XMP (seems like my 2GB @1333 CL9 ADATA chip doesn't like 1952MHz CL10 :)) R9-280X 3GB STOCK

 

Edited by timohour
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  • 5 weeks later...

It takes me some hours of work but right now it's functional.

at least i seperate the data and power pins and only needed 8 of 9(10) usb3.0 pins.

of course only pcie version 01...

 

My expresscard wiring is little different and i decided to replace the Usb connectors, they aren't "electrical stable enough" for daily use.

 

hotplug works well using my soundcard but the realtime audiosoftware (dj'ing) crashes each time you touch the cable or connectors, so my final version gets seriell connectors and short high quality cables.

 

 

Edited by L4rs
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