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Series-8 flexible USB3+PCIe or SATA+PCIe I/O -> some more x2 2.0 possibility


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Hi everyone,

Just discovered that Intel have introduced a new "Flexible IO" feature in the Series-8 chipset, as used to host 4th-generation Haswell CPUs. There certain ports can be configured to be USB 3.0 and PCIe or SATA and PCIe.

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REF: Intel® 8/C220 Series Chipset Platform Controller Hub: Datasheet

As many of you know, to do a x2 eGPU implementation requires [port1+2], [port3+4]. [port5+6] or [port7+8]. In previous cases, interested users would check their mPCIe and/or expresscard slots in the hope the manufacturer had wired a combo that meets that Intel requirement. With this new "Flexible IO" feature, there is a further check to test in Series-8 chipsets for x2 capability:

If you happen to have a mPCIe/EC port1 (PCIe1) then if have an accessible USB 3.0 4 or SATA 5 you may have or may be able to configure a port2 (PCIe2).

If you happen to have a mPCIe/EC port2 (PCIe2) then if have an accessible USB 3.0 3 or SATA 4 you may have or may be able to configure a port1 (PCIe1)

However, don't think if you have that wired up that's it's going to be plug'n'play. Not at all. Intel have added roadblocks since the 2nd-gen Sandy Bridge/Series-6 chipset. They've locked the ability to modify port functionality. To do it requires the ability to unlock the flash descriptor, acquire and then use Intel's fitc/fpt utility to acquire a flash dump and modify and write it to the flash eeprom. Unlocking the flash descriptor alone can be very difficult requiring a pinmod to pull high the HDA_SD0 signal on your audio chip. The exercise would require a fair bit of effort to get going. Though if you happen to have say a USB 3.0 port that can be combined with an expresscard slot in a [port1+2] combo, then consider how nicely it would all wire up to a new x2 2.0 capable BPlus PE4C V2.0. You'd be getting near Thunderbolt 1.0 10Gbps performance for the efforts :)

More like Intel had a concurrent wifi/pcie + mSATA combo port in mind

This new Flexible IO multiplexing feature would have been created so that a mPCIe slot can be both wifi and mSATA. Previously it had to be one or the other since they use the same pins for their differential signals. Note, that the vendor must configure the slot with this flexibility in mind. Eg: Haswell Dell Latitudes have only one of their three mPCIe slots configured in this way. That's their mPCIe slot above their WWAN slot. It can function either as wifi (pcie) or mSATA. Wired too is USB 2.0 so it can be WWAN as well.

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Not getting this exactly, so if I have a wifi card on mPCIe slot, can I add then some adapter/splitter so I can add a mSATA and the wifi card on the same physical slot?

Flash descriptor is unlocked for me, but anyway what needs to be changed in fitc?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Not getting this exactly, so if I have a wifi card on mPCIe slot, can I add then some adapter/splitter so I can add a mSATA and the wifi card on the same physical slot?

Flash descriptor is unlocked for me, but anyway what needs to be changed in fitc?

The main point here was that if you had an existing mPCIe/EC PCIe1 or PCIe2, you could do additional checks to find the required PCIe2 on USB3_4/SATA5 or PCIe1 on USB3_3/SATA4 for a x2 2.0 eGPU implementation.

Series-8 Flexible IO allows port/slot sharing such that:

USB3_3 = PCIe1

USB3_4 = PCIe2

SATA4 = PCIe1

SATA5 = PCIe2

Similarly then, you could check if your wifi port is PCIe1/PCIe2, and have SATA4/5 enabled. If so, you could extend that slot to be an additional mSATA port. Can they run concurrently via some sort of splitter/extender? I'm not sure. Certainly they can run as either PCIe or SATA if configured as a Flexible IO port in fitc. Do note too that extending SATA in this way would definitely give you a data drive. However, it would probably not give boot support.

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  • 1 month later...

Also dropping this link here, more or less directly related with OP:

M.2 And SATA Express, Discussed - A 1400 MB/s SSD: ASRock's Z97 Extreme6 And Samsung's XP941

Most M.2 PCIe SSDs will utilize two PCI Express lanes (in the case of Z97 Express, of course that means second-gen transfer rates). But Samsung's XP941 is unique in that it communicates over four. That makes it the most ideal candidate for testing ASRock's Z97 Extreme6 and its four-lane PCI Express 30 Ultra M.2 socket.
[h=3]Gain a Port, Lose a Port[/h]Based on Intel's implementation of SATA Express in Z97, if you utilize the new technology, you lose access to two of the storage controller's SATA 6Gb/s ports and the M.2 interface. If you instead choose to go with M.2 (the devices are more plentiful, after all), you can't use SATA Express.

...

On Z97, the PCH-provided M.2 and SATA Express ports are mutually exclusive. You cannot use both simultaneously. Asus is adding third-party SATA Express controllers to some boards, so obviously those are able to operate independently. And then there's ASRock's solution: borrowing four lanes from the CPU's PCI Express controller to create the Ultra M.2 slot.

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  • 1 year later...

Seems like Flexible I/O is still a feature in series 100 chipset but series 100 chipset goes from up to 8 PCIe 2.0 to 20 PCIe 3.0 ports!!!

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Intel® 100 Series Chipset Family PCH Datasheet, Vol. 1 pg.26

Considering that x1.3 is faster than x1.2 and almost as fast as x2.2 link an potential x2 3.0 would be almost as fast as TB2!!! It would be difficult to find adjacent ports to create the x2 link out of the 20 ports but most Broadwell/Skylake laptops come with M.2 slots for WiFi and/or Storage...

It could be feasible though to use a M.2 WiFi or Storage port along with a working adapter for the eGPU either x2.3 or x4.3...

TB3 is now officially supporting eGPUs but if x2.3 is easily implemented, it could be a cheaper solution for low budget Skylake laptops since any adapter will be passive (no thunderbolt chips on either sides)...

 

UPDATE: Bplus announced a new adapter the PE4C V4.1 which can use either an M.2 M or an M.2 A/E and is supposed to be able to achieve an x4.3 connection!!! Impressive performance for an $80 adapter! We will only need a laptop with an M.2 M key empty slot.

Edited by timohour
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