https://www.techpowerup.com/330133/maxsun-arc-b580-graphics-card-with-two-m-2-slots-pictured-in-the-flesh Intel Arc board partner MAXSUN earlier this month announced that it is working on an Arc B580 custom-design graphics card with two M.2 Gen 4 NVMe slots on the card, so you can utilize the unused 8 lanes from the x16 PEG slot to connect a pair of SSDs, since the B580 makes do with a PCIe Gen 4 x8 host interface. In the
previous report, we were shown renders of what the card could look like—with two M.2 slots sticking out from the tail of the PCB, with an aluminium heatsink that cools the SSDs under airflow from the second- and third fans. We now have the first picture of this PCB in the flesh.
A Tom's Hardware report reveals the first picture of this contraption, thanks to a leak on Chinese social media. The picture reveals what looks like an 18 cm-long PCB, with two M.2 Gen 4 slots at the tail end. One can make out PCIe interface traces making their way from the x16 PEG interface to the M.2 slots. You can make out the key components of the card, including the "BMG-G21" ASIC, wired to six GDDR6 memory chips, and a 6-phase VRM. The card draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The second 8-pin connector might prove useful in managing the card's power budget, given that the B580 comes with a power limit of 190 W, and the M.2 Gen 4 SSDs each have a peak power draw of around 10 W. This wouldn't be the first time someone decided to put M.2 slots on graphics cards; the
ASUS DUAL GeForce RTX 4060 Ti SSD OC introduced this concept, but with just one M.2 slot.
It's an interesting idea.