• 2 min read
Minisforum turns one PCIe slot into four M.2 bays
Minisforum has shown off the PCIe TO 4, a card that turns a single PCIe slot into four M.2 bays plus one OCuLink port and one USB 3.2 Gen 2Ă—2 Type-C connector. Built around AMD B650, it is aimed at people who look at a d
Image: ixbt.com
Minisforum has shown off the PCIe TO 4, a card that turns a single PCIe slot into four M.2 bays plus one OCuLink port and one USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C connector. Built around AMD B650, it is aimed at people who look at a desktop motherboard and think, “That slot could be doing more.”
The odd part is how practical it looks. The board includes active cooling for the SSDs, which is the kind of unglamorous detail that matters once you start hanging multiple drives off one card. That also hints at the real use case here: dense local storage, fast external connectivity, and fewer compromises than a typical multi-M.2 adapter.
PCIe TO 4 specifications
- Four M.2 slots
- One OCuLink port
- One USB 3.2 Gen 2Ă—2 Type-C port
- Active SSD cooling with a fan
- Based on AMD B650
According to PC Watch, the card can connect up to two SSDs over PCIe 4.0 x4. With three drives installed, each gets two lanes instead, which is a polite way of saying bandwidth gets shared whether the drives like it or not. That trade-off is familiar territory in the storage world, where expansion cards often promise flexibility first and raw speed second.
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AMD and Intel systems are both supported
Minisforum says the board works with both AMD and Intel motherboards, so it is not locked to AM5 despite the AMD B650 branding. That widens the appeal beyond Minisforum’s usual crowd and makes the product feel less like a platform accessory and more like a universal desktop upgrade for compact workstations, home servers, or storage-hungry enthusiasts.
Release window and pricing
The PCIe TO 4 is slated to go on sale in the third quarter of 2026. Minisforum has not announced a price yet, which is either suspense or a sign the company is still figuring out how much niche convenience can command. Given the mix of four M.2 slots, external I/O, and active cooling, the price will decide whether this becomes a clever builder’s tool or just a very polished curiosity.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via ixbt.com
