From 0 to NUC/AL/RAM in 2 hours

[John769]

Great thread, thanks.!  Anyone know if there's enough height to fit a JPLAY net or Intel X520 card into the Akasa Plato X7D (A NUC39-M1B)?  Otherwise, will need to get a longer cable, I guess around 25cm?, and use externally.  Thinking of this riser:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/M-2-NGFF-NVMe-M-Key2280-To-PCIe-3-0-4x-Riser-Card-Cable-PCI-Express/32833359557.html

[John769]

2 hours ago, elan120 said:

It won't have enough headroom to fit these card vertically, but if you lay the card flat (side ways), there might have enough room in the front section to fit the card, but it will be very tight, and in addition, you will likely be removing the two USB3.0 extension cables to create enough room, as well as having longer Ethernet cables to reach the card.  Fitting card externally likely be better solution.

 

Cheers, I was expecting that to be the case (pun intended)..

 

2 hours ago, auricgoldfinger said:

 

If I understand Marcin correctly, you will have to keep the lid off the X7D in order to use the JPLAY card together with this riser.

Thanks. Sure, but no need to remove lid if the cable is long enough to exit the case.  I'm thinking about 25 cms (10 inches)...don't want it longer than necessary but equally enough length to reach the card without being too tight.

[John769]

1 hour ago, auricgoldfinger said:

Please be sure to post a photo of the end result.  I'm curious to see how the lid stays secure.

Could it not just exit that big hole (serial port?) to the left?   Unfortunately on the other side to the m.2 slot I think but doable?

 

 

[John769]

Actually, I doubt there would be a way to fit even the smaller end of the Bestar riser cable through that serial hole- doh!  Maybe not doing the lid up tightly in that corner and you could feed it under the lid somehow.  Difficult to say though because I don't yet have the case.

 

45 minutes ago, auricgoldfinger said:

Are you planning to use this NUC as a server?  If so, wouldn't the NIC take away your ability to use an Optane drive?

 

I already am but with JPLAY and dual PCs- not AL.  For that control PC,  local storage is via a 2.5" HDD (sata to USB adapter) and powered by a lifepo4 powered 4 x parallel L3045 board (cheap on ebay).  Yes, I would lose the option for an optane in that NUC but not the endpoint/ audio NUC.  All very different to how AL/roon works, of course, but I may give that a try one day. ☺️