ASUS Launches HYPER M.2 x16 PCIe Expansion Card
Ron Perillo / 7 years ago
ASUS has been teasing the HYPER M.2 x16 PCIe expansion card for a while, but it is finally available for pre-order. The device takes up a single PCIe x16 slot and it supports up to four PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSDs at the same time in RAID. Users can install M.2 cards with the following form factors: M.2 2242, 260, 2280 and 22110.
ASUS’ Space-saving RAID Solution
Since it only occupies a single PCIe x16 slot, the HYPER M.2 storage solution is a handy upgrade for an HEDT system with an available slot. Motherboard compatibility currently includes:
- ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME
- ROG RAMPAGE VI APEX
- ROG STRIX X299-XE GAMING
- ROG STRIX X299-E GAMING
- PRIME X299-DELUXE
- PRIME X299-A
- TUF X299 MARK 1
- TUF X299 MARK 2
This virtual RAID function is called VROC and it is currently exclusive to Intel X299 platforms. Moreover, depending on the level of RAID, users would need to purchase an additional key. The only exception is when running in RAID 0. A standard hardware key is necessary for RAID 1 and a premium hardware key is necessary for RAID 5.
Pricing and Availability
Pricing for the HYPER M.2 expansion card starts at $54.99 USD and is now available for pre-order in the US. The VROC hardware dongle however costs $99, while the premium key costs $249 USD.
