Silverstone has released the ECM40, a PCIe 4.0 add-in card that supports up to four M.2 SSDs. The add-in card supports 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 M.2 SSD form factors and features active cooling.
The ECM40 is a single-slot card powered by a PCIe x16 interface. The x16 slot feeds four PCIe lanes to each of the four M.2 slots. Users who want to use this M.2 slot will need to ensure their host machine supports PCIe bifurcation, so the PCIe lanes can be split into 4 x 4 or 4 x 2 configurations.
To keep the drives cool, Silverstone employs a 40 x 40mm dual ball-bearing cooling fan that sits on the edge of the card, attached to a giant heatsink. The heatsink serves as both the cooler and cover for the card, featuring four thermal pads — one for each M.2 slot. The cooling fan can also been switched on and off manually with a switch on the PCIe bracket, allowing for passive operation when necessary.
