Hardware external pcie adapter questions

[DarkFlare69]

I have a PCIe x1 capture card that i use to record gameplay from my game consoles. It has always been inside of my PC and worked completely fine. My question is, if I bought something like this and plugged the usb end into a laptop, and then used a SATA power to usb adapter and plugged that into a different usb port, would it work? I never studied how PCIe works at all, so I have no knowledge on anything related to this. Here's a diagram for better understanding :

The bottom left is the SATA Power to USB adapter.

If you know if this will work or not, please let me know. Thanks

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

It would depend on how much power the capture card requires. In all likelihood, you would need something stronger than a USB port to power the device. USB 3.0 ports on a laptop can push out ~ 0.9A at 4.5w, whereas USB 2.0 can only push out 0.5A at 2.5w, both of which are almost 100% guaranteed not to be enough to power the capture card.

On the other hand, you would need at least USB 3.0 SS for PCIe x1 speed-wise, as USB 2.0 would simply be too slow to transfer data between the capture card and the laptop. If the device itself doesn't support it, then you're shit out of luck altogether and likely would have to use the included mini PCI connector.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

No, that won't. It's a bit deceptive of them to use a standard USB 3.0 connector for the adapter, but it's carrying a PCI signal, not a serial signal. What you COULD do is get something like this and plug it in in place of your wireless card, assuming it's removable:
EXP GDC Laptop External PCI-E Graphics Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q4VMLF6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nHzPAbGGEZ45K

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

No, that won't. It's a bit deceptive of them to use a standard USB 3.0 connector for the adapter, but it's carrying a PCI signal, not a serial signal. What you COULD do is get something like this and plug it in in place of your wireless card, assuming it's removable:
EXP GDC Laptop External PCI-E Graphics Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q4VMLF6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nHzPAbGGEZ45K

That's inaccurate. PCIe is serial, so a USB to PCIe adapter would work just fine...as long as you have a fast enough USB port, and enough power to power whatever you want to use.

 

[Ryccardo]

USB to PCIe adapter would work just fine...as long as [...]

...someone would be so crazy to invent one

Which is extremely unrealistic due to USB being managed by the CPU and not having arbitrary bus access, which isn't a problem with the other interfaces (like Firewire or Thunderbolt - that technically can be used over USB-C connectors )

What TotalInsanity4 meant is that the object pictured uses an USB 3 cable because that's an affordable 9-pin cable, but the signal it's used for is not USB (plenty of unorthodox uses for "RJ45" Ethernet and HDMI available too from your local oriental e-commerce)

There are real PCIexpress 1x to Expresscard or miniPCIexpress adapters, though (since it's just a mechanical conversion + external power adapter)

 

[TotalInsanity4]

That's inaccurate. PCIe is serial, so a USB to PCIe adapter would work just fine...as long as you have a fast enough USB port, and enough power to power whatever you want to use.

Is PCIe serial? I thought it just interfaces directly with the CPU and doesn't need a controller

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

What TotalInsanity4 meant is that the object pictured uses an USB 3 cable because that's an affordable 9-pin cable, but the signal it's used for is not USB (plenty of unorthodox uses for "RJ45" Ethernet and HDMI available too from your local oriental e-commerce)

What he said

There are real PCIexpress 1x to Expresscard or miniPCIexpress adapters, though (since it's just a mechanical conversion + external power adapter)

Like the one I linked, yeah. If his laptop has an Expresscard slot, that's even better, but that's relatively rare on non-business oriented laptops, especially these days

 

[Ryccardo]

Is PCIe serial? I thought it just interfaces directly with the CPU and doesn't need a controller

(the 1X type) is a form of serial bus, meaning only 1 bit is moved at any given time
the higher X variants are parallel, since they transfer more than 1 bit

(Don't confuse the literal definition of serial and parallel with the common name for the former major ports for external PC accessories, USB 1 and 2 are also serial but have nothing to do with "serial ports" of the RS-232 and other varieties)

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Is PCIe serial? I thought it just interfaces directly with the CPU and doesn't need a controller

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express <

PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe or PCI-e, is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard

...someone would be so crazy to invent one

Which is extremely unrealistic due to USB being managed by the CPU and not having arbitrary bus access, which isn't a problem with the other interfaces (like Firewire or Thunderbolt - that technically can be used over USB-C connectors )

What TotalInsanity4 meant is that the object pictured uses an USB 3 cable because that's an affordable 9-pin cable, but the signal it's used for is not USB (plenty of unorthodox uses for "RJ45" Ethernet and HDMI available too from your local oriental e-commerce)

There are real PCIexpress 1x to Expresscard or miniPCIexpress adapters, though (since it's just a mechanical conversion + external power adapter)

Sorry, I should've clarified.

I am aware these devices don't actually exist, I was just saying in theory they could work, if the USB bus was fast enough (and the chipset your device is using isn't shite, which most are ). USB 3.0 SS would actually (in theory) perform quick enough to use something like a PCI-e adapter as it's "max" bandwidth is 10gbps. This is, of course, under the absolute best of circumstances and driver support and chipset support.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

(the 1X type) is a form of serial bus, meaning only 1 bit is moved at any given time
the higher X variants are parallel, since they transfer more than 1 bit

(Don't confuse the literal definition of serial and parallel with the common name for the former major ports for external PC accessories, USB 1 and 2 are also serial but have nothing to do with "serial ports" of the RS-232 and other varieties)

Aha, that makes sense