Reddit mentions of Micro SATA Cables U.2 (SFF-8639) to PCI-e 4 Lane Adapter

Original comment

There's some precedent for running discrete graphics off of M.2 slots. One successful example by /u/thoughtfix used a NUC and a GTX 970, but it only ran with two lanes at PCIe 1.1 speeds, and I suspect that was because of the PCIe ribbon cable they used, which was long and appeared to be unshielded.

A shielded riser cable(instead of the unshielded one in the aforementioned thread and that you're proposing) could solve part of that problem. x4 to x16 shielded riser cables don't seem to be all that common, but they do exist at some semi-reasonable price.

The most elegant solution I can think of uses a M.2 to U.2 adapter card in the motherboard M.2 slot, with a U.2 cable and a U.2 to PCIe x4 PCB at the end. Even that isn't all that elegant, and it's in the neighborhood of $90.

Honestly? If this is you trying to cut your losses, try to return or sell the DeskMini 110 and go Mini ITX with your G4560 and current storage drive, swapping the RAM for desktop RAM and the case/PSU for an appropriate one. If it's a hobby project, go for it, but know that it'll take a fair amount of work.

Lastly, please don't get a GT 1030 for that price. Radeon RX 460s go on sale in the $80 neighborhood fairly regularly(for example, this one once it's back in stock), and they pack a lot more oomph.

Edit

All this talk of cabling the thing externally is nice, but I'm realizing there could be a much simpler solution. You could modify the case so that it'd fit a GPU inserted directly into an M.2 to PCIe x4 adapter. You'd have to find an M.2 to PCIe x4 adapter that has an open-ended slot, otherwise your GPU won't fit. I can't find any inexpensive ones, so another option could be to get a few cheap adapters and try your hand at modifying the end of the slot yourself(as shown in this video). Once installed, I don't think the GPU would interfere with anything on the motherboard, as long as you get an M.2 adapter with the PCIe slot positioned so that the GPU's rear I/O faces the motherboard's rear I/O(the one I linked is an example of that).

You need the following:

Intel 750 SSD M.2 cable: https://click.intel.com/u-2-to-m-2-ssd-cable-replacement-u-2-to-m-2-cable-for-pcie-nvme-supporting-intel-solid-state-drives.html

MicroSATACables SFF-8639 to open-end PCIe slot adapter, make sure they send the one in the last picture with the open end to fit cards larger than x4 https://www.amazon.com/U-2-SFF-8639-PCI-Lane-Adapter/dp/B0199CECJ4/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1526736031&sr=1-7&keywords=pci-e+slot+sff-8639


Because they are arseholes, they use buck converters to supply 3.3V instead of taking it from the SATA power connector.... which means it can only supply 4A for 3.3V I think. So I guess you have got to make sure the GPU does not take too much from the bus.


Either way, seems to work.

Edit: if they no longer sell the open end ones, you will have to buy the closed one and carefully file the end out.