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>Oculink is basically free: Oculink GPUS are not. Far more expensive than PCIe ones.

• jauntywundrkind 3y ago
  Ok, let's say the GPU is hella expensive. Is that a reason not to put a $0.50 connector on this system? Is a lack of expandability better? I think that's a farcical idea. It makes all the sense in the world to include Oculink! As for the price of using Oculink? Here's a riser board and frame for $40. There are even cheaper options about that folks report as working just fine! https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806254754959.html https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806254754959.html Having PCIe ports is good for more than GPUs too. There's Oculink to nvme adapters aplenty: go right ahead and plug in 2 (or 4 at reduced link width) ssds! Plug in a 25Gbit network card! Ideally some day PCIe switches make a comeback at non-exorbinant prices & we can have whole socks of this stuff; the inherent complexity is lower than pcie-transporting USB4 but we just don't have ecosystem options alas. Sure, for most users where they want one peripheral all the time getting a much bigger mini-itx system makes a lot of sense. But it keeps seeming to me like this is a near zero cost way to create a small computer that still has really good options, that can adapt incredibly well. If you have a portable powerful compact computer, that you take with you, ideally you can just plug it in to the GPUs, network cards, storage, or other peripherals in the world around you; we're not there in most cases but I cannot emphasize enough that it costs so little to add the flexibility/option.