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Riser Card Tutorial
A basic guide to riser card functionality and use for first time user new to bus extenders. |
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| Riser Cards for 1U
and 2U Rackmount Systems |
1U
and 2U rackmount systems do not offer enough height
for an expansion card to be plugged into the motherboard,
unless you use a single or multi-slot riser card.
Riser Cards for 1U systems and chassis
For 1U systems a very low profile single-slot
riser card is required with a maximum overall height
of .90" (in most cases, this depends on the motherboard
and chassis you are using), such as the PCITX4-5, PCITX4-6, PCITX8-5 and the PCITX8-6 32-bit and 64-bit PCI riser cards. If you plan on purchasing
a riser card for use in a 1U chassis, please contact
us so we can confirm that the riser card you are purchasing
will fit in a 1U chassis, you can reach us at 1-877-722-1116,
email us at sales@orbitmicro.com.
Riser Cards for 2U systems and chassis
For 2U systems a low profile single or multi-slot
riser card is required with a maximum overall height of
2.75" (in most cases, this depends on the motherboard
and chassis you are using). If you plan on purchasing
a riser card for use in a 2U chassis, please contact us
so we can confirm that the riser card you are
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| Riser
Card Positions in a Rackmount Chassis |
purchasing will fit in a 2U chassis and your motherboard,
you can reach us at 1-877-722-1116, email us at sales@orbitmicro.com.
Riser Card Placement Inside a Chassis
Most rackmount chassis require the riser card to be
plugged into the motherboard slot that is about 7.2"
away from the right edge if the motherboard or Position
1 shown to the right. Depending on the motherboard this
slot could be a 32-bit PCI slot, 64-bit PCI slot, AGP
(Pro) slot, or PCI Express.
However if you have a motherboard that is similar to
the one shown to the right and you require an AGP slot,
for a 2U chassis, you will need a special riser card
that is designed to plug into Position 1, but still
has goldfingers to grab signals from the AGP slot which
is located at Position 2.
Below are examples of various motherboards with different
bus options and their compatible riser cards. Before
purchasing a riser card for your 1U or 2U system we
recommend you call us before so we can confirm compatibility,
you can reach us at 1-877-722-1116, email us at sales@orbitmicro.com. |
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| Motherboard
with PCI and AGP slots |
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This motherboard features
32-bit PCI slots and an AGP slot.
In order to use two 32-bit
PCI slots and one AGP slot you need our PAPTX-PCI riser card. This riser card plugs into the 32-bit
PCI slot in Position 1 and has goldfingers in
the back to get signals from the AGP slot
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| Motherboard
with PCI and PCIe slots |
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This
motherboard features 32-bit PCI slots, an X16 PCIe slot,
and X1 slots.
In order to use two 32-bit PCI slots and one X16 PCI Express
slot you need our EPPRXP riser card. This riser card plugs into the 32-bit PCI
slot in Position 1 and has goldfingers in the back to
get signals from the X16 PCIe slot.
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| Motherboard
with 32-bitPCI and 64-bit PCI slots |
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This
motherboard features three 32-bit PCI slots and two
64-bit PCI slots.
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order to use two 64-bit PCI slots and one 32-bit PCI
slot you need our PCITX3N1 riser card. The middle slot is connected directly to
the gold fingers which are meant to be plugged into
a 64-bit PCI slot, Position 1. Majority of the bus signals
of the top slot is connected to the middle slot. However,
there are some dedicated signals that are needed for
the top slot, and they are borrowed from a narrow cable
that is plugged into a nearby motherboard slot. The
bottom slot is a completely independent connection,
coming from a wide cable that connects to a 32-bit PCI
slot on the motherboard.
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