When Intel announced its new graphics cards, Maxsun unveiled a rather unusual model. Indeed, with its Arc B580 iCraft, the brand presented a card equipped with dual M.2 connectivity for SSDs. The company’s aim was to exploit the 8 PCIe lines left out by the graphics card. While the concept is interesting, it’s something we’ve seen before, notably from ASUS.
Arc B580 iCraft, two M.2 slots in action!
As you can see, the PCB is rather short, with a total length of 18 cm. However, on this PCB we have everything we need to run the GPU, with its power supply phases, as well as its 12 GB of VRAM. However, this model has a little something extra: two M.2 slots for M.2 format SSDs.
As you can see, these slots are present on the rear of the PCB and, presented as it is, we have two SSDs dangling from the back. However, via Tom’s Hardware (US), we learn that the SSDs are attached directly to the graphics card backplate. As for cooling, they benefit directly from the airflow provided by the graphics card’s fans. Of course, we’re talking about slots that use a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface. These slots use the 8 lines left unused by the GPU, a simple way of recycling.
If you’re paying attention, you’ll certainly have noticed the dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors. These can provide up to 300W of power, while the B580’s TDP is 190W. This leaves a more than comfortable margin for powering the two SSDs, even if you manually overclock your graphics card. Add to this the 75W of the PCIe slots, and Maxsun is really thinking big!
