PCIe riser
Also called: riser, riser card, GPU riser
An adapter that connects a graphics card to a motherboard PCIe slot at a distance, so several GPUs can be connected and spaced out in a mining rig.
A PCIe riser is an adapter that lets you place a graphics card away from the motherboard. In its most common form for mining, it consists of a small card that plugs into a PCIe x1 slot on the motherboard, a cable, often USB-type, and a carrier board with an x16 slot on which the GPU sits. The riser has its own power connector.
The riser meets two needs. First, it lets you connect more graphics cards than the motherboard can physically hold. Second, it spaces the GPUs out on the frame, which greatly improves their cooling. Mining exchanges very little data between the GPU and the processor, so a PCIe x1 link is enough. That is not the case for artificial intelligence, where fast x8 or x16 links are preferred.
Risers are a frequent source of failures on a rig: a damaged cable, a connector not fully seated, an overloaded power supply. Connect each riser to a suitable power cable without stacking splitters, and avoid low-quality SATA adapters for power-hungry cards. If a GPU disappears from the system or causes reboots, start by trying another riser.
Our risers collection offers models suited to mining that are easy to swap if in doubt.