StarTech.com PCI Express to 4 Slot PCI Expansion System - PCIeo PCI expansion box - External PCI slot - PCI expansion chassis , TAA (PEX2PCI4)

This only behaves as a "alternative" device for allowing you to use old PCI-cards. Most software no longer works on windows 10, the audio stacks have changed significantly enough and microsoft has invalidated old driver signatures. If you manage to get your devices working, and these are older cards, which may have once been audiophile quality, you may find that the sound floor has significantly risen due to the pci-e bridge introducing a significantly higher sound floor noise (distortion); this means if you have analog cards being powered by dirty power, that will be introduced into your output signal; in return will then get amplified by your gear; you will hear distortion due to this. The power block used by this device may be replaceable such that you might use a linear power supply to clean up the snr, but do at your own risk. I've already had to replace the entire rig once. I won't do it again. Every time you open this thing up / close it, you risk breaking it, and your cards inside.

I used this device to host NI PCI 7330 (x2). It does not seem to work. The cards respond intermittently and hangs up software. Even when I got it to communicate with the computer once, it did not communicate with the external hardware that these cards are connected to. The cards work perfectly fine with connecting directly to the computer PCI slot. I am using windows 7.

This product basically works well enough if you really need to add some PCI slots to a modern system, and is plug and play with modern linux kernels. Beware, I did manage to fry a motherboard by powering on the chassis with my computer powered on -- maybe not a smart move, but since the PCI standard allows hot-plug, I figured it might work. Lesson learned.One major caveat is that while the PCI standard allows for up to 5A on the 5V rail, the 5V downconverter in this chassis only supplies 3A for all four cards. This forced me to resort to supplementing the 5V rail with an external power supply. If you plan on using all four slots or have especially power hungry cards, make sure to do the math before purchasing.

My employer had an older computer that needed replacement. The existing system had five expensive PCI cards installed, which needed to be migrated to the replacement system. Given a choice between building a new custom system with a 5-PCI-slot motherboard or using an external enclosure, I chose the external enclosure because it would allow greater versatility should we need to migrate the hardware again in the future.Once we received the enclosure, I read through the instructions, then installed the hardware into a Windows 7 computer. When fully connected, the enclosure worked seamlessly. During startup, Windows immediately downloaded and installed drivers for the test card I had installed inside the cage, without needing any drivers or software for the cage itself. (The PCI accelerator software on the included CD was neither required nor helpful.)Note that attaching the enclosure is an all-or-nothing scenario. Once the internal PCIe adapter card is installed in the PC, the enclosure MUST be attached and powered for the computer to operate.I do have a couple complaints about the enclosure, but they can be solved with a bit of tinkering.{1} The adapter card's external connection uses a standard DVI-D video connector. The manufacturer is aware of the potential for confusion, and includes cautions in the instructions, but it would be helpful to have a more visible label on the outside panel of the card itself. I solved the problem by printing a label and sticking it onto the panel beside the connector.{2} The enclosure is too small for some PCI cards. We needed to bend open the side panel of the cage on the opposite end from the four PCI slot covers.{3} Ventilation could be better. The cage has vents in the back, but these will only help for the closest card. Vents in the top of the cover would have helped. Since we already had the side panel open (see #2), we just pointed a small fan inside.