Expansion cards

The expansion cards category covers cards that add features to a PC, workstation or server through PCI Express slots: network interface cards, including 2.5 GbE models, cards with M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs, PCIe adapters for NVMe drives, internal sound cards and RAID controller components such as battery backup units.

Before buying, check the slot available on your motherboard (for example PCIe x16) and the generation it supports, the bracket type, low profile or standard, and the space inside the case. For a network card, the port speed matters; for NVMe cards, the number of M.2 slots and bifurcation support. They are a practical way to add storage, speed up the network or improve audio without replacing the whole system. Brands include QNAP, HP, DeLOCK, Sonnet and Fujitsu.