Highpoint Rocket 1604L PCIe Gen5 x16 Add-in-Card with 4x Gen5 M.2 Ports

Near-Zero Latency. Zero-Distance Purity. Absolute Gen5 Velocity.

The HighPoint Rocket 1604L is a FH-HL PCIe 5.0 x16 M.2 Expansion Add-In Card supporting up to four M.2 NVMe SSDs or M.2 PCIe AI accelerator modules from a single PCIe slot. The card supports M.2 2242, 2260 and 2280 devices, with native NVMe driver support across Windows and Linux platforms. Smart hardware monitoring provides real-time AIC power measurement, retimer temperature and fan-speed telemetry, while the MCU can independently control SSD power states and resets where supported.

Active Signal Regeneration

At PCIe Gen5 speeds of 32GT/s, traditional passive bifurcation cards can suffer from signal attenuation. The Rocket 1604L uses an integrated Astera Labs Gen5 Retimer to actively terminate incoming signals, eliminate electrical noise, and re-transmit a clean signal to the connected devices. Operating at the physical layer (PHY), the card re-clocks and regenerates the data stream, creating a transparent, low-latency path between the CPU and M.2 devices.

Four M.2 Devices from One PCIe x16 Slot

The Rocket 1604L uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 host interface with CPU bifurcation support for x4/x4/x4/x4. It supports up to four M.2 NVMe SSDs or M.2 AI Accelerator Modules in a parallel, non-blocking architecture. This high-density configuration is suited to applications requiring multiple high-speed data streams while keeping expansion concentrated within a single PCIe slot.

M.2 AI Acceleration

Beyond NVMe storage, the Rocket 1604L supports M.2 PCIe Accelerator Modules, including TPUs, NPUs and Hailo-8™ series acceleration modules. In the HighPoint and Hailo Enterprise Edge AI Compute Platform, the architecture can deliver up to 160 TOPS and 4,144 FPS within a single slot, with 1:1 linear performance scaling as modules are added. This 4-AIPU configuration enables high-density inference for applications such as multi-channel 4K video analytics, high-frequency sensor fusion, video management systems, industrial inspection and robotics. It also allows server-grade inference capabilities to be deployed in compact 1U and 2U Edge chassis.

Compact Form Factor

Space is at a premium in compact AI and enterprise servers. The Rocket 1604L uses an FH-HL ultra-compact form factor and is over 40% shorter than standard four-bay M.2 cards, providing four-device expansion within a reduced physical footprint.

Pro-Class M.2 Cooling

The Rocket 1604L features a full-length anodized aluminium heatsink with an integrated low-decibel cooling fan, multiple layers of high-efficiency thermal padding and a ventilated PCIe bracket. This cooling solution transfers waste heat away from the hosted M.2 modules and switch chipset, helping keep thermal throttling at bay during sustained workloads.

Smart Monitoring and Management

Smart firmware provides board-level monitoring and diagnostics. Bus lane allocation helps ensure each drive receives maximum bandwidth, while real-time power monitoring tracks storage power consumption. Health-status reporting provides board-level diagnostics to help pre-emptively manage hardware lifecycle requirements.

Broad M.2 Compatibility

The Rocket 1604L uses a transparent PCIe architecture and supports industry-standard M.2 NVMe SSDs from major storage vendors alongside M.2 accelerator modules. Native OS driver support provides a true Plug-and-Play solution, reducing deployment friction across compatible host platforms.

Enterprise Edge AI Platform

HighPoint and Hailo combine the Rocket 1604L's active retimer architecture with Hailo-10H accelerators to create a scalable, high-density Edge AI compute platform. The solution supports hybrid AI and storage configurations while delivering low-power, real-time inference in a compact single-slot form factor.

• 4-Port FH-FL Gen5 M.2 SSD expansion card with integrated cooling fan.
• Supports PCIe 5.0 x16 connectivity with up to four M.2 NVMe SSDs or AI accelerator modules.
• Features an integrated Astera Labs Gen5 Retimer for active re-clocking and signal regeneration.
• Supports up to four M.2 AI acceleration modules in a single PCIe slot.
• Delivers up to 160 TOPS and 4,144 FPS with the HighPoint and Hailo Enterprise Edge AI Compute Platform using Hailo-10H accelerators.
• Supports CPU bifurcation at x4/x4/x4/x4 for four M.2 devices.
• Supports M.2 PCIe accelerator modules including TPUs, NPUs and Hailo-8™ series modules.
• Supports M.2 2242, 2260 and 2280 NVMe SSDs.
• Provides physical-layer re-clocking and signal regeneration for a transparent PCIe data path.
• Features a full-length aluminium heatsink with an integrated 8010 cooling fan, thermal padding and ventilated PCIe bracket.
• Uses an FH-HL (Full-Height, Half-Length) single-width form factor measuring 6.57" × 4.33" × 0.72".
• Provides real-time monitoring of AIC power consumption, retimer IC temperature and onboard fan speed.
• Provides independent SSD power-state and reset control through the onboard MCU.
• Provides USB-C out-of-band management for SSD control, hardware telemetry, NVMe-MI, firmware updates and retimer health reporting.
• Tool-less SSD installation and removal, though heatsink installation requires a screwdriver.
• Supports fan and audible alarm control.
• FRU functionality with VPD storage.
• Windows and Linux compatible, along with any other OS supporting native NVMe.
• Uses a heatsink-equipped AIC assembly that conforms with PCIe specifications.