PowerRiser for Lenovo Tiny8
:::info 🚧 Status: In Development / Coming Soon This board is currently in the late prototyping phase and will soon be released. Test batches are actively moving through production. Please check the NandFarm GitHub Discussions for the latest release schedule and testing updates. :::
The PowerRiser for Tiny8 is our next-generation custom expansion board engineered for the newer Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q (Gen 3 and up) and ThinkStation P360/P3 series. Building on our previous architectures, this board interfaces with the redesigned proprietary motherboard slot to provide a standard open-ended PCIe x8 connection alongside a dedicated M.2 NVMe socket.
1. Core Hardware Specifications​
- PCIe Interface: Physical x8 structural connector with an open-ended socket. Capable of holding full-length x16 cards operating at electrical x8 speeds.
- Secondary Storage: 1x M-Key M.2 Slot for PCIe NVMe SSDs.
- Power Delivery Shift: Unlike older generations, the Tiny8 motherboard header only supplies 20V to the riser. This PowerRiser features an integrated onboard DC-DC step-down converter to safely supply the required 12V and 3.3V rails to your expansion cards.
- FRU Compatibility: Engineered to be a functional alternative for Lenovo field replaceable units, particularly FRU
5C50W00933and its variants.
2. Platform Compatibility Matrix​
Lenovo radically changed the pinout and power delivery starting with the Gen 3 architecture. Do not use older PowerRisers on these motherboards.
| System Model | Generation Compatibility | Structural Support Profile |
|---|---|---|
| ThinkCentre M90q | Gen 3 | In Development |
| ThinkStation P360 | Tiny | In Development |
| ThinkStation P3 | Tiny (Gen 1 & Gen 2) | In Development |
| ThinkCentre M90q | Gen 1 & Gen 2 | Incompatible: Requires the Tiny6 PowerRiser. |
| ThinkCentre M720q/M920q | Tiny5 | Incompatible: Requires the Tiny5 PowerRiser. |
3. The Architecture: Engineering Challenges​
Developing the riser for the Tiny8/Tiny9/Tiny11 architecture involves navigating several undocumented manufacturer changes:
The 20V Power Delivery​
Starting with this generation, the motherboard no longer feeds standard 12V and 3.3V rails into the high-density proprietary socket. The PowerRiser includes a specialized active voltage regulation circuit to cleanly step the 20V host supply down to standard PCIe voltages without introducing electrical noise to the data lines.
The PCIe Lane Reversal Quirk​
In the Tiny8 architecture, the host motherboard natively reverses the x8 CPU link on the riser slot.
- The Problem: This pushes x4 expansion cards (like quad-port NICs or x4 GPUs) onto lanes 4-7 instead of lanes 0-3, causing detection failures in standard configurations.
- The Solution: The PowerRiser routing is being carefully mapped to handle this lane reversal gracefully, ensuring that x4 and x1 cards are correctly detected by the BIOS without requiring users to manually desolder the CFG2 pull-down resistors on the host motherboard.
4. Availability & Testing​
We are currently verifying the onboard DC-DC step-down schematics and finalizing the impedance matching for the crossed-lane traces.
Once validation is complete on the M90q Gen 3 and P360 Tiny platforms, fully assembled and tested production units will be made available directly through our marketplace channels.