Suggestion:- relocate R1, R2 and D1 to top side of board

[westy8563]

This is a great looking project, many thanks for your efforts putting it together.

I'm looking at getting some boards manufactured and partially assembled by JLCPCB. To reduce the cost of assembly it would be beneficial to have R1, R2 and D1 moved to the top surface so that everything is on the one side.

I appreciate the LED can just be omitted, but it's a nice touch. Perhaps including placements for both a front and / or rear mounted LED could be a neat solution?

Looking at your irl photo it looks like R2 is definitely required? If so, could this be relocated to the top surface? If not, then I'll leave it out :)

Many thanks!

[a-little-wifi]

Sorry for the wait, been a bit busy. Glad you like my project! This is a good idea, I never considered automated assembly by the PCB fab. Technically you can leave all of them out, R2 is only needed to bring power to the fan header, and R1 and D1 are for the LED. Without these parts both PCIe slots will still work fine.
In the mean time, I've updated the design to v2.1 (but haven't ordered boards for that version yet, so technically untested), where I replaced R2 with a solderable jumper, making assembly easier. There isn't really any space to neatly move the LED to the front side, so that'll have to remain a manual assembly option.
Hope this helps!