CXL memory expanders are server-only - no retail channel, no consumer root-complex support

A hobbyist who wants "more memory for a 70B model" finds CXL expander cards (Marvell Structera X, Astera Leo, Samsung CMM) and assumes they can drop one into a desktop. They cannot: every shipping CXL memory module is an E3.S/E3.C or PCIe-CEM card aimed at hyperscaler/server platforms, CXL 2.0+ requires CPU/root-complex support that consumer Intel/AMD platforms do not enable, and a CXL.mem device enumerates as nothing on a consumer board.

CXL expanders are sold OEM-only (no retail channel), and CXL.mem needs the host CPU to expose CXL on its root ports - only Sapphire Rapids/Genoa-class servers and newer do. A single PCIe 5.0 x16 CXL link is also only ~64 GB/s, worse than a single DDR5 channel pair, so it is a capacity play not a bandwidth play: it cannot speed up 70B decode.

None for consumers in late-2026. Revisit when consumer chipsets ship CXL root ports (earliest ~2027 Nova Lake / Medusa-class, optimistic).

CXL latency (~200-400ns over local DRAM) is actually fine for bandwidth-bound decode - the blocker is purely host support and retail availability, not the protocol itself.