Question Asus B450-F Gaming II ssd and gpu question

[Ivailo indzhov]

I read that if i use m.2 slot with heatsink it will make PCIe16_1 to x8, does that mean i need to place my GPU on PCIe16_2 or it downgrade it too?

And do i need a thermal pad for that heatsink becouse i don't know if it has a stock one on it?

SDD will be Samsung 980 (non-Pro) 1 TB.
I am considering to use second slot becouse of the heatsink


CPU is ryzen 5 5600x @4.7

 

[Nighthawk117]

That's only if you use the second M.2 slot M.2_2, if you use M.2_1 then the first full length PCI-E slot will run in x16 mode. Or are you telling me that you want to use the M.2 slot at the bottom of the board for some reason?

If you were to use the 2nd M.2 slot then moving your GPU will not help you. Did your board come with M.2 heatsinks? If it did, then it will have thermal pads pre-applied.

Sorry being a dummy, I skipped the last sentence about wanting to use the second slot :/
No unfortunately if you do that you will be forced to run your GPU in x8. If your first M.2 slot doesn't have a heatsink, you could always apply one to the M.2 drive yourself.

 

[Nighthawk117]

I use one of these on a Samsung 970 Evo 1TB:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/EK-Water-B...61104659&sprefix=nvme+heatsink,aps,96&sr=8-14

 

[Ivailo indzhov]

That's only if you use the second M.2 slot M.2_2, if you use M.2_1 then the first full length PCI-E slot will run in x16 mode. Or are you telling me that you want to use the M.2 slot at the bottom of the board for some reason?

If you were to use the 2nd M.2 slot then moving your GPU will not help you. Did your board come with M.2 heatsinks? If it did, then it will have thermal pads pre-applied.

Sorry being a dummy, I skipped the last sentence about wanting to use the second slot :/
No unfortunately if you do that you will be forced to run your GPU in x8. If your first M.2 slot doesn't have a heatsink, you could always apply one to the M.2 drive yourself.

It come with a heatsink and i wanted to use it but this stuff with x8 is pretty bad i think.
I think PCIe16_1 and PCIe16_2 share that downgrade speed but i wanted to ask someone who knows more about that limitations

 

[Ivailo indzhov]

I use one of these on a Samsung 970 Evo 1TB:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/EK-Water-Blocks-3830046991799-Heatsink-Noir/dp/B073RH58WN/ref=sr_1_14?crid=2DZJA1IQYUTJU&keywords=nvme+heatsink&qid=1661104659&sprefix=nvme+heatsink,aps,96&sr=8-14

yeah i saw them too but ssd heatsink in my country is around 35 euros

 

[Nighthawk117]

It come with a heatsink and i wanted to use it but this stuff with x8 is pretty bad i think.
I think PCIe16_1 and PCIe16_2 share that downgrade speed but i wanted to ask someone who knows more about that limitations

Often the first two full length PCI-E slots share the 16 lanes to the CPU, so if you use both they drop to 8x. It sounds like your M.2_2 slot is also linked directly to the CPU which is why you lose bandwidth to the GPU. I suspect it's goes something like 8x for the first PCI-E slot, 4x to the second PCI-E slot and then 4x to the M.2 slot when the latter is populated.

I wouldn't use the second M.2 slot personally, depending on your GPU the difference in performance would probably be too low to notice, however I'd keep it at x16. Looks like you could put an M.2 on an addon card in the third full length slot, but that doesn't solve your heatsink issue.

 

[Nighthawk117]

yeah i saw them too but ssd heatsink in my country is around 35 euros

That's a rip off at that price, Akasa and SilverStone do little NVME heatsinks, maybe they are cheaper in your country.