Question Chosing a PCIe slot for Optain SSD

[bradrcfii]

I have a Z390 Taichi Ultimate mother board and plan to install a Optain SSD and possibly a M2 SSD. I am a little concerned about the PCIE lanes.

From the manual;
PCIE1 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.
PCIE2 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x16 lane width graphics cards.
PCIE3 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.
PCIE4 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x8 lane width graphics cards.
PCIE5 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x4 lane width graphics cards.

3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE4/PCIE5: single
at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4); triple at x8
(PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE4) / x4 (PCIE5))*
* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
2 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots (Flexible PCIe)

I plan on installing the graphics card in PCIE2 and the Optain SSD in PCIE4. I hope to be able to boot from the Optain drive. I also have a serial card in PCIE3 and a USB 3.0 card in PCIE1.

Can I install one M2 SSD. I do not understand the relationship between M2 and PCIe lane usage.

Will my general PCIE slot install strategy make sense and can I install the M2 SSD without using up lanes?

Thanks,

Brad

 

[13thmonkey]

I think that the first question is why optane (assuming that's what you mean).

You don't need to use a PCI-E slot, you'd use the M.2 slots, but why Optane AND M.2?

Storage

• 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel®Rapid Storage Technology 16), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*
• 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by ASMedia ASM1061, support NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug
• 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_1), support M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**
• 2 x Ultra M.2 Sockets (M2_2 and M2_3), support M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

*M2_1, SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 share lanes. If either one of them is in use, the others will be disabled.
If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_3 will be disabled.
M2_3, SATA3_4 and SATA3_5 share lanes. If either one of them is in use, the others will be disabled.

**Supports Intel® Optane™ Technology
Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
Supports ASRock U.2 Kit

 

[bradrcfii]

I have a Z390 Taichi Ultimate mother board and plan to install a Optane SSD and possibly a M2 SSD. I am a little concerned about the PCIE lanes.

From the manual;
PCIE1 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.
PCIE2 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x16 lane width graphics cards.
PCIE3 (PCIe 3.0 x1 slot) is used for PCI Express x1 lane width cards.
PCIE4 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x8 lane width graphics cards.
PCIE5 (PCIe 3.0 x16 slot) is used for PCI Express x4 lane width graphics cards.

3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE4/PCIE5: single
at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4); triple at x8
(PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE4) / x4 (PCIE5))*
* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
2 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots (Flexible PCIe)

I plan on installing the graphics card in PCIE2 and the Optane SSD in PCIE4. I hope to be able to boot from the Optane drive. I also have a serial card in PCIE3 and a USB 3.0 card in PCIE1.

Can I install one M2 SSD. I do not understand the relationship between M2 and PCIe lane usage.

Will my general PCIE slot install strategy make sense and can I install the M2 SSD without using up lanes?

Thanks,

Brad

It is an Optane PCIE based SSD 900 Series 280gb. The M2 is a Samsung 970 EVO, 250gb

 

[13thmonkey]

If you install a card in any of the x4's you'll bring _2 down to x8.

The CPU has 16 PCI-E lanes, the chipset will have a few more for storage and other subsystems. So the CPU slots will be distributed amongst the slots that are active.

There's not been much impact reported from x16 down to x8. So it's not something to be too bothered by pre RTX.
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

Post RTX, it looks a little worse:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_RTX_2080_Ti_PCI-Express_Scaling/3.html

 

[bradrcfii]

If you install a card in any of the x4's you'll bring _2 down to x8.

The CPU has 16 PCI-E lanes, the chipset will have a few more for storage and other subsystems. So the CPU slots will be distributed amongst the slots that are active.

There's not been much impact reported from x16 down to x8. So it's not something to be too bothered by pre RTX.
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2488-pci-e-3-x8-vs-x16-performance-impact-on-gpus

Post RTX, it looks a little worse:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_RTX_2080_Ti_PCI-Express_Scaling/3.html