Is connecting ssd m2 will downgrade PCIE speed?

[_Stylo]

Hi,
I'd like to connect ssd m2 to my build and I have PCIE x16 (that will be downgrade to x8 if I'll put another card in the second PCIE bay)
the question is, if I'll add ssd m2, will it downgrade the speed from x16 to x8 (because as far as I understand, this is a different bay not related to those I can connect Graphic cards on)?

Thanks!

 

[Paul NZ]

It can or will disable 2-3 sata ports

 

[Sakkura]

Depends on the motherboard. If it's something like a Z170 board, it will not affect the PCIe lanes for the graphics cards. That platform has 16 PCIe lanes directly from the CPU which are meant for graphics cards, and then additional, separate PCIe lanes on the chipset, meant for everything else (including M.2 storage).

 

[_Stylo]

Thanks for the answer !

 

[SuperHecky]

Depends on the motherboard. If it's something like a Z170 board, it will not affect the PCIe lanes for the graphics cards. That platform has 16 PCIe lanes directly from the CPU which are meant for graphics cards, and then additional, separate PCIe lanes on the chipset, meant for everything else (including M.2 storage).

Hey i recently bought the z170a m5 gaming. Does it matter which slot you use for m.2 ssd. I was thinking of putting video card in slot one(pci slotx16) and then the ssd in the 2nd m.2 slot. I guess question is, is there a speed difference between the two different m.2 slots.

 

[Sakkura]

Hey i recently bought the z170a m5 gaming. Does it matter which slot you use for m.2 ssd. I was thinking of putting video card in slot one(pci slotx16) and then the ssd in the 2nd m.2 slot. I guess question is, is there a speed difference between the two different m.2 slots.

The two M.2 slots are equally fast and don't affect the graphics card slots.

There is some sharing of resources that means you can't use two PCIe-based M.2 SSDs simultaneously (one would have to be SATA), and some configurations will also disable a couple of SATA ports. But it's not an issue with a simple configuration like yours, only extreme stuff.

 

[SuperHecky]

Hey i recently bought the z170a m5 gaming. Does it matter which slot you use for m.2 ssd. I was thinking of putting video card in slot one(pci slotx16) and then the ssd in the 2nd m.2 slot. I guess question is, is there a speed difference between the two different m.2 slots.

The two M.2 slots are equally fast and don't affect the graphics card slots.

There is some sharing of resources that means you can't use two PCIe-based M.2 SSDs simultaneously (one would have to be SATA), and some configurations will also disable a couple of SATA ports. But it's not an issue with a simple configuration like yours, only extreme stuff.

I appreciate the quick answer. So if i wanted to do an additional ssd in future, i would need to replace m.2 with a bigger one or do a sata ssd .. right? Why do they put two m.2 on board if you can only use one?

 

[Sakkura]

One of them can still be used for an M.2 SATA drive, and what they've done is just making it flexible - if you have an M.2 PCIe SSD and an M.2 SATA SSD, they can be plugged in either way, you don't have to make sure to put the right SSD in the right slot.

 

[Jhono33]

Depends on the motherboard. If it's something like a Z170 board, it will not affect the PCIe lanes for the graphics cards. That platform has 16 PCIe lanes directly from the CPU which are meant for graphics cards, and then additional, separate PCIe lanes on the chipset, meant for everything else (including M.2 storage).

What about the asus hero 7? Would I have the issue with the videocard?

 

[Sakkura]

What about the asus hero 7? Would I have the issue with the videocard?

No, the M.2 slot on that board shares lanes with the PCIe x1 slots.

But note that the M.2 slot is only offering a PCIe 2.0 x2 connection. That can only deliver 1 GB/s, where the PCIe 3.0 x4 connection you get with newer boards allows just under 4 GB/s.

1 GB/s still isn't bad, but just don't spend lots of money getting the fastest M.2 SSD out there, when the slot would just bottleneck it.