[SOLVED] m.2/ nvme/ PCIE lanes advice for storage setup.

[Raoul Jap-Tjong]

Hi,

Due to a deficiency in storage I am currently contemplating upgrading e.g. my CPU/motherboard or come to terms with the limitation and buy larger storage.

I run a:

• Asrock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4
• Ryzen 5 3600
• 32GB DDR4 3200

SLOT	STATUS	NOTES
M2_1 Ultra PCIe Gen3 x4	Empty	Shares lanes with PCIe4
M2_2 MSata 6gb/s	250GB Drive	Shares lanes with Sata 3_3 & _4
PCIe1 2.0 x1	Empty
PCIe2 3.0 x16	GTX970
PCIe3 2.0 x1	Empty
PCIe4 3.0 x16	Occupied by flawed cheap m2 adaptor 250GB SSD	Shares lanes M2_1 Ultra M.2
PCIe5 2.0 x1	Empty
PCIe6 2.0 x1	Empty
Sata3_1	250GB SSD
Sata3_2	500GB SSD
Sata3_A1	2 TB hdd
Sata3_A2	1 TB hdd
Sata3_3	Disabled	Shares lanes M2_2
Sata3_4	Disabled	Shares lanes M2_2

My plan:

1. Use PCIE4 3.0 x16 for an Asus hyper m. 2 x16 v. 2
2. Use the M.2Sata_2 slot with egg 1tb M.2 Sata drive
3. Sata3.1 / 2 / A1 & A2 For regular drives.
4. Fill the Asus Hyper m. 2 with Msata drives.

My question is would this work? I'm doubting my approach since the results when doing the research are either mixed or go beyond my knowledge (I don't understand PCIE that well).

 

[velocityg4]

Use PCIE4 3.0 x16 for an Asus hyper m. 2 x16 v. 2
Looking at the details for the card in the compatibility list. No, I don't think this will work. That slot only has four PCIe Lanes. Looking through the list it appears if a slot is x4 it'll only support one SSD. For four M.2 support it needs a slot with full x16 lanes available.
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1037507

Use the M.2Sata_2 slot with egg 1tb M.2 Sata drive
Sure that works.

Sata3.1 / 2 / A1 & A2 For regular drives
Sure that works

Fill the Asus Hyper m. 2 with Msata drives.
Nope, PCIe (NVMe, M-Key) SSD only.

Suggested setup
I'd get a simple PCIe SATA x1 card for HDD. As a single PCIe 2.0 x1 link is fast enough for HDD. Perhaps limiting if you had four in RAID 0 doing a sequential transfer. But that's about it for limitations for HDD.
M.2 Adapter (Sata only): https://www.newegg.com/syba-sy-ada40087-m-2-ssd-to-sata-iii-2-5-enclosure-adapter/p/N82E16817998236

SATA Card: https://www.newegg.com/syba-si-pex40064-sata-iii/p/N82E16816124064

SLOT	STATUS	NOTES
M2_1 Ultra PCIe Gen3 x4	NVMe SSD Boot drive	Shares lanes with PCIe4
M2_2 MSata 6gb/s	egg 1tb M.2 Sata drive	Shares lanes with Sata 3_3 & _4
PCIe1 2.0 x1	Empty
PCIe2 3.0 x16	GTX970
PCIe3 2.0 x1	Empty
PCIe4 3.0 x16	Empty	Shares lanes M2_1 Ultra M.2
PCIe5 2.0 x1	SATA Card (1TB, 2TB HDD) **
PCIe6 2.0 x1	Empty
Sata3_1	250GB SSD
Sata3_2	500GB SSD
Sata3_A1	250 GB M.2 SATA w/ 2.5 adapter*
Sata3_A2	250 GB M.2 SATA w/ 2.5 adapter*
Sata3_3	Disabled	Shares lanes M2_2
Sata3_4	Disabled	Shares lanes M2_2

You are also forgetting your USB Ports.

USB 3.1 Gen 2: Basically as many external SSD as you want with Gen 2 USB Hub. There are even NVMe USB 3.1 Gen 2 enclosures. Maximum speed limited to USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds.

USB 3.1 Gen 1: Load up with HDD. Perhaps use a 4/8 bay enclosure.

Consolidate storage
The crux of your problem is a bunch of smaller drivers. Consolidate to a couple large drives. Such as a 2TB NVMe SSD, 2TB SATA SSD and an 8TB HDD. Wipe the other drives and sell them on eBay.

Notes
* I'm assuming both those M.2 SSD are M.2 (B-Key) SATA models for use in the adapter.
** I didn't check if any of the PCIe 2.0 slots get disabled in certain setups. So you may put the card in a different slot.

 

[Math Geek]

at this point, you just need bigger drives. you clearly are trying to archive a ton of stuff and a couple large spinning disks would be a good fit for that. the fast m.2 and ssd's are good for quickly loading a bunch of data. it is unlikely you use a lot of that data very often so it can load a bit slower when you need it here and there. save the 2 m.2's for windows and programs that need and benefit from loading quicker and then start selling the rest of those smaller drives. spinning drives have come down a lot and i've seen 3 tb wd blue drives for $50 recently. currently i see 4 tb for about $75 which is a pretty good price.

much better buy for the money than a bunch of adapters and add-ons hoping to create more slots for a bunch of small drives.