[SOLVED] M2 NVME Gen 4 - How to get best performance

[winwacom]

M.2 SSDs are the primary focus for my upcoming build.

Where i have become torn is that i MUST have full PCI-e4 to get the max performance from M.2 NVME Gen 4 drives.

I am comparing what seemed to be fairly identical boards for g11/g12 Intel CPUs, one being a z590 the other a z690. But when i come to look at the SSD controller part, they are different.

The Gigabyte Z590 AORUS PRO AX supports 4 x M.2 drives as this

CPU:

1. 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2A_CPU) *
2. 2 x M.2 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 4.0* x4/x2 SSD support) (M2B_CPU)(M2C_CPU)
   * Supported by 11th Generation processors only.

Chipset:

1. 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2P_SB)

Compared with Gigabyte Z690 AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 which has support for 4 x M.2 drives also, but in a different config

CPU:

1. 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2A_CPU)

Chipset:

1. 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2M_SB)
2. 2 x M.2 connectors (Socket 3, M key, type 2260/2280/22110 PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSD support) (M2Q_SB/M2P_SB)

Am i correct in assuming the CPU controlled M.2 connectors are the true Gen 4 speeds i am seeking, therefor making the Gigabyte Z590 AORUS PRO AX a better choice for me (i'm not concerned about the generation 11 CPU i'll have to have).

I'm a bit confused because i was expecting the z690 boards to be "better" and in this case the z590 seems "better" at least from my needs/wants.

Many thanks to anyone who can help me.

 

[USAFRet]

Chipset or CPU, makes no difference.
As long as the port is PCIe 4.0 x4, you will get the theoretical best speed out of a PCIe 4.0 drive.

And unless you are transferring sequential data between 2 such drives, you'll see little if any difference over a PCIe 3.0 drive.

The benchmark numbers and advertising make it sound like there is a huge difference.
Real world performance, not so much. They are ALL very very fast.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoRKQy-UO4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9LyNXpsOo&t=2s

 

[winwacom]

I forgot to mention that i am more interested in access times than actual throughput speeds. Sequential reads mostly.

 

[USAFRet]

I forgot to mention that i am more interested in access times than actual throughput speeds. Sequential reads mostly.

"access time" is very much the same across all SSD types. Even incl SATA III.
That is their main benefit over spinning drives.

What will this be used for?

 

[Nighthawk117]

M2A_CPU will give you the best performance because it's 4 lanes wired directly to the CPU. This will be the best configuration for when Microsoft DirectStorage is implemented in games. M2M_SB is your next best option because it's 4 PCI-E lanes wired to the chipset. Right now you won't notice any difference between the CPU and chipset x4 options but the CPU is preferable.