[SOLVED] Maximus Hero XI WIFI M.2 Question

[09subie]

Hey Guys,

I recently built a new gaming rig:

• 9900k
• Asus Maximus Hero XI WIfi
• 32gb 3200 mhz
• H710i Case
• Samsung Evo 970 Plus 1TB

Currently the Evo 970 Plus is installed on the top M.2 slot (below CPU and above GPU). There is one other slot towards the bottom below the GPU. My question is for the people with this motherboard and an M.2 which slot are you using and what do your temps look like?

As of right now in the top slot my M.2 goes to 60-64c while gaming for a while (I think the GPU temp is the major cause of temp increase). Is it safe to just keep running it in the top slot and for it to be in the 60's? Trying to figure out if this is something I shouldn't worry about.

Thanks!

 

[faalin]

I run a Maximus X hero with a Samsung 500GB in the top M.2 and a Samsung 1TB in the lower.

According to HWmonitor the 500GB is at 33c and the 1TB is at 33c the top M.2 has the ROG heatsink on it while the bottom one doesnt have anything.

 

[MadsModsat]

I have a very similar system to you, with an i9 9900K on a Maximus XI Hero (WiFi) with 32GB 3333MHz RAM, and I use a 970 EVO Plus 500 GB (for OS) in M2_1 and a 970 EVO Plus 1TB (for games) in M2_2. I use a Corsair Obsidian 750D case.

For some reason, the 500GB drive runs hotter than the 1TB drive as standard in my situation, even if I switch them around, but the way they are mounted now, after extensive use, the top mounted 500 GB drive in M2_1 peaks at 59'c while the lower mounted 1TB drive in M2_2 peaks at 49'c after a gaming session. Idle temp for the 500GB drive in M2_1 is 39'c and idle temp for the 1TB drive is 31'c. I use the motherboard's built-in heatsinks for the drives.

I experienced similar temps on a MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard I owned for a short while, with the same drives I currently use, however they where mounted with custom EK Waterblocks passive heatsinks at the time.

 

[09subie]

Would it be worth while to switch my 1TB 970 evo Plus to the bottom M.2 slot then? If mine at the top is currently in the 60c's maybe it will drop to the 50's like yours.

 

[09subie]

MadsModsat, when you switched your drives did you have to go into the BIOS to change the order of the boot drive? Or did it automatically adjust to the one with windows installed?

 

[MadsModsat]

I did switch the boot order manually, however I'm not completely sure it was necessary. It seems to me that the ASUS BIOS is rather good at detecting bootable drives. But I just did it manually, just as a precaution, since I was rebooting anyway and thought it might save me a few seonds in case BIOS couldn't figure out the changes.

 

[09subie]

Nice, I will give that a try tonight. Hopefully it isn't that much a pain to do the swap with it already being in the case.

 

[09subie]

I thought I'd follow up on this with my results. I installed the M.2 in M2_2 (underneath GPU) and my gaming temps max'ed out at 53c. In M2_1 my temps would max out around 64c. So 11c difference is pretty significant in my opinion. I think it was well worth moving the drive over to the second slot, now I won't need to worry about it creeping towards 70c.

@MadsModsat I also have an 860 evo 2.5 SSD. Will putting the 970 evo Plus in M2_2 effect the 860 evo?

 

[MadsModsat]

No, the only impact occupying M2_2 can potentially have on the motherboard communication lanes, is if you want the third pci-e 3.0 port to run @ x4 instead of x2, as it does as its default setting. If you switch to x4, and use M2_2, you disbale SATA port 5 and SATA port 6.

Apart from that all your devices will run at full speed, even with the NVMe disk i M2_2 and the 860 EVO connected to a sata port.

So the only option you need to decide between, is wheter you want 6 SATA ports and PCI-e 3.0_3 @ x2, or if you want to keep SATA ports 1-4, and PCI-e 3.0_3 @ x4.

 

[09subie]

I don't think i'll be using PCI-e 3.0_3 at all so i'll just leave it at stock speeds. I think I'm good to go with both SSD's! Thanks again for the help MadsModsat!