Question Motherboards & PCIe slots

[dimar]

I've noticed a trend where motherboard manufacturers put M.2 slots all over the board, but wouldn't it be better to put like 3 PCIe x4 slots at the bottom of the board instead? You can always use PCIe adapters if you need more M.2 slots. It's kind of frustrating when I need to install multiple PCIe cards.

 

[rgd1101]

probably more people have multiple ssd than multiple pcie x4 card

 

[punkncat]

Such arrangements are more than likely as a result of people wanting to be able to store and move/work with large files much more efficiently and quickly. Lots of folks out there streaming and editing video for content creation and games, lots of big good quality video media or entertainment in general. The real plus on the build side being not having to worry about all that cabling and space.

 

[dimar]

But you can always put a PCIe adapter with a single or multiple M.2 slots. It's way harder to convert M.2 to PCIe. I completely disagree with manufacturers logic.

 

[USAFRet]

I've noticed a trend where motherboard manufacturers put M.2 slots all over the board, but wouldn't it be better to put like 3 PCIe x4 slots at the bottom of the board instead? You can always use PCIe adapters if you need more M.2 slots. It's kind of frustrating when I need to install multiple PCIe cards.

More drives is MUCH more common than more GPUs.

 

[punkncat]

Sure, but if the mobo already has the onboard location for the M.2 drive, why would you?

I have used these quite a few times for boards that had no proper connectors.

 

[dimar]

More drives is MUCH more common than more GPUs.

What do you mean GPUs?? I have 10Gb nic, RAID controller, capture card, sound card.

 

[dimar]

Sure, but if the mobo already has the onboard location for the M.2 drive, why would you?

I have used these quite a few times for boards that had no proper connectors.

It's better to have PCIe slots that work with many devices than m.2 slots that mainly used with one device. The whole point of PC is to have options for expansion.

 

[USAFRet]

What do you mean GPUs?? I have 10Gb nic, RAID controller, capture card, sound card.

That where I thought you were going with multiple PCIe cards.

In any case, your devices are also far out on the edge.

NIC - 5 and 10gb coming soon on the motherboard
RAID - few if any
Capture card - eh, maybe
Sound card - on the motherboard.

 

[dimar]

That where I thought you were going with multiple PCIe cards.

In any case, your devices are also far out on the edge.

NIC - 5 and 10gb coming soon on the motherboard
RAID - few if any
Capture card - eh, maybe
Sound card - on the motherboard.

I just want to have the choice what features and add-ons I want to have on my computer.

 

[USAFRet]

I just want to have the choice what features and add-ons I want to have on my computer.

Looking in pcpartpicker, there are apparently 9 motherboards with 4 or more PCIe x16 slots in the Z890 world.
They exist. You just have to look.