MotherBoard's Sockets Understanding..

[Vin93Narcissistic]

briefly, I'm building a new desktop (my last build was 7 years ago and I'm using laptops ever since)..
so I'm lacking for knowledge about the socket's types..
my build plan is a 1600x/1800x cpu with a rx580/gtx 1080 (I know ! but that depends on the price)..
a.w I haven't decided about the MoBo cause I couldn't figure out about how many sockets I need cause I don't understand which one is what for !!
all I can see in the specs is PCIe x4, x2, 3.0, 2.0, PCIex 1_2, 1_3, 👍xSata 6Gbps, PCIe x1, m2, Sata Raid, etc.. !!
I know I look stupid and it feels embarrassing but all I remember is shoving the pieces where ever they fit and everything use to work perfectly :S
a.w I would appreciate any help..
what I need to know mostly is where the sdd,hdd,ram etc.. things goes so I can choose the mobo..
and btw when they say a certain type of mobo has about 26 lanes and the cpu 40.. how is that ? I mean the cpu is just die celicon chip !!
i know how that sounds but i need to know.. 🙁
thanks for your patience..

 

[COLGeek]

Ryzen CPUs use a Socket AM4 motherboard.

Those motherboards use DDR4 memory. Most AM4 motherboards have 4 memory slots, some smaller boards use 2.

The number is PCIe x16 slots is really only a factor if you plan to use more than one video card.

The number of SATA ports, and the rest are really dependent on your needs. Most users don't even come close to maxing out their available slots, ports, etc.

Your best bet would be to determine a budget and post a thread in the Systems section, outlining your needs and uses. Many will offer to help you build an ideal system to meet your desirements.

 

[Vin93Narcissistic]

Ryzen CPUs use a Socket AM4 motherboard.

Those motherboards use DDR4 memory. Most AM4 motherboards have 4 memory slots, some smaller boards use 2.

The number is PCIe x16 slots is really only a factor if you plan to use more than one video card.

The number of SATA ports, and the rest are really dependent on your needs. Most users don't even come close to maxing out their available slots, ports, etc.

Your best bet would be to determine a budget and post a thread in the Systems section, outlining your needs and uses. Many will offer to help you build an ideal system to meet your desirements.

thanks brother, that was pretty helpful.. i will certainly consider your advice and post a thread now..
now I'm left with understanding the SATA ports and the rest..
just 1 more quest: what about the cpu lanes ? i still didn't understand the concept of it.. how does a cpu comes with certain number of lanes when it is only a chip ?
thanks again..

 

[gasaraki]

Ryzen CPUs use a Socket AM4 motherboard.

Those motherboards use DDR4 memory. Most AM4 motherboards have 4 memory slots, some smaller boards use 2.

The number is PCIe x16 slots is really only a factor if you plan to use more than one video card.

The number of SATA ports, and the rest are really dependent on your needs. Most users don't even come close to maxing out their available slots, ports, etc.

Your best bet would be to determine a budget and post a thread in the Systems section, outlining your needs and uses. Many will offer to help you build an ideal system to meet your desirements.

thanks brother, that was pretty helpful.. i will certainly consider your advice and post a thread now..
now I'm left with understanding the SATA ports and the rest..
just 1 more quest: what about the cpu lanes ? i still didn't understand the concept of it.. how does a cpu comes with certain number of lanes when it is only a chip ?
thanks again..

So when they talk about CPU lanes it's the amount of PCIe "lanes" a cpu provides. Items on you motherboard that uses PCIe all talk directly to the cpu (generally). So a graphics card uses the PCIe 16x slot so it needs 16 "lanes" for itself. New M.2 based SSDs use 4x so they need 4 "lanes". Two video cards will want two 16x lanes so 32 lanes but they function just fine with 8 so two video cards might run in (16x, 8x) mode or (8x, 8x) mode. As more and more stuff use PCIe lanes (Thunderbolt, USB3, U.2, M.2, etc) more and more lanes will be required without items having to share the lanes all the time.

 

[mdd1963]

I'd guess most folks use 2 or 3 SATA ports, and most boards have 6 or more...; most newer boards have a pair of M.2 NVME slots as well, although the BIOS is configurable to disable or share a few USB ports sometimes (for my Z270 board, the main M.2 slot disables/shares SATA 5 and 6. I disable them, as was not using them anyway)

The NVME drives rock! ABout 5 times the peak sequential read speeds of conventional SSDs, which are in turn 4 times fast as most hard drives...; time to install WIn10 Pro from USB until at desktop? 4 minutes...!

 

[Vin93Narcissistic]

So when they talk about CPU lanes it's the amount of PCIe "lanes" a cpu provides. Items on you motherboard that uses PCIe all talk directly to the cpu (generally). So a graphics card uses the PCIe 16x slot so it needs 16 "lanes" for itself. New M.2 based SSDs use 4x so they need 4 "lanes". Two video cards will want two 16x lanes so 32 lanes but they function just fine with 8 so two video cards might run in (16x, 8x) mode or (8x, 8x) mode. As more and more stuff use PCIe lanes (Thunderbolt, USB3, U.2, M.2, etc) more and more lanes will be required without items having to share the lanes all the time.

1st. so the extra lanes are already existed on the mobo but the cpu gives you the permission to use them ?
2nd. does that mean that all the SSDs are m2 based ? if not what type of lanes does the older version use ?
3rd. what is the Thunderbolt, USB3, U.2 ? :S
thanks for your patience 😀

 

[Vin93Narcissistic]

I'd guess most folks use 2 or 3 SATA ports, and most boards have 6 or more...; most newer boards have a pair of M.2 NVME slots as well, although the BIOS is configurable to disable or share a few USB ports sometimes (for my Z270 board, the main M.2 slot disables/shares SATA 5 and 6. I disable them, as was not using them anyway)

The NVME drives rock! ABout 5 times the peak sequential read speeds of conventional SSDs, which are in turn 4 times fast as most hard drives...; time to install WIn10 Pro from USB until at desktop? 4 minutes...!

1st. What are SATA ports in the 1st place ? and what are they used for ?
2nd. What is the M.2 NVME slots ? and what are they used for ? :S
3rd. why does the BIOS Disable USB ports !!? do you mean that in order to use the M.2 slot on your board you need to disable the SATA 5 and 6 cause the M.2 Slot shares them ?
4th. so the NVME M.2 Slot is a new version of an M.2 slot Which uses x4 lanes but it provides 4x times speed !!!
..... 4 minuteeeeeeeees !!!!! are you kidddddding me !!!!! :OOOOOOO

 

[gasaraki]

So when they talk about CPU lanes it's the amount of PCIe "lanes" a cpu provides. Items on you motherboard that uses PCIe all talk directly to the cpu (generally). So a graphics card uses the PCIe 16x slot so it needs 16 "lanes" for itself. New M.2 based SSDs use 4x so they need 4 "lanes". Two video cards will want two 16x lanes so 32 lanes but they function just fine with 8 so two video cards might run in (16x, 8x) mode or (8x, 8x) mode. As more and more stuff use PCIe lanes (Thunderbolt, USB3, U.2, M.2, etc) more and more lanes will be required without items having to share the lanes all the time.

1st. so the extra lanes are already existed on the mobo but the cpu gives you the permission to use them ?
2nd. does that mean that all the SSDs are m2 based ? if not what type of lanes does the older version use ?
3rd. what is the Thunderbolt, USB3, U.2 ? :S
thanks for your patience 😀

1. Basically. The CPU is actually determining how many lanes you get, not the motherboard. In the old days when the chipset was on the motherboard, the motherboard had more "power". Nowadays all chipset functions are in the CPU (memory controllers, etc) the motherboard is only there to provide the connections.
2. No. Most SSDs are still SATA based just like spinning hard drives. They will be limited by the old SATA bus at 6gb/sec.
3. Thunderbolt is a plug, not really common is the PC crowd.
You know what USB is. USB 3 is the third version of usb. It's faster than usb2.
U.2 is a plug like SATA but it uses the PCI lanes instead of SATA lanes.