Nvme m.2, sata ssds and pci-e lanes (z170) mobo.

[Sekeira]

Hello everybody, i am considering changing my drive layout (to maximize storage and reduce cable clutter) so i am considering going with an nvme m.2 drive and 2 ssds.

My question is, how will this use/interfere my pci-e lanes and will it bottleneck my gpu?

I have a hard time finding a clear answer to this.

I have an Asus ROG Maximus VIII Gene with a i7 6700k and a Gtx 1080. I am currently running 3 sata ssds (an 850 evo, an 840 evo and a 940gb scandisk one).

How am i using my pci-e lanes in my current case and how would i be using it if would change to 1 nvme + 2 sata ssds??

Thank you

 

[Multipack]

Hi there. PCIE M2 lanes are taken from the chipset. GPU x16 slots use the ones the CPU provide. They dont affect each other.

SATA SSD's use SATA lanes. NVME may disable some SATA ports but thats it.

 

[Barty1884]

The 6700K can max 16 lanes (x16 for single GPU, two x8 for dual SLI or one x8 + two x4's), with the Z170 chipset providing an additional 4 (which can be utilized as x1, x2 or x4 - or a combination of)

With a single GPU, you can run x16 (or SLI at two x8) from the CPU with the NVME drive x4 provided by the chipset.

Currently, you are using x16 for the GPU

You won't interfere with your GPU by populating with an NVME drive.

As an example, if you populated the x1 slot with a network card, it would impact the bandwidth available to the NVME. Your GPU would still be x16 but to provide the x1 for a network card, your NVME would drop from x4 to x2.

 

[Sekeira]

Thank you both for your responses!