[SOLVED] Optimal chipset for M.2 NVMe

[skutinru]

Hey guys!

(I apologise for my english, its not my native.)

Does anyone have experience with configurating a system with M.2 NVMe? Can you help me with advice, please?

The goal:
Build a new middle-budget PC with M.2 NVMe drive onboard (probably Samsung 960 evo plus).

My small research results:

• for M.2 NVMe I should use PCIe 3.0 x4
• both cpu and motherboard must support at least 20 PCIe 3.0 lanes (16 for graphic card and 4 for NVMe drive)
• Z370 and X470 are OK, but what about other chipsets?
  • https://www.techspot.com/review/1646-storage-performance-intel-z370-vs-amd-x470/
• I also found a lot of different chipsets specs:
  • AMD: https://ru.gecid.com/data/mboard/201705180805-48287/img/01_msi_x370_sli_plus.jpg
  • AMD: https://3dnews.ru/assets/external/illustrations/2018/07/30/973247/21-1.jpg
  • AMD: https://te4h.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/amd-am4-ryzen-chipset-comparisons.png
  • Intel: https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/22nm.png
  • Intel: https://te4h.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/intel-300-series-chipset-comparison.png

My possible configs (probably):

• Intel: Core i3-9100F or Core i5-9400, chipset: B360 or H370
• AMD: Ryzen 3xxx, chipset: B450 or X370

Finally, the problem and my question:
I'm confused about choosing chipset, that will maximize potential perfomance of NVMe drive.
Following the specs, AMD chipsets has less PCIe 3.0 lanes, is this a bottleneck or not (for M.2 x4 + x16 GPU card)?
Which one is OK, or all I mentioned above are OK for my purpose?
Maybe I should choose a more expensive chipset?

Thanks a lot for your attension!

Thread moved to Storage Section
Moderator
Lutfij

 

[Mr.Spock]

Neither setup will bottleneck a 960 EVO Plus, you're thinking of PCI-E Gen 4 m.2 SSDs which are twice as expensive those only run full speed on X570 mobos (they are backwards compatible w/gen 3)

 

[kanewolf]

Settle on a CPU. That limits the motherboard choices. For a Ryzen 3xxx series CPU either an X570 or a B450 MAX -- the MAX is important to ensure that your CPU is supported from the factory. Don't get an X370 today. Those are two generations old. They are very likely to need a BIOS update to support your 3xxx CPU.

 

[skutinru]

Neither setup will bottleneck a 960 EVO Plus, you're thinking of PCI-E Gen 4 m.2 SSDs which are twice as expensive those only have support on X570 mobos

Thank you for reply, I get id!

Settle on a CPU. That limits the motherboard choices. For a Ryzen 3xxx series CPU either an X570 or a B450 MAX -- the MAX is important to ensure that your CPU is supported from the factory. Don't get an X370 today. Those are two generations old. They are very likely to need a BIOS update to support your 3xxx CPU.

Thank you, now I think about platform - AMD or Intel, which is better in my case in your appinion?
Say, among these options:

• ASRock B450M Steel Legend + Ryzen 5 2xxx or Ryzen 5 3xxx (for 3xxx I need BIOS update, thats OK) (ddr4 3200)
• ASRock H370M Pro4 + Core i3-9100F or Core i5-9400 (ddr4 2400)

 

[kanewolf]

Thank you for reply, I get id!


Thank you, now I think about platform - AMD or Intel, which is better in my case in your appinion?
Say, among these options:

• ASRock B450M Steel Legend + Ryzen 5 2xxx or Ryzen 5 3xxx (for 3xxx I need BIOS update, thats OK) (ddr4 3200)
• ASRock H370M Pro4 + Core i3-9100F or Core i5-9400 (ddr4 2400)

What do you DO with the PC? You didn't identify your use-case.

 

[skutinru]

What do you DO with the PC? You didn't identify your use-case.

Use-cases:

• Mostly - web development (local web server, high file system load)
• Media (hd/4k movies)
• Gaming (full hd, medium graphic)

My current setup:

• 3 displays (4k tv, 2 fullHD monitors for development)
• Intel core i3 3220
• ASRock H77 Pro4-M
• DDR3 4096MBx2 PC12800 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance [CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9]
• GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 1290MHz PCI-E 3.0 4096MB
• SSD OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-128G - system
• HDD WD Blue WD10EZRZ 1TB - data storage

Upgrade plan (budget about $500-600):

• by now, left my current gpu GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 1290MHz PCI-E 3.0 4096MB
• 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2
• DDR4 8GBx2 Corsair CMK16GX4M2Z3200C16
• ? CPU: intel core i3-9xxx/i5-9xxx | AMD Ryzen 5 2xxx/3xxx
• ? ASRock B450M Steel Legend | ASRock H370M Pro4

Please, feel free to fix my new config)

 

[kanewolf]

Use-cases:

• Mostly - web development (local web server, high file system load)
• Media (hd/4k movies)
• Gaming (full hd, medium graphic)

Your development will benefit from more CPU cores and more RAM. ANY new CPU would be a significant upgrade from an i3-2xxx series CPU. Do you run VMs for development?

 

[skutinru]

Your development will benefit from more CPU cores and more RAM. ANY new CPU would be a significant upgrade from an i3-2xxx series CPU. Do you run VMs for development?

No VMs.

 

[kanewolf]

I would do something like this

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler ($59.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper X 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 660p 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($69.99 @ B&H)
Total: $559.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-17 11:40 EST-0500

 

[King_V]

Assuming you're gaming at 1920x1080, and a limit of maybe 60Hz or 75Hz on your monitor (I don't know: what are your monitor's specifications?), then I might perhaps suggest dropping down to a Ryzen 5 2600 instead of 3600, and use the money saved toward getting a larger capacity SSD.