Question PCLe 3.0 x2 instead of x4 ?

[spilot101]

... to my surprise. Bought this new HP 255 G10 Laptop with an advertised "256G PCLe Gen 4x4 drive", which I quickly swapped for a 1 TB WD SN770. Well, they got me Just because they stuck a drive with that spec, doesn't mean the mobo is up-to-speed, I'm guessing, as I'm only getting Gen3 x2 speeds. Ironically, I put that 256G drive into the 2018 laptop that I'm replacing and I'm getting speeds at Gen3x4. Perhaps I was naïve to think that 5years would be enough to run 4 lanes by default, at the very least.
I'm not a techie when it comes to all this so I'm curious if there's a possibility of turning my x2 into x4 lanes (without changing any of the hardware bits haha).

I've attached some screenshots with some more detailed info jic ... would really appreciate your 2 cents!

https://ibb.co/7KVvGYn

https://ibb.co/M9Sdq4N

https://ibb.co/X7nJQKj

https://ibb.co/5502P1G

PS. I tried to check the BIOS to see if I can set it anything else but I cannot find it for some reason. Also, I've changed the advanced power settings to "Max" on PCLe Express

 

[Bob.B]

... to my surprise. Bought this new HP 255 G10 Laptop which with an advertised "256G PCLe Gen 4x4 drive", which I quickly swapped for a 1 TB WD SN770. Well, they got me Just because they stuck a drive with that spec, doesn't mean the mobo is up-to-speed, I'm guessing, as I'm getting Gen3 x2 speeds. Ironically, I put that 256G drive into the 2018 laptop that I'm replacing and I'm getting speeds at Gen3x4. Perhaps I was naïve to think that 5years would be enough to run 4 lanes by default, at the very least.
I'm not a techie when it comes to all this so I'm curious if there's a possibility of turning my x2 into x4 lanes (without changing any of the hardware bits haha).

I've attached some screenshots with some more detailed info jic ... would really appreciate your 2 cents!

https://ibb.co/7KVvGYn

https://ibb.co/M9Sdq4N

https://ibb.co/X7nJQKj

https://ibb.co/5502P1G

PS. I tried to check the BIOS to see if I can set it anything else but I cannot find it for some reason. Also, I've changed the advanced power settings to "Max" on PCLe Express

Reseat the WD see if it makes a diff.

Put the orig disk back in the pc and see what it shows.

 

[spilot101]

Reseat the WD see if it makes a diff.

Put the orig disk back in the pc and see what it shows.

Sounds good, but is there a way to see what it shows up as without the whole Windows re-installation? I couldn't find the bus read info in the BIOS alone....

 

[Bob.B]

Sounds good, but is there a way to see what it shows up as without the whole Windows re-installation? I couldn't find the bus read info in the BIOS alone....

I'm not aware of a bootable tool to do that perhaps someone else will be along with an answer.

 

[mdd1963]

https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c08479497

Page 5 of the laptop specs lists 2 M.2 NVME slots, but only gives detailed specs for one of the slots as being Gen4x4...

The other slot is only listed as 'NVME M.2 SSD', which, by omission of any gen listing or number of lanes available could leave multiple possibilities. Certainly, swapping drives around (if more than one available)and a running of CrystalDiskInfo will list what number of lanes are connected...

(In the below example, you can see where my MiniPC's 'NVME slot' is only in PCI-e 3.0 X1 lane mode...all that is available in an N5105 based mini, it seems)

 

[spilot101]

https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c08479497

Page 5 of the laptop specs lists 2 M.2 NVME slots, but only gives detailed specs for one of the slots as being Gen4x4...

The other slot is only listed as 'NVME M.2 SSD', which, by omission of any gen listing or number of lanes available could leave multiple possibilities. Certainly, swapping drives around (if more than one available)and a running of CrystalDiskInfo will list what number of lanes are connected...

(In the below example, you can see where my MiniPC's 'NVME slot' is only in PCI-e 3.0 X1 lane mode...all that is available in an N5105 based mini, it seems)

Cheers mdd1963,

https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c08479497

Page 5 of the laptop specs lists 2 M.2 NVME slots, but only gives detailed specs for one of the slots as being Gen4x4...

The other slot is only listed as 'NVME M.2 SSD', which, by omission of any gen listing or number of lanes available could leave multiple possibilities. Certainly, swapping drives around (if more than one available)and a running of CrystalDiskInfo will list what number of lanes are connected...

(In the below example, you can see where my MiniPC's 'NVME slot' is only in PCI-e 3.0 X1 lane mode...all that is available in an N5105 based mini, it seems)

Cheers! Before I take it apart and try to find that other slot (which, counterintuitively would have to be in a pretty clandestine location) it says here: https://ibb.co/X7nJQKj that there are 3 pcie slots: x1, x2 and x16. Wouldn't the 4 lanes say x32 (32.0 GT/s)?

PS. I just ran the CrystalDisk and got this read: https://ibb.co/hHqSL0y

Does it mean that I also have Gen4x4 or is it just saying that that is whan my SN770 is capable of?

Thanks again!

 

[mdd1963]

Per CrystalDiskInfo, its a PCI-e 4x4 device, but installed in a PCI-e 3.0 X2 lane device, be that because of chipset limitations and/or BIOS settings, I would not know...(as I mentioned, the MB's manual seemed 'evasive' on the actual specs of the non PCI-4x4 slot, only referring to it merely as 'M.2 NVME', not mentioning Gen3 vs. 4, or amounts of lanes. My guess? It's connected only as a PCI-e 3.0 x2 lanes slot, for whatever reason...

Given the lane limits, I'd expect max of 1700-1750 MB/sec transfer, given my own PCI-e 3.0 x4 limits of roughly 3500 MB/sec transfers...; good luck!

Your assorted PCI-e slots on the mainboard are not directly relevant here, barring you having some sort of M.2 NVME/PCI-e slot adapter instead of just utilizing the M.2 slots on the mainboard...

 

[spilot101]

Cool, thanks again. HP has also blocked the advanced bios settings on this rig, so there's no way to get in there to make sure if there's a way to enable Gen3x4 (at least). Well, since I'm not a gamer, I might come to terms with a 6 sec boot, as opposed to a 4 sec one

 

[thestryker]

Mendocino only has 4 PCIe 3.0 lanes available total which is probably the limitation you're running into. Those are cut down Zen 2 based APUs so they're extremely limited in capability.

HP unfortunately sells that model with 3x Zen 2 based APUs and 3x Zen 3 based ones.