Question ROG STRIX B450-E GAMING, installing additional M.2 SSD

[NeedHelpPlease1]

Hello!

I am not very tech savvy, but I have tried my best to understand how this motherboard works.

Currently i have the following on my motherboard:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X.
GPU: RTX 2060 Super, Installed in the upper PCIe slot.
Storage 1: 1 M.2 SSD installed in the M.2_1 socket.
Storage 2 and 3: Installed in the SATA sockets.

I am looking to install an additional SSD for gaming, and was looking at the option of installing a second M.2.
By looking on the internet it looks like by installing an additional M.2 SSD in the M.2_2 socket, the upper PCIe will run at x8 instead of x16.

My questions are:
1. Could I install an SSD in the M.2_2 socket and move the GPU to the middle PCIe slot, or will this also reduce how effective the GPU is? If so, could you please explain in short why?
2. If 1 does not work, is my only option to install an additional SSD with SATA?

Thanks!

 

[logainofhades]

When in doubt consult the manual. https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_STRIX_B450-E_GAMING/E14929_ROG_STRIX_B450-E_GAMING_UM_V2_WEB.pdf?model=ROG STRIX B450-E GAMING

That is an odd configuration. Normally the second M.2 is controlled by the chipset, but Asus decided they wanted that slot to be gen 3 instead of B450's gen 2, so set it up to steal lanes from the GPU, to operate it. The second x16 slot runs at x4, so avoid running your GPU in that. Running at x8 will not affect your GPU's performance. An RTX 2060s isn't fast enough to saturate an x8 Gen 3 slot. A 2080ti only loses about 3% in such a scenario, and that is a much faster card. For gaming, you wouldn't really notice the difference in M.2 NVME vs 2.5 SATA SSD, just as an FYI.

 

[NeedHelpPlease1]

Thank you for the thorough reply!

I am looking to upgrade to an RX 7800 XT for 1440p in the not so distant future, so in that case I will just get a regular SATA SSD.