I've read the M.2 choice questions in other posts, but perhaps I missed any questions about the X299 motherboards. I have a ROG STRIX X299-E Gaming II motherboard, Intel Core i9-9900X CPU, 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus (primary), 2TB Seagate SATA drive (secondary for data), GEFORCE RTX 2070 Super OC (width is about 2 and 1/2 slots); 32 GB RAM. The motherboard has three M.2 slots.
M.2_1 socket supports PCIe 3.0 x 4 and SATA modes M Key design (the board would stick straight up in the air with the required accessory bracket -- seems kind of impractical)
M.2_2 and M.2_3 sockets support PCIe x 4 mode M Key design; The M.2_2 socket has a big heatsink but is located underneath the video card cooler fans -- hard to get to later.
M.2_1 socket supports IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology)
M.2_ and M.2_2 sockets support RSTe (Rapid Storage Technology enterprise)
Question 1: What would be the best socket choice for a single NVME boot drive?
Question 2: Do the IRST and RSTe options make any difference if you are not running RAID formation or running a server?
M.2_1 socket supports PCIe 3.0 x 4 and SATA modes M Key design (the board would stick straight up in the air with the required accessory bracket -- seems kind of impractical)
M.2_2 and M.2_3 sockets support PCIe x 4 mode M Key design; The M.2_2 socket has a big heatsink but is located underneath the video card cooler fans -- hard to get to later.
M.2_1 socket supports IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology)
M.2_ and M.2_2 sockets support RSTe (Rapid Storage Technology enterprise)
Question 1: What would be the best socket choice for a single NVME boot drive?
Question 2: Do the IRST and RSTe options make any difference if you are not running RAID formation or running a server?