second m.2 slot question

FowynPrime

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Sep 28, 2014
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Hello everyone!

This is the list of parts i am going to install.
CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($347.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - H370 AORUS Gaming 3 WIFI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($130.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($184.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($107.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($113.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($559.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($88.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: be quiet! - STRAIGHT POWER 10 CM 700W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

But on the second m.2 ssd it is saying
The motherboard M.2 slot #2 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.

Here is/was my plan, first m.2 is purely windows etc, second m.2 is going to be for WoW + GTA V as i only play those two games for now.
And SSD is for games i only play like once a week.
Will this second m.2 ssd slow down if it uses my 6.0gb port ? since it is saying it shares bandwidth ? and if so, is a second m.2 ssd a good idea ?

i would like to hear from you guys

oh PS i know i got no CPU cooling on the list
I am going with a liquid freezer 240 rat for CPU and a liquid freezer 360 rat in front for my gpu, i got the kraken g12.
probably overkill and most people would say go for a custom loop, but to be honest i don't like the maintenance on liquid cooling.
 
Solution
One of your M.2 slots is a full NVME PCie x4 SSD slot. The second slot is only PCIe x2, so it runs slower than the first one and DISABLES one SATA port, because it needs the motherboard resources. Its not that it shares bandwidth, its that it specifically takes resources. It will still be faster than a standard SSD, but I wouldn't go out and buy the fastest 960PRO NVME for it, as you can't use its performance. Honestly though, unless you sit there and look at benchmarks you'd probably not even notice the performance differences.

One other thing, why bother with a liquid cooler on an H370 motherboard? Other than either looks or packaging in your case its a waste of money, you can't overclock on that board.
One of your M.2 slots is a full NVME PCie x4 SSD slot. The second slot is only PCIe x2, so it runs slower than the first one and DISABLES one SATA port, because it needs the motherboard resources. Its not that it shares bandwidth, its that it specifically takes resources. It will still be faster than a standard SSD, but I wouldn't go out and buy the fastest 960PRO NVME for it, as you can't use its performance. Honestly though, unless you sit there and look at benchmarks you'd probably not even notice the performance differences.

One other thing, why bother with a liquid cooler on an H370 motherboard? Other than either looks or packaging in your case its a waste of money, you can't overclock on that board.
 
Solution


The only reason why i am cooling my cpu and gpu is because, it get's really hot, and the summer is coming, which makes my men cave XD about 35 to 42 Celcius during the day, i am not concerned about overclocking, that cpu is already a big upgrade coming from a i7 5820k.

So you guys say go for the https://www.amazon.de/GIGABYTE-Z370-AORUS-Ultra-Gaming/dp/B075ZQ6V9R/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1530129871&sr=8-4&keywords=Z370 ?
It's only 50 bucks more, and i might be able to OC to 5.0Ghz ? with that cooling right ?
I mean i already got the H370 here in my office, but i can just buy a new one and send H370 back

 


Arctic isn't exactly the top brand for liquid coolers. I'd bet money if you got yourself a Cryorig H7 or a Noctua NH-D14 your system would run quieter and just as cool. If you like the look or packaging inside your case, sure, but you really aren't gaining any sort of major cooling benefit with those units, especially if you aren't overclocking. Its a waste of money.
 
I can say this tho i have always had Arctic never had problems, and to top off it actually beated the h100i cooler i had by 4 celcius, so far i installed it for all my customers non of them came back for problems, also i was able to see a small difference in the h100i v2 by 1-2 celcius okay its not a big difference but again, i am trying to proof a point that you not always need a top notch brand name to get most out of it, i do agree with the Z370 and i will be returning my H370.

I am not to scared about the noise the Freezer 360 may give as it's 25db and my room is about 46db - 51db
 


Not saying its going to fail, I'm just saying its not going to do any miracles over a great air cooler. The price difference over a good air cooler is not worth it. Unless, like I said, you like the look or case packaging of it. What i mean by that is a liquid cooler gives you more options for moving the heat exchange.

You're not making a bad decision, I just wanted to make the point that you aren't gaining performance either.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys/girls.
bignastyid: Thanks for the info but i think i am going to stick with this ssd setup.
Rogue Leader: Also a big thanks on pointing out the H370 can't be overclocked, i will be going for a Z370, i was not planning on overclocking but on second thought having 5.0 Ghz sounds fun 😀

 


5.0ghz may be a stretch on that cooler, but if you are going to try it, the extra surface area of a CLC like that is helpful. I'd aim more for a stable 4.8-4.9.
 


Considering stock it turbos to 4.7 ghz, you could do an H370 (its all core turbo is 4.3 ghz I believe). If you don't plan to overclock you do not need the Z370. The point of the suggestion was, if you're going to use a CLC may as well get a Z370 so you can overclock, otherwise a good air cooler works just as well at stock speeds for far less money.

4.5ghz on all cores is an overclock, if you want to do that, you need a Z370 motherboard.
 
I was not planning to OC the 8700k to be honest, if i can get 4.5 ghz on turbo i'd be happy as i am doing 4.0 ghz now on my i7 5820k.
But the ram i got is 3000mhz is that gonna be a problem ? normally not right because the speeds are kinda irrelevant for gaming right, nice for rendering programs but not for games right ?
 


The the 8700k base frequency is 3.7ghz. 8700k turbo stepping (based on number of cores turboed and in use) goes like this:

1C: 4.7GHz
2C: 4.6GHz
3C: 4.5GHz
4-5C: 4.4GHz
6C: 4.3GHz

When someone says they "overclocked" their processor they are turning off turbo (it only works in bursts, not sustained), and taking the 3.7ghz base number and bringing it up to 4.5 or 4.7 or whatever. Only a Z370 can do that.

Now as for 3000mhz memory it makes little difference in games, an H370 motherboard will support XMP and get you to that 3000mhz, any higher than that you may run into issues as the processor may need a tiny overclock to keep the ram stable.
 


Basically your processor, most of the time, will run at 3.7 ghz. In some situations under surge loads it can go up to 4.7 ghz on 1 core, or 4.3 ghz on all 6. But for all intents and purposes, most of the time your processor is running at 3.7ghz.
 


I know that Ghz is not everything to look out for, but i do think a solid 4.5 ghz would be nice.
Thanks for all you're information, like i said i will be going for the Z370.
 
Is Boost Clock and Overclock the same ? i just found something on google while i was looking to buy the Z370, they are saying if you leave you're cpu at stock settings it will run at 4.3ghz all the time because of turbo mode, and boost single core up to 4.7ghz ? are they wrong ?
 


It will turbo to 4.3ghz some of the time, but it does not stay that speed all of the time. It will turbo single core to 4.7ghz.

Overclock and Turbo boost are not the same thing. Overclock is setting your processor to run all cores at a specific faster speed, all the time under load.
 


Ah thank you for clearing that up, still going for the Z370 not sure if i gain something of it, but for that extra 80 euros i can't struggle right

 
I am pleased to report back with some information about my new rig, 1x m.2 is running at 3.700 read and 2.780 write, the second m.2 is running at 1.850 read and 1.255 write, the normal SSD is going on 520 read and 320 write, so far boot time is 4.8 seconds, i kept the stock cooler for the GPU but i did replace the thermal paste, went from a stable 60C on full gaming to 48C, CPU is sitting stable at 34C and 40C under full load, frames are more stable and so far loving the system, i am saving up to do a custom loop in this case because i really like the look of it and it's not to big.

Again thanks for helping me out on a few things.
 

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