Question WD SN850X SSD running off chipset on an MSI PRO Z690-A motherboard ?

[smush]

I am looking to purchase a WD Black SN850X on a Prime Day discount but having read the manual for my
MSI PRO Z690-A motherboard I am wondering is it a waste of money if I put it in a Gen4 M.2 Slot that is running through chipset instead of CPU (that slot is already occupied with OS drive)?

Would I be better off looking at a cheaper DRAM-less NVMe or will I still benefit from something like an SN850X?

My MSI PRO Z690-A already has 2 Gen4 NVMe's fitted of a possible 4 and of those 4 slots only 1 uses CPU and another is only Gen3.

Also installed is a 4070 Ti GPU, 2 x 16GB DDR5 RAM, and an i5-13600KF CPU.

 

[Eximo]

Dramless drives are decent enough for long term storage or game installation.

If the price is the same or cheaper, get the best drive you can. If the controller is designed for faster speeds and you run it slower, it should run cooler and be able to do sustained writes for longer.

 

[logainofhades]

For just mass storage, I would choose a Teamgroup MP44.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/teamgroup-mp44-ssd-review

 

[smush]

For just mass storage, I would choose a Teamgroup MP44.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/teamgroup-mp44-ssd-review

Those are more expensive than stuff with DRAM in my country.

Dramless drives are decent enough for long term storage or game installation.

If the price is the same or cheaper, get the best drive you can. If the controller is designed for faster speeds and you run it slower, it should run cooler and be able to do sustained writes for longer.

Oh I know DRAMless drives are decent enough they will always be cheaper than the DRAM products by nature but I was wondering would it be pointless opting for a SSD with DRAM like this WD Black SN850X if it will be running off the Mobo controller instead of CPU? I don't mind spending some extra if the benefit is there.

 

[USAFRet]

but I was wondering would it be pointless opting for a SSD with DRAM like this WD Black SN850X if it will be running off the Mobo controller instead of CPU?

For that drive and use, it doesn't really matter.

 

[smush]

For that drive and use, it doesn't really matter.

What doesn't matter? I've not said what my use for the drive is. Are you saying there would be no noticable benefit regardless of use between an SN850X which is on a discount so only slightly more expensive than an SN770?

 

[USAFRet]

What doesn't matter? I've not said what my use for the drive is. Are you saying there would be no noticable benefit regardless of use between an SN850X which is on a discount so only slightly more expensive than an SN770?

I was referring to CPU vs chipset, and a dramless drive.

I apologize if there were different considerations.

 

[Zerk2012]

What doesn't matter? I've not said what my use for the drive is. Are you saying there would be no noticable benefit regardless of use between an SN850X which is on a discount so only slightly more expensive than an SN770?

I don't see the problem slot 2 & 4 both run on the chipset @4.0 X4.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z690-A/Specification

• M2_2 slot (from Z690 chipset)
  • Supports PCIe 4.0 x4
  • Supports 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices
• M2_3 slot (from Z690 chipset)
  • Supports PCIe 3.0 x4
  • Supports SATA 6Gb/s
  • Supports 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices
• M2_4 slot (from Z690 chipset)
  • Supports PCIe 4.0 x4
  • Supports SATA 6Gb/s
  • Supports 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices

 

[smush]

I don't see the problem slot 2 & 4 both run on the chipset @4.0 X4.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z690-A/Specification

• M2_2 slot (from Z690 chipset)
  • Supports PCIe 4.0 x4
  • Supports 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices
• M2_3 slot (from Z690 chipset)
  • Supports PCIe 3.0 x4
  • Supports SATA 6Gb/s
  • Supports 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices
• M2_4 slot (from Z690 chipset)
  • Supports PCIe 4.0 x4
  • Supports SATA 6Gb/s
  • Supports 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices

If running on the chipset would that mean a new M.2 I put in would be sharing resources with say the GPU and the SSD I have in the other M2 chipset slot? Would running SSD on chipset limit the capability of the drive as in not being able to reach the transfer speeds it is capable of?

 

[Zerk2012]

If running on the chipset would that mean a new M.2 I put in would be sharing resources with say the GPU and the SSD I have in the other M2 chipset slot? Would running SSD on chipset limit the capability of the drive as in not being able to reach the transfer speeds it is capable of?

If it runs off the chipset it can't take away from the GPU that runs off the CPU.
Unless your doing a ton of file transfers or something like that it really don't matter if the full speed is not reached. If it would lower the speed of slot 2&4 I can't say all I know is what the specks say. You might get more information from the motherboard manual.

 

[Bob.B]

I am looking to purchase a WD Black SN850X on a Prime Day discount but having read the manual for my motherboard which is an MSI PRO Z690-A I am wondering is it a waste of money if I put it in a Gen4 M.2 Slot that is running through chipset instead of CPU (that slot is already occupied with OS drive)? Would I be better off looking at a cheaper DRAM-less NVMe or will I still benefit from something like an SN850X?

My MSI PRO Z690-A already has 2 Gen4 NVMe's fitted of a possible 4 and of those 4 slots only 1 uses CPU and another is only Gen3
also connected is a 4070Ti and 2x16GB DDR5 memory and CPU is an i5 13600KF

Unless you are going to be moving big chunks of data you could put a sata m.2 in the slot and be hard pressed to see a diff.