Which mobo for m.2?

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

I AM torn between the z97 guard pro (2 pcie x16 3.0/4 pcie x4 2.0 slots) and the Z97S SLI Krait Edition (2 pcie x16 3.0/2 pcie x4 2.0 slots + sata express) and I have 5 things to connect to the pcie slots... will it be possible to use a m.2 ssd on the sli krait with all 5 pcie slots populated and still get the 10gb/s especially since it has sata express or is it all dependent on the pci slots and it would be better to go with the guard pro seeing how it has 6 pcie slots?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

What are all the things you plan to put in the PCI-e slots. Do you have enough lanes?

The M.2 on the Krait uses eSATA or a couple of STAT port lanes.

 

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

What are all the things you plan to put in the PCI-e slots. Do you have enough lanes?

The M.2 on the Krait uses eSATA or a couple of STAT port lanes.

i plan on puting the Zotac GTX 960 AMP! 4GB, Creative SB Z, Hauppauge TV Tuner, Elgato HD60 Pro, and Fenvi Wifi/Bluetooth module in these slots... I'm new to M.2 and it seems to confuse Me no matter how much I think i got it. So you're telling Me what I kinda figured? which is it doesn't need pcie lanes as I can just use 2 sata 3/sata express lane and achieve 10gb/s?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The M.2 shares PCIe lanes with your SATA ports. You will be running your GPU at x8? It won't matter, but did you know?

 

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

Every time i think i know something about m.2, i get lost all over again... so no lol but are you telling Me that if i fill all My pcie slots up, and use an m.2 ssd, i can still get 10gb/s? because i figured with sata express i could use slot 5 and 6 but I'm just not sure... is it considered it's own pcie slot?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

To sort things out, I need to know what PCI-e requirements your non-gpu cards have. I hope you know because it will take me a while to work it out.

The PCI-e lanes are divided between the chipset and the CPU.

It has two long x16 slots, one of which will run at x16, or both can run at x8 for SLI or 2x Crossfire.
The motherboard also has three x1 PCI-e slots.
There are also two older PCI slots.

All of these share the 20 lanes available.

There are also six SATA ports a SATA Express port, and an M.2 Port. You cannot use all of these at the same time. If the M.2 is being used, then either the SATA Express, or two of the SATA ports are disabled. When M.2 is used, it will give you 10 Gb/s, using two 6Gb/s lanes to do it.

If all of those cards are working on your existing motherboard, then they will work on your new motherboard. I'm guessing that they each use only x1 PCI-e lane, for a total of 5, but they will cut your GPU down to x8. x8 + 5 * x1 = 13 lanes The SATA, SATA Express, and M,2 share a different four lanes used by the chipset itself.

None of this really has anything to do with M.2 itself, but rather how has the board manufacturer assigned the limited lanes to the various devices that need them.

The Z97 Guard Pro is a little different.

It has a x16 and x4 long slot, so cannot do SLI, which requires 2 x8, but will do Crossfire which only requires x4. It also has 4 x1 slots, and no PCI slots at all. It has no SATA Express, and to get that, and it's 10 Gb/S you need to use an adaptor in the M.2 slot.

I hope that this clarifies things.

 

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

To sort things out, I need to know what PCI-e requirements your non-gpu cards have. I hope you know because it will take me a while to work it out.

The PCI-e lanes are divided between the chipset and the CPU.

It has two long x16 slots, one of which will run at x16, or both can run at x8 for SLI or 2x Crossfire.
The motherboard also has three x1 PCI-e slots.
There are also two older PCI slots.

All of these share the 20 lanes available.

There are also six SATA ports a SATA Express port, and an M.2 Port. You cannot use all of these at the same time. If the M.2 is being used, then either the SATA Express, or two of the SATA ports are disabled. When M.2 is used, it will give you 10 Gb/s, using two 6Gb/s lanes to do it.

If all of those cards are working on your existing motherboard, then they will work on your new motherboard. I'm guessing that they each use only x1 PCI-e lane, for a total of 5, but they will cut your GPU down to x8. x8 + 5 * x1 = 13 lanes The SATA, SATA Express, and M,2 share a different four lanes used by the chipset itself.

None of this really has anything to do with M.2 itself, but rather how has the board manufacturer assigned the limited lanes to the various devices that need them.

The Z97 Guard Pro is a little different.

It has a x16 and x4 long slot, so cannot do SLI, which requires 2 x8, but will do Crossfire which only requires x4. It also has 4 x1 slots, and no PCI slots at all. It has no SATA Express, and to get that, and it's 10 Gb/S you need to use an adaptor in the M.2 slot.

I hope that this clarifies things.

 

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

I AM using a zotac gtx 960 amp and then the other 4 are just pcie x1 devices/modules, and seeing how it has only 3 pciex1 slots, i will have to use the other x16 slot for one of them. I knew quite abit of what you were saying already but I think I do understand, it has it's own pcie lanes, but takes from both pcie and sata to use. I will defo buy this board then, needed clarification because i didn't wanna buy this board and not be able to use the m.2 slot, I love the look of it, matches pretty much anything. Now i guess I play the waiting game for someone to release a 1TB M.2 SSD... might just get a 500gb for now to put the OS on.

 

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

either one of these compatible/give Me the speed I want?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148954&cm_re=m.2-_-20-148-954-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147467&cm_re=m.2_512gb-_-20-147-467-_-Product

NVMe work?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I am not certain, but I believe that the KRAIT's M.2 is only x2, not 3.0 x4, so although both those M.2 SSDs will run on the board, the NVMe 950 PRO will be unable to reach the 32Gb/s speeds you are paying for. They will both give you the 10Gb/s you want.

 

[AnthonyMooreDevices]

Thanx! you were very helpful to Me.
I'll actually be getting this one http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-X300-SATA3-Internal-SD7SN6S-512G-1122/dp/B00O4OHK0G/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1453236298&sr=8-17&keywords=m.2
since it matches My build and the mobo.