Which PCI should I use for an extra M.2

14manj01

Honorable
Jun 13, 2013
15
0
10,520
Hello,
My question is that there are a few different PCI M.2 Adapters on amazon running on the 4x, or the 16x, I couldn't find any speed tests on google, and was wondering which PCI form I should choose for best performance.

Link to 16x https://www.amazon.com/adapter-interface-Suppor-Express-2230-2280/dp/B0762JRDG3/ref=sr_1_22?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1508998761&sr=1-22&keywords=Pci+-+NVME

Link to 4x https://www.amazon.com/Cablecc-Adapter-Converter-Express-Cooling/dp/B01M7UKFWI/ref=sr_1_18?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1508998761&sr=1-18&keywords=Pci+-+NVME
 
Solution
What CPU are you using? If you have a mainstream processor remember you only have 16 PCIe lanes to play with. You would not install in your first x16 PCIe slot (Assuming you have a discrete graphics card). But remember, your M.2 drive is not going to perform any faster on an x4, x8 or x16 slot, but you will take lanes from your graphics card, dropping it down to x8. Whether that matters is open to conjecture.

If you are running a HEDT CPU (Eg. Haswell-X, Skylake-X etc), you have either 28 or 40 PCIe lanes. On these processors it probably won't matter which slot you use (Except PCIe x16 #1 - Keep your graphics card there). Again, your M.2 drive will not run faster than x4 even in an x8/x16 slot. 16 lanes for your graphics card + 4 for...
What CPU are you using? If you have a mainstream processor remember you only have 16 PCIe lanes to play with. You would not install in your first x16 PCIe slot (Assuming you have a discrete graphics card). But remember, your M.2 drive is not going to perform any faster on an x4, x8 or x16 slot, but you will take lanes from your graphics card, dropping it down to x8. Whether that matters is open to conjecture.

If you are running a HEDT CPU (Eg. Haswell-X, Skylake-X etc), you have either 28 or 40 PCIe lanes. On these processors it probably won't matter which slot you use (Except PCIe x16 #1 - Keep your graphics card there). Again, your M.2 drive will not run faster than x4 even in an x8/x16 slot. 16 lanes for your graphics card + 4 for your M.2 drive. Assuming you don't SLI, then you have lanes to spare.
 
Solution