Will an M.2 SSD impact the performance of my 1070?

[jbgarcia]

It takes up 4 PCIe lanes (I think) which means that the 1070 only has 8 available (it's an Intel HM170 laptop motherboard with 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes, GPU can't use 12, right?). Will this impact performance in a noticeable way?

P.S. There is a good chance that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Feel free to correct me (or berate me), as long as you help answer my question/concern.

EDIT: The laptop has 3 M.2 slots, one of which is PCIe Gen 3x4, which I guess means the SSD won't use any of the motherboard's PCIe lanes, right? They will all go to the graphics card?

 

[junkeymonkey]

no with nivida x8 on the slot is there minimum x4 for AMD cards

your first primary slot for the gpu should never fall below x8 [cant exceed 16 lanes on intel i5 or 7 off the cpu ] but if you were to try to do a sli set up the m2 could prevent that by dropping the slot lanes down to 8x4x4 and with that no sli compatibility

depends on how your intel board was ''wired'' /or set up to share

AMD mother boards run all off the chipset so they can maintaim 2 x16 slots at all times up to it seems like 40 lanes [ I got to look that back up but should be close to right ]

 

[Rogue Leader]

The PCIe lanes used by the GPU are direct to the CPU and unrelated to those an M.2 drive would use. The PCIe M.2 slots use lanes from within the chipset, of which that particular chipset has 16 lanes available to it.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

The M.2 slot PCIe lanes are always provided by the chipset whereas the PCIe slot one (that connect GPUs and such) go directly to the CPU. This is mainly because such slots also need to support the SATA protocol, and it'd be a royal pain in the arse for board designers to provide a direct link to the CPU in PCIe mode but chipset link for SATA mode, and because using up CPU PCIe lanes for an SSD makes little sense since it limits GPU connectivity. If the M.2 slots used CPU PCIe lanes you'd need an X99 chip for 2-way SLI.

 

[Rogue Leader]

no with nivida x8 on the slot is there minimum x4 for AMD cards

your first primary slot for the gpu should never fall below x8 [cant exceed 16 lanes on intel i5 or 7 off the cpu ] but if you were to try to do a sli set up the m2 could prevent that by dropping the slot lanes down to 8x4x4 and with that no sli compatibility

depends on how your intel board was ''wired'' /or set up to share

AMD mother boards run all off the chipset so they can maintaim 2 x16 slots at all times up to it seems like 40 lanes [ I got to look that back up but should be close to right ]

Re-read his post, he has a laptop.

 

[junkeymonkey]

''The PCIe lanes used by the GPU are direct to the CPU and unrelated to those an M.2 drive would use. The PCIe M.2 slots use lanes from within the chipset, of which that particular chipset has 16 lanes available to it''

that's wrong depending on the mother board

like here

''In order to equip the motherboard with an M.2 x4 port, ASRock had two choices. They could combine four lanes from the chipset/PCH into a single slot, although that would severely limit the number of controllers that could be placed on the motherboard without additional PCIe switches. The other method was in the x8/x4/x4 allocation from the CPU, earmarking the final x4 for the M.2. In this method, installing an M.2 drive in this x4 slot would reduce any chipset overhead, but it would also reduce the other PCIe lanes down to x8/x4. This removes any chance of SLI, but Crossfire can still be used in x8/x4. ''


the m2 is shared with the cpu lanes as most are

lap top or not it works the same [intel] depends on how its set up to share ... can be no cpu and all chipset or can be part cpu and chipset just like any intel motherboard is only way is to know how the board manufacture has it built to do or a x-series or plx chip

see that laptop may have more cpu lanes then chipset ??? and anything you add goes through the cpu if say usb devices used up all chipset lanes


intel is funny this way and how the manufactures set up there boards

 

[Rogue Leader]

''The PCIe lanes used by the GPU are direct to the CPU and unrelated to those an M.2 drive would use. The PCIe M.2 slots use lanes from within the chipset, of which that particular chipset has 16 lanes available to it''

that's wrong depending on the mother board

like here

''In order to equip the motherboard with an M.2 x4 port, ASRock had two choices. They could combine four lanes from the chipset/PCH into a single slot, although that would severely limit the number of controllers that could be placed on the motherboard without additional PCIe switches. The other method was in the x8/x4/x4 allocation from the CPU, earmarking the final x4 for the M.2. In this method, installing an M.2 drive in this x4 slot would reduce any chipset overhead, but it would also reduce the other PCIe lanes down to x8/x4. This removes any chance of SLI, but Crossfire can still be used in x8/x4. ''


the m2 is shared with the cpu lanes as most are

lap top or not it works the same [intel] depends on how its set up to share ... can be no cpu and all chipset or can be part cpu and chipset just like any intel motherboard is only way is to know how the board manufacture has it built to do or a x-series or plx chip

see that laptop may have more cpu lanes then chipset ??? and anything you add goes through the cpu if say usb devices used up all chipset lanes


intel is funny this way and how the manufactures set up there boards

Again, he has a laptop, and no, I am correct. We are not talking about other motherboards we are talking about HIS motherboard in question the HM170 chipset based board. Look up the motherboard and chipset. This board has 16 PCIe lanes exclusive to the chipset. Its why it can offer 3 M.2 slots as per the OP, and still run a laptop 1070.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Yeah an exception or two don't make the rule. Direct CPU link is either used because the manufacturer is too cheap to connect it to the PCH, or with high-end boards (e.g. X99) where M.2 NVMe drives are often used as scratch disks for project exports and such, so having the exported data go straight to the drive helps. Using direct CPU link on consumer-grade boards makes no sense because even a 6700k overclocked to 5GHz could not possibly perform any task fast enough to benefit from a direct link.

 

[Kurz]

Taken from the 1151 Chipset Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylake_(microarchitecture)

'Support for 16 PCI Express 3.0 lanes from CPU, 20 PCI Express 3.0 lanes from PCH (LGA 1151)'

 

[Rogue Leader]

Taken from the 1151 Chipset Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylake_(microarchitecture)

'Support for 16 PCI Express 3.0 lanes from CPU, 20 PCI Express 3.0 lanes from PCH (LGA 1151)'

Not the HM170 chipset, it only supports 16 PCH lanes as mentioned. Only the desktop Z170, Q170, and server C236 chipset supports 20.

EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets#Mobile_chipsets_2

 

[junkeymonkey]

Expansion Options

PCI Express Configurations ‡ 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4

http://ark.intel.com/products/83504/Intel-Core-i7-4870HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz


so with that moble cpu and you add m2 and its shared off the cpu it cut down to 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4 and thats what he is seeing

that's all there is to it just like desktop and how the board was wired to share

good luck

 

[Rogue Leader]

Expansion Options

PCI Express Configurations ‡ 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4

http://ark.intel.com/products/83504/Intel-Core-i7-4870HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz


so with that moble cpu and you add m2 and its shared off the cpu it cut down to 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4 and thats what he is seeing

that's all there is to it just like desktop and how the board was wired to share

good luck

Can you read or so you just like to insist you are correct when you are not?

The CPU has 16 lanes. His motherboard chipset also has 16 lanes, as per Intel itself.

http://ark.intel.com/products/90584/Intel-GL82HM170-PCH

It is not shared off of the CPU.

The board offers an x4 slot, and then the other 2 M.2 slots are likely x2 as the other lanes are likely populated by things like SATA or USB 3.0.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

That's the CPU PCIe configurations. 90% of boards (if not more) use PCH PCIe for anything except for the x16 slots.

 

[Saga Lout]

It's no surprise to me that the OP hasn't posted again. If he or she gave this thread one look they would have no idea which version to believe.

Technology is a science not a matter of opinion and if two people disagree with you, junkeymonkey, you should step back and double check before confusing posters who come here for a definitive answer.

 

[jbgarcia]

It's no surprise to me that the OP hasn't posted again. If he or she gave this thread one look they would have no idea which version to believe.

Technology is a science not a matter of opinion and if two people disagree with you, junkeymonkey, you should step back and double check before confusing posters who come here for a definitive answer.

That's pretty much why I haven't selected a best answer, because I truly am unsure of what to believe. I have read the thread a few times but there is no consensus so I'm just waiting for a bit longer.

 

[Rogue Leader]

It's no surprise to me that the OP hasn't posted again. If he or she gave this thread one look they would have no idea which version to believe.

Technology is a science not a matter of opinion and if two people disagree with you, junkeymonkey, you should step back and double check before confusing posters who come here for a definitive answer.

That's pretty much why I haven't selected a best answer, because I truly am unsure of what to believe. I have read the thread a few times but there is no consensus so I'm just waiting for a bit longer.

I apologize for the confusion, as a moderator I try to avoid this which is why I so vehemently have tried to oppose him. As you can see Mr Kagouris, and Saga Lout are in agreement with what I have said. junkeymonkey does not know what he is talking about, note the links I have posted to your hardware. You have 16 pcie lanes going to your GPU and your motherboard has a separate 16 going to your PCIe M.2 drives.

 

[RealBeast]

It's no surprise to me that the OP hasn't posted again. If he or she gave this thread one look they would have no idea which version to believe.

Technology is a science not a matter of opinion and if two people disagree with you, junkeymonkey, you should step back and double check before confusing posters who come here for a definitive answer.

That's pretty much why I haven't selected a best answer, because I truly am unsure of what to believe. I have read the thread a few times but there is no consensus so I'm just waiting for a bit longer.

Rogue Leader and Mr. K are correct and as usual JunkeyMonkey is way off topic in answering YOUR question, also quite incorrectly your situation.

 

[jbgarcia]

Expansion Options

PCI Express Configurations ‡ 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4

http://ark.intel.com/products/83504/Intel-Core-i7-4870HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz


so with that moble cpu and you add m2 and its shared off the cpu it cut down to 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4 and thats what he is seeing

that's all there is to it just like desktop and how the board was wired to share

good luck

Can you read or so you just like to insist you are correct when you are not?

The CPU has 16 lanes. His motherboard chipset also has 16 lanes, as per Intel itself.

http://ark.intel.com/products/90584/Intel-GL82HM170-PCH

It is not shared off of the CPU.

The board offers an x4 slot, and then the other 2 M.2 slots are likely x2 as the other lanes are likely populated by things like SATA or USB 3.0.

I think you are right. Checking the full specs for my laptop, of the 3 M.2 slots, one, is an x4 slot and the other two are USB and SATA. If I understand correctly this means that they are not shared with the CPU's 16 lanes.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Expansion Options

PCI Express Configurations ‡ 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4

http://ark.intel.com/products/83504/Intel-Core-i7-4870HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz


so with that moble cpu and you add m2 and its shared off the cpu it cut down to 1x16 or 2x8 or 1x8 2x4 and thats what he is seeing

that's all there is to it just like desktop and how the board was wired to share

good luck

Can you read or so you just like to insist you are correct when you are not?

The CPU has 16 lanes. His motherboard chipset also has 16 lanes, as per Intel itself.

http://ark.intel.com/products/90584/Intel-GL82HM170-PCH

It is not shared off of the CPU.

The board offers an x4 slot, and then the other 2 M.2 slots are likely x2 as the other lanes are likely populated by things like SATA or USB 3.0.

I think you are right. Checking the full specs for my laptop, of the 3 M.2 slots, one, is an x4 slot and the other two are USB and SATA. If I understand correctly this means that they are not shared with the CPU's 16 lanes.

None of them are shared with the CPUs lanes, even the x4 slot. It uses the motherboard PCH's 16 PCIe lanes. M.2 slots can be run in SATA mode which is where those other slots seem to work, while the PCH's other PCIe lanes may be dedicated to other system functions.