Z170 PCI-E Lanes Config Question

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wbattel4607

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Jan 28, 2014
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I'm planning to buy a Z170 motherboard, the Asus Z170-A, and the Skylake CPU, 6700k. I'm getting a discrete graphics card that I want to run in PCI-E 3.0 x16. I'm getting an M.2 SSD that I want to run in my motherboard's M.2 slot that uses PCI-E 3.0 x4. I have a wireless fidelity adapter I want to run in PCI-E 3.0 x1.

I know Skylake CPUs provide 16 lanes, which I'd use for my GPU, and Z170 provides 20. However I do not know how many of those lanes are available after use by the motherboard's LAN, USB 3.0, etc....

Based on the picture below, I think the board's x1 slots all come from the chipset but I don't know if their lanes have already been allocated elsewhere.

Will I be able to use x16 (GPU) + x4 (M.2) + x1 (Wi-Fi card) without the GPU getting cut to x8? I know x8 vs x16 performance isn't substantial but if I'm dropping a pretty penny on the GPU i'd like it to have full x16.

From the looks of it...
- The CPU can provide full x16 to the GPU
- The chipset can provide x4 to M.2
- The chipset can provide x1 to my PCI-E x1 wifi card
- This can all be done without cutting lanes from the Motherboard's dedicated LAN/USB lanes.

Is this correct?

From this article.
05-diagram_pcie_routing.gif
 
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Are you sure? Based on the specs for that board, it sounds like the direct CPU lanes only go to the PCIeX16_1 and _2 slots, and the other slots + M.2 go through the chipset.
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/Z170-A/specifications/
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wbattel4607

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So then what does it mean when they say the Z170 provides 20 lanes? The images makes it look like I can use that x4 and x1 from the chipset not the CPU.
 
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wbattel4607

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The reason I want an add-on card instead of a board with integrated wifi is it's much cheaper and it's the only "premium" feature I want. I have a well rated card for $30 that's PCI-E 3.0 1x. On the premium version of my motherboard "Asus Z170-Deluxe" there is integrated wifi. Wouldn't this integrated wifi use a PCI-E lane just like my expansion card would in a 1x slot?
 
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TJ Hooker

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Are you sure? Based on the specs for that board, it sounds like the direct CPU lanes only go to the PCIeX16_1 and _2 slots, and the other slots + M.2 go through the chipset.
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Motherboards/Z170-A/specifications/
 
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wbattel4607

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So, once and for all, I can use one of those x1 slots for the wifi card independent of the 16 CPU lanes?

Thanks for the help.
 
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