pci-e ssd on m.2

matsamas · Aug 27, 2017

I am buying a Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M.2 512GB and i am planning on using it on asus prime z270-A which has 2 m.2 slots. 1 that works for m.2 pcie and 1 for m.2 sata.

Ofc i am going to use it on m.2 pcie but will that ssd be fully performing on this slot at maximum speeds or i need a m.2 to pci-e card for it?

Will this ssd hold back my gpu since it uses pci lanes?
My cpu is i7 7700k and gpu is gtx 1080 non ti.

rgd1101 · Aug 27, 2017

it mean that 1 m.2 only work with pcie ssd like the 960 pro.
And the other one will NOT work with the pcie ssd like the 960 pro, it does work with 850 evo/pro

raisonjohn · Aug 27, 2017

matsamas :

Actually, BOTH of the M.2 slots of your Asus Prime Z270-A motherboard can support PCIe speeds. The M.2 slot labelled "M2_1" located at the bottom (just below the chipset) supports either PCIe or SATA modes. The M.2 slot labelled "M2_2" located at the top (just above the GPU) only supports PCIe mode.

When the bottom M.2 slot is in SATA mode, one of your SATA ports (i.e., SATA_1) will be disabled. However, if the bottom M.2 slot is in PCIe mode, all of your six SATA ports can be used.

When the top M.2 slot is in full PCIe X4 mode, your two SATA ports (i.e., SATA_5 and SATA_6) will be disabled, leaving you with only four SATA ports available.

As you can see, none of the M.2 slots share lanes with your GPU's PCIe slot, as the Z270 chipset has enough PCIe lanes (24x PCIe3.0 lanes) to use for all other ports, such as the two M.2 slots in PCIe mode. The GPU's PCIe slot/s are controlled by the CPU - not the chipset. This means that the GPU slot will still have full x16 PCIe3.0 bandwidth and will not be affected by your M.2 slots' usage.

In short, if you want PCIe-speeds, you can choose whichever of the M.2 slots to plug in your Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M.2 SSD drive. Both M.2 slots can be configured to run in PCIe-mode in BIOS (though it is preferred to use the top M.2 slot as you can specifically set such slot to run in either PCIe3.0 x2 or full PCIe3.0 x4 speeds). Go to:

Advanced Menu > Onboard Devices Configuration

If you chose the M2_1 slot (the one at the bottom), make sure that SATA mode Configuration: [SATA_12][M.2_1] is set in [PCIE mode] (not [SATA]).

If you chose the M2_2 slot (the one at the top), make sure that SATA mode Configuration: [SATA_56][M.2_2] is set in [X4] (not [X2]).

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pci-e ssd on m.2

matsamas

Honorable

raisonjohn

rgd1101

Don't

raisonjohn

Expert

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