Z370, SLI and NVMe drives

[CyberScy]

For context - So i'm making upgrades to my PC (6700k --> 8700k) and obviously will need a new motherboard (waiting on Maximus X Formula), also plan to SLI my GPU as well add adding in an m.2 SSD for my boot drive.

Now with the amount of PCIe lanes the 8700k on Z370 has, will there be any limitations having dual SLI and an m.2 NVMe drive installed simultaneously, or more to the point, will the SSD be limited by anything at all?

I only have this question since I want to experience the full shabang when it comes to m.2 drives as a boot drive.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

You should be fine, most run the second m.2 of the bottom full length PCIe x4 .
Not sure with triple m.2 with the z379 boards if they eat into any data ports or pull from any of the x1 PCIe slots or GPU slots.
Having a look at hero manically should give you an indication

 

[richthomuk]

No the M.2 NVME wont use or impact any of the lanes your GPU's will use, it will just disable some of the SATA ports on your board (normally).

 

[CyberScy]

You should be fine, most run the second m.2 of the bottom full length PCIe x4 .
Not sure with triple m.2 with the z379 boards if they eat into any data ports or pull from any of the x1 PCIe slots or GPU slots.
Having a look at hero manically should give you an indication

Alright, thanks for the confirmation! I only plan on using one m.2 as a boot drive and mass storage on Sata SSD's

 

[CyberScy]

No the M.2 NVME wont use or impact any of the lanes your GPU's will use, it will just disable some of the SATA ports on your board (normally).

Oh I didn't realise that was normal, alright then! Gonna look online to see if there's any manuals out for the MXF, see which exact ports will be disabled.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Alright, thanks for the confirmation! I only plan on using one m.2 as a boot drive and mass storage on Sata SSD's

NVMe is solid with Windows 10 - normally do builds with 128GB and try a squeeze as much out of budget for standard SSD for games

 

[lee32uk]

Alright, thanks for the confirmation! I only plan on using one m.2 as a boot drive and mass storage on Sata SSD's

It won't boot any quicker with an NVMe SSD.

 

[CyberScy]

It won't boot any quicker with an NVMe SSD.

What do you mean? Sata SSD compared to NVMe SSD?

 

[lee32uk]

What do you mean? Sata SSD compared to NVMe SSD?

Yes. The Samsung 960 EVO will boot windows about the same as a regular SATA i.e 850 EVO. It will come into it's own (960 EVO) when working with large files, or maybe running heavily modded games etc.

 

[CyberScy]

Yes. The Samsung 960 EVO will boot windows about the same as a regular SATA i.e 850 EVO. It will come into it's own (960 EVO) when working with large files, or maybe running heavily modded games etc.

Oh well that's a bit of a bummer, s'pose I should have done some research on that prior. My current boot drive is a 850 Pro and mass storage is on a WD Black HDD. I don't really do a lot of large file transfers so that's kinda set me back on it actually. Glad you said it though

 

[lee32uk]

Oh well that's a bit of a bummer, s'pose I should have done some research on that prior. My current boot drive is a 850 Pro and mass storage is on a WD Black HDD. I don't really do a lot of large file transfers so that's kinda set me back on it actually. Glad you said it though

This review which shows Win 8.1 boot times gives you some idea. As you can see there is not much difference between a 960 EVO and the slowest SATA SSD.

http://techreport.com/review/30993/samsung-960-evo-ssd-reviewed/5

I would just go with something like a Crucial MX300.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

no idea why people go on about boot time haha, if your PC takes 2 mins then go make a cup of tea - its all the processes in the back end and applications installed on it that I like
but guess people use their systems for different things

 

[CyberScy]

no idea why people go on about boot time haha, if your PC takes 2 mins then go make a cup of tea - its all the processes in the back end and applications installed on it that I like
but guess people use their systems for different things

Hot drinks aren't for everybody I get that people are more accustomed to waiting a moment but in my use case, the faster I can load up Destiny 2 (as of tomorrow), the better!

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Hot drinks aren't for everybody I get that people are more accustomed to waiting a moment but in my use case, the faster I can load up Destiny 2 (as of tomorrow), the better!

haha yeah, personally im guilty as i have 3 NMVe drives and TBs of SSDs... lol really need to sell them I think :d

 

[CyberScy]

haha yeah, personally im guilty as i have 3 NMVe drives and TBs of SSDs... lol really need to sell them I think :d

Lordy lord! Can always make a quick fortune selling unneeded SSD's especially if they're of large capacity! More money to spend on another GPU to SLI/Crossfire

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Lordy lord! Can always make a quick fortune selling unneeded SSD's especially if they're of large capacity! More money to spend on another GPU to SLI/Crossfire

I crossfired two Aorus XTR 580s a while ago, was actually surprised at performance and heat... then looked at power draw and fainted

 

[CyberScy]

I crossfired two Aorus XTR 580s a while ago, was actually surprised at performance and heat... then looked at power draw and fainted

Oh jeez xD The 500 series cards were very power hungry if I remember correctly!

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Oh jeez xD The 500 series cards were very power hungry if I remember correctly!

not to bad - ran cooler but, aorus stuck a 6 pin and 8 pin on it....