I'm in the process of building a PC using the X870 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ICE motherboard and the Ryzen 7 9800x3d processor. My plan is to use a 1TB M.2 SSD for my operating system and a 4TB M.2 SSD for storing my games and data. However, I have a couple of questions:
1. Where should I place the two M.2 drives on my motherboard?
2. Will having both SSDs installed cause any performance bottlenecks?
For context, my GPU is a 5080, and I'm using a Samsung 990 Pro M.2 SSD. My motherboard has four NVMe slots labeled as follows:
1. M.2 connector (M2A_CPU) - integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3
2. M.2 connectors (M2B_CPU, M2C_CPU) - integrated in the CPU
3. M.2 connector (M2D_SB) - integrated in the Chipset
3 Answers
Honestly, it doesn't matter much where you place the drives. Since you're using them for gaming and regular storage, any of the available slots should work just fine for your needs. As for performance concerns, no need to stress—lots of people run multiple drives without any issues.
If you use either the M2B or M2C slots, keep in mind that it may reduce your top PCIe slot to x8. For most GPUs, this won't significantly affect performance. If your GPU supports PCIe Gen 5, running x8 will still give you speeds comparable to PCIe Gen 4 x16, which should be fast enough for your setup.
Consider putting the 4TB SSD as your main drive. You actually don’t need a smaller SSD for your OS these days; that was more relevant when SSDs were pricier. Having a separate drive for the OS can make it easier to manage, especially if you need to reinstall the OS later.
Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload