I've got two 2TB NVMe drives for gaming, Adobe Suite, and some basic 3D rendering work, both are Gen 4. For my operating system, I have a 1TB Gen 5 NVMe drive. My motherboard has two Gen 5 NVMe ports—one connected directly to the CPU and the other connecting to the chipset. If I decide to use the chipset-connected port for my OS drive, will I lose any performance?
3 Answers
Not really, unless you frequently transfer large files or run benchmarks.
If you only have one Gen 5 drive, I'd recommend putting it in the CPU-connected slot. It might not make a noticeable difference for day-to-day use, but since you have the option, why not take full advantage of your setup?
I want to run the other two drives in RAID.
Both Gen 5 m.2 slots on your motherboard connect to the CPU. Just keep in mind that no chipset supports PCIe 5.0 fully, despite some marketing terms suggesting otherwise.
I have an ROG B650E-F, and it specifically states that when I use the M.2 in the bottom slot, it uses the chipset lanes. Not sure how big of a deal that is.
Thanks for the info!