I'm building my PC and I can't decide on SSD options. My ROG Strix X870E motherboard has 5 M.2 slots, but only the m.2_1 slot doesn't share lanes with my GPU. I'd like to use the m.2_2 slot for a second Gen5 SSD, but I'm worried about downgrading my GPU from 16x to 8x speed. I'm running a 9800X3D processor and an ASUS ROG LC Strix RTX 3080 Ti OC, with 48GB of DDR5 memory at 7400 MT. Is the performance drop from 16x to 8x significant enough to affect my gaming experience? I'd prefer to utilize two Gen5 4TB SSDs, but if that's going to impact my GPU performance, I might have to reconsider.
2 Answers
You've got a fancy motherboard there! But unless you really need the features, consider simpler options that won’t share lanes with the GPU. Also, having two PCIe 5.0 SSDs is probably more than you need; even one can handle most tasks with ease. And regarding RAM speeds, AMD CPUs generally benefit more from stability, so slower but better-timed RAM might be a better choice for your setup.
The concern about the 8x lanes affecting your 3080 Ti performance isn’t really a big deal. For most gaming scenarios, moving from 16x to 8x won't make a noticeable difference. Plus, many people find that Gen5 NVMe SSDs don't even give a real performance boost for gaming right now, so you might not really need them at this point. Just use what you feel you need!
Thanks for the insight! I'm leaning towards just one SSD for now.
Great point! I appreciate the tip about the RAM. I'll look into a DDR5 6000MHz CL30 for a better experience.