I'm considering getting two PCIe M.2 Expansion Cards to host 8 SSDs for various projects like Adobe CC files, music production VSTs, AAA games, and 4K Blu-Ray remuxes (around 50GB each). My current HDDs are really struggling with load times, especially in Adobe Premiere and for 4K remuxes, where they can barely keep up. Since I have a Ryzen 9950X and an RTX 5080 with 48 GB of DDR5 RAM, my hardware seems fine, but the 7200RPM drives are noticeably slowing me down, especially when loading 1080p footage.
I have an MSI PRO B650-P WIFI motherboard with two available PCIe x16 slots. I'm trying to figure out the limitations on PCIe lanes and how they will affect my ability to use a bunch of Gen 4 NVMe SSDs with my expansion cards. If I load each card with 4 SSDs, will I run into any bandwidth or power limitations? Also, are there better, more cost-effective options for SSD storage? I've noticed that SATA SSDs are pricier than M.2 SSDs lately, even when comparing price per GB. What else should I consider?
4 Answers
Just a heads up, even though your motherboard has 4 PCIe x16 slots, only one will actually run at full x16 speed. The others are often limited to much less—like x1 or x4. So, if you load those expansion cards up with 8 SSDs, you'll likely exceed the bandwidth available, especially if some drives revert to lower speeds. You'll want to check your motherboard's manual for the exact lane configuration to know for sure.
I get the frustration with read speeds, but you mentioned that your HDDs struggle mostly with HDR10+/Dolby Vision and Atmos. Even slower HDDs should handle regular Blu-ray reads decently well, so maybe Windows is the bottleneck? Just something to consider while troubleshooting.
Have you thought about a NAS (Network Attached Storage)? It's a great way to handle excess storage without breaking the bank. You can use SSDs for active work and transfer files to a NAS for backup and additional space. This way, you get more storage and possibly even better speeds through RAID configurations. Plus, NAS systems can provide redundancy, so your data's safer.
If you're hoping to run multiple M.2 drives at full speed, you might want to consider a high-end motherboard that supports more PCIe lanes. The MSI PRO B650-P WIFI might limit your performance because only the top slot supports full x16 lanes. If you need many drives, a Threadripper setup or similar could give you the extra lanes you're looking for.
That's definitely something to think about! Threadripper sounds powerful, but I might need a budget check before diving in.