I'm on the hunt for some 1TB or larger SSDs, but they're surprisingly scarce and pricey when used. On the other hand, 512GB SSDs are super cheap. I was thinking about investing a bit more in a motherboard that can support several SSDs. I'm not really savvy with PCI lanes though, so I'm hoping you can suggest some motherboards that have at least 4 NVMe M.2 slots (excluding the graphics card slot for a 9060 XT) and are priced under $200. Thanks a bunch!
3 Answers
Keep in mind with AM5, the CPU provides triple X4 lanes: one for the first SSD, one for the second SSD or USB, and the last one is shared among other devices like SATA, WiFi, and additional SSDs. So, the first two SSDs should run at full speed, but anything after that may face bottleneck issues, especially on some X870 and X870E boards that can limit the graphics card connection to support extra SSDs.
Check out this list of AM5 boards that have 4 or more M.2 slots. Remember, you can also adapt PCIe slots into M.2 slots if your motherboard supports PCIe bifurcation. Here’s a couple of adapters that might help: [Link1](https://www.amazon.com/GLOTRENDS-Adapter-Aluminum-Heatsink-PA09_HS/dp/B07FN3YZ8P), [Link2](https://www.amazon.com/RIITOP-Controller-Heatsink-Bifurcation-Required/dp/B0CBYVG91Z). Good luck!
That's a solid strategy! I recommend aiming for a board that has at least 3 NVMe M.2 slots, but consider the form factor—whether you want mATX or ATX. ASRock has some decent pricing, but I can't fully endorse their AM5 boards due to some reliability issues.
Is the bottleneck you mentioned a significant issue, or is it just a minor slowdown?