I've read some great threads on here on this topic, but I am struggling to know exactly what to do (and buy) in relation to my own issue.
First, my setup. I haven't built this yet and they're all still individually boxed up, but I have all the following:
The motherboard has the following PCIe slots:
What I want to find out is the best way of connecting the third NVMe SSD to the motherboard.
Am I right in thinking that since the x16 slots support x8/x8, all I need to do is 1) get a splitter that splits the x16 into two x8 ports 2) connect a PCIe to M.2 adapter to one of the x8 ports via the splitter 3) connect the SSD to that. Is that how that works?
That said, it's important to note that my motherboard does not support PCIe bifurcation. Having read a bunch of threads here, I understand that it is still possible to bifurcate a PCIe slot, provided the splitter card has certain chips on it. I'm not quite sure I understand the difference between a PCIe slot being able to support x8/x8 while not supporting bifurcation.
I spoke to Chris Payne and he said to "get an asm2824 or pex8747 M.2 switch off aliexpress."
While I appreciate the advice, I haven't learnt any more about how this all works, and which specific product/s I need to purchase. As I understand it, ASM2824 and PEX8747 are chips that you can get, and so I need to find an adapter card with one of these chips.
From here, though, I still don't know what I need.
Is my thinking on how this would work correct?
1. PCIe splitter (with an ASM2824 or PEX8748 on the splitter)
a. Ideally this would be a splitter that divides the x16 into two separate x8 slots
2. PCIe to 2x M.2 NVMe adapter card (does this also need an ASM2824 or PEX8748 chip on the card?)
3. Connect 1 (or 2) SSDs to that card
4. An x8 PCIe slot remains free for me to connect other devices to (e.g. network cards, capture cards, port expansion, etc etc etc)
I'm sure someone will say this is incorrect and that I'm making some false assumptions, as I believe it is incorrect. If so, please could you explain what I am not getting. Also, if anyone has knowledge of which specific products I should buy (direct links appreciated) that would be incredible.
First, my setup. I haven't built this yet and they're all still individually boxed up, but I have all the following:
- Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390M GAMING EDGE AC Micro ATX LGA1151
- CPU: Intel Core i5-9500T 2.2 GHz 6-Core
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 CL16
- SSD (3x): TEAMGROUP MP34 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME
- Before anyone comments on this, I got these for close to nothing (from a friend), so want to make use of what I have rather than going for HDDs right now - low budget
- Case: Asus Prime AP201 MicroATX Mini Tower
- PSU: Corsair RM650x
The motherboard has the following PCIe slots:
- 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/ x0, x8/ x8 modes)
- 2 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
What I want to find out is the best way of connecting the third NVMe SSD to the motherboard.
Am I right in thinking that since the x16 slots support x8/x8, all I need to do is 1) get a splitter that splits the x16 into two x8 ports 2) connect a PCIe to M.2 adapter to one of the x8 ports via the splitter 3) connect the SSD to that. Is that how that works?
That said, it's important to note that my motherboard does not support PCIe bifurcation. Having read a bunch of threads here, I understand that it is still possible to bifurcate a PCIe slot, provided the splitter card has certain chips on it. I'm not quite sure I understand the difference between a PCIe slot being able to support x8/x8 while not supporting bifurcation.
I spoke to Chris Payne and he said to "get an asm2824 or pex8747 M.2 switch off aliexpress."
While I appreciate the advice, I haven't learnt any more about how this all works, and which specific product/s I need to purchase. As I understand it, ASM2824 and PEX8747 are chips that you can get, and so I need to find an adapter card with one of these chips.
From here, though, I still don't know what I need.
Is my thinking on how this would work correct?
1. PCIe splitter (with an ASM2824 or PEX8748 on the splitter)
a. Ideally this would be a splitter that divides the x16 into two separate x8 slots
2. PCIe to 2x M.2 NVMe adapter card (does this also need an ASM2824 or PEX8748 chip on the card?)
3. Connect 1 (or 2) SSDs to that card
4. An x8 PCIe slot remains free for me to connect other devices to (e.g. network cards, capture cards, port expansion, etc etc etc)
I'm sure someone will say this is incorrect and that I'm making some false assumptions, as I believe it is incorrect. If so, please could you explain what I am not getting. Also, if anyone has knowledge of which specific products I should buy (direct links appreciated) that would be incredible.