How many NVME drives will a XI Hero support?

[pkincy]

Obviously we can run 2 NVME drives in M.2-1 and M.2-2 slots on the mobo. But what about in an expansion card. I currently have an add in card with a slot of one NVME and one for a M.2 Sata drive. I have 1 NVME in that slot. Can I source a new add in card that would hold 2 NVME drives and put it in a PCIe slot in place of the one I am using now.

That would give me 4 NVME drives. (A proper question also might be why in the world does somebody need 6 TB of NVME, but what the heck, if you can do it why not). Will the available PCIe channels support the additional 2 NVME drives?

[dingo99]

Can I source a new add in card that would hold 2 NVME drives and put it in a PCIe slot in place of the one I am using now.

That's exactly the purpose of the ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 card, although on Z390 it's limited to 2-3 NVMe drives depending on which slot you use:
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1037507/

[pkincy]

Excellent link. Thank you. I had to order one used as nobody has it in stock or new. But hopefully it will be in working order.

[pkincy]

The "used" card from Amazon turned out to be open box and apparently unused. I have tried several add in cards without success but this Asus Hypercard worked perfectly well. I am using a 1070 Ti in PCIe slot 1 and put the Hypercard in slot 2 so am limited to 2 NVME drives. Both are fast and easily recognized.

Thank you for your help

[MrAgapiGC]

the asus, for example codexi, support 1 even that have 2 slot. cause have spot for 1 2280 model. The hero xi support 2. there is limitation that i can not test. in you case 2 on the board and 2 on the hyper card. you have to check if you add the hyper card, on the pcie 3, the gpu drops to 8x. that i will own that info

[mrtom_]

@pkincy

Apologies for reviving an old thread. Just some clarification on your reply below. Did you add 2 NVME drives to the card + 2 NVME drives on the MB or just two on the card.

I have a
Maximus Hero XI Z390 currently with two NVME drives on the MB and a 2080ti and was wanted to add some more. The Card you reference is what I was looking at as well. So looking to understand if you are successfully running 4 NVME drives with no performance loss. I sent a note to Asus tech support and they basically said I could stick a card in and did not answer the question.

thanks.


"pkincy
The "used" card from Amazon turned out to be open box and apparently unused. I have tried several add in cards without success but this Asus Hypercard worked perfectly well. I am using a 1070 Ti in PCIe slot 1 and put the Hypercard in slot 2 so am limited to 2 NVME drives. Both are fast and easily recognized."

[Jesseinsf]

@pkincy

Apologies for reviving an old thread. Just some clarification on your reply below. Did you add 2 NVME drives to the card + 2 NVME drives on the MB or just two on the card.

I have a
Maximus Hero XI Z390 currently with two NVME drives on the MB and a 2080ti and was wanted to add some more. The Card you reference is what I was looking at as well. So looking to understand if you are successfully running 4 NVME drives with no performance loss. I sent a note to Asus tech support and they basically said I could stick a card in and did not answer the question.

thanks.


"pkincy
The "used" card from Amazon turned out to be open box and apparently unused. I have tried several add in cards without success but this Asus Hypercard worked perfectly well. I am using a 1070 Ti in PCIe slot 1 and put the Hypercard in slot 2 so am limited to 2 NVME drives. Both are fast and easily recognized."

It will cut the lanes for your GPU to 8X mode. The card supports 8X or 16X. In your case it will run at 8X mode. You most likely will not notice a difference. As for me, knowing that my GPU is running at 8X mode bothers me.