Despite searching since a few days, no one seems to have such scenario:
I have an ASUS ROG Strix Z390-F, powered with an i9-9900K.
Available MB PCIE lanes:
CPU:
- 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16, x8/x8)
Intel® Z390 Chipset:
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (max. at x4 mode)*
- 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with SATA6G_56. The PCIe x16_3 is set at x2 mode by default.
slot1: PCIe 3.0 x1_1
slot2: PCIe 3.0 x16_1
slot3: PCIe 3.0 x1_2
slot4: PCIe 3.0 x16_2
slot5: PCIe 3.0 x1_3
slot6: PCIe 3.0 x16_3
Motherboard specs are as follow for configuring the CPU Lanes (first 2 PCIEX16 slots):
- The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with SATA6G_56.
- The PCIe x16_3 is set at x2 mode by default.
VGA Configuration Single VGA/PCIe card:
- PCIEX16_1: x16 (Recommend for single VGA)
- PCIEX16_2: N/A
Dual VGA/PCIe card:
- PCIEX16_1: x8
- PCIEX16_2: x8
Hyper M.2 X16 configuration: 2 Intel® SSD on CPU support
- PCIEX16_1: -
- PCIEX16_2: x4+x4
Hyper M.2 X16 configuration: 3 Intel® SSD on CPU support
- PCIEX16_1: x8+x4+x4
- PCIEX16_2: -
I don't need a dedicated GPU as I mainly rely on CPU tasks. I always used built in CPU intel graphics and I don't plan to put any dedicated GPU on this board. I also need all the 6 SATA ports for now, so I can't afford using the PCIEX16_3 slot in 4x as it will cut off the 5th and 6th SATA ports.
I plan to buy a 10Gb PCIE 4x Lan card, the ASUS XG-C100C.
Will my motherboard allow it to work in 4x mode if plugged in one of the first 2 PCIEX16 CPU slots ? Will the intel CPU accept the LAN card or these lanes can only accept NVME and GPU cards ? Also, will the MB displayport/HDMI ports be disabled ?
The rare answers I found were that this depends on motherboard. But, except these specifications on the MB manual, there is nothing other mentioned about the use of the first 2 lanes for different devices. The CPU specs talk about graphics dedicated lanes. Also, on an intel forum, they answered that the built in intel graphics doesn't use the dedicated 16x Lanes on MB.
Hope someone can help me before I buy the 10Gb lan card
The other option is to buy NVME drive and remove current SATA 5 and 6 drives to be able to plug the LAN card on PCIEX16_3 slot in 4x mode. However, if I can avoid this expense it would be great.
Best regards
