Help
cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Maximus Z690 Apex -2 * M.2 NVMe Drives = PCI-E Lanes Query

rjbarker
Level 11

‎11-08-2021 07:10 PM - last edited on ‎03-05-2024 06:49 PM by Community Admin

Apologies guys if this has already been answered or if its in the Manual (I just downloaded it but not sure if it will clearly answer my question).

I just ordered the Asus Maximus Z690 Apex Board, my question:
- Can I install my 2 M.2 NVMe Drives in the slots provided on the Motherboard (not the DIMM2) and still have x16 running on the top PCI-E GPU Slot?

Thanks in advance.......I'm pretty sure I can without borking my PCI-E_1 (GPU - 3080Ti) slot to x8, but looking for confirmation.

Cheers
Port Royal: 15,018 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1411187

Time Spy: 22,118 https://www.3dmark.com/spy/25792262

Fire Strike Extreme: 25,542 https://www.3dmark.com/fs/26964846
0 Kudos
2,470 Views
6 REPLIES 6

rjbarker
Level 11

‎12-02-2021 10:29 PM

Bumping this thread as no replies....and I know the knowledge base is here 😉 ...Someone knows..

Can I populate M.2_1 and M.2_2 on my Apex z690 Board and maintain x16 in my PCI-E _1 (top GPU) slot ?

Thanks in advance!
Port Royal: 15,018 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1411187

Time Spy: 22,118 https://www.3dmark.com/spy/25792262

Fire Strike Extreme: 25,542 https://www.3dmark.com/fs/26964846
0 Kudos

Silent_Scone
Super Moderator

‎12-03-2021 12:01 AM

Hello,

M.2_1 will utilise CPU lanes - GPU will operate at 8X


M.2_2 will utilize chipset lanes - GPU will operate at 16X

Both slots are GEN 4.0



Hope this helps
13900KS / 8000 CAS36 / ROG APEX Z790 / ROG TUF RTX 4090
0 Kudos

rjbarker
Level 11
In response to Silent_Scone

‎12-03-2021 06:40 PM

Silent Scone@ROG wrote:
Hello,

M.2_1 will utilise CPU lanes - GPU will operate at 8X


M.2_2 will utilize chipset lanes - GPU will operate at 16X

Both slots are GEN 4.0



Hope this helps


Helps immensely and thanks for getting back to me so quickly....very much appreciated!

So I guess I read things or interpreted the lane dispertion incorrectly, but I think I read that last night or figured it out looking in the manual....so is there any way on my Z690 Apex Board to utilize 2 x M.2 NVMe drives while maintaining x16 for my 3080Ti in top slot PCI-E _1 ?

Perhaps in the DIMM Slot (next to the RAM) ?

As Scotty said: "We need more Lanes Captain..the dilithium crystal cant take much more" 😉

Thanks again
Port Royal: 15,018 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1411187

Time Spy: 22,118 https://www.3dmark.com/spy/25792262

Fire Strike Extreme: 25,542 https://www.3dmark.com/fs/26964846
0 Kudos

darth_meh
Level 7
In response to rjbarker

‎12-03-2021 07:46 PM

rjbarker wrote:
Helps immensely and thanks for getting back to me so quickly....very much appreciated!

So I guess I read things or interpreted the lane dispertion incorrectly, but I think I read that last night or figured it out looking in the manual....so is there any way on my Z690 Apex Board to utilize 2 x M.2 NVMe drives while maintaining x16 for my 3080Ti in top slot PCI-E _1 ?

Perhaps in the DIMM Slot (next to the RAM) ?

Thanks again



I think Silent Scone@Rog is confusing the Z690 Extreme with the Z690 Apex.
With the Apex you can populate M.2_1 and M.2_2 and still run PCIEX16_1 at 16x speed.
The only reason PCIEX16_1 would run at 8x speed is if you populate the PCIEX16_2 slot.

I own a Z690 Apex, have 2x Samsung 980 Pros in M.2_1 and M.2_2, and my 3090FE runs at 16x in the PCIEX16_1 slot.
0 Kudos

rjbarker
Level 11
In response to darth_meh

‎12-03-2021 10:08 PM

darth_meh wrote:
I think Silent Scone@Rog is confusing the Z690 Extreme with the Z690 Apex.
With the Apex you can populate M.2_1 and M.2_2 and still run PCIEX16_1 at 16x speed.
The only reason PCIEX16_1 would run at 8x speed is if you populate the PCIEX16_2 slot.

I own a Z690 Apex, have 2x Samsung 980 Pros in M.2_1 and M.2_2, and my 3090FE runs at 16x in the PCIEX16_1 slot.


Thanks a ton ...thats the exact info I had initially thought when I purchased the Board and I want to populate exactly as you have yours, only I have the 3080Ti FTW3 vs the 3090 FE......

Why does it have to be so confusing...even in the manual....even googling it for days and couldnt find a definitive answer.....so how many PCI-E Lanes total ? How many total from CPU and total from PCH ? Googling that you would think the info would jump out immediately!


Thats why I used to go with Rampage Boards with multi GPU's....all those Lanes.

Cheers
Port Royal: 15,018 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1411187

Time Spy: 22,118 https://www.3dmark.com/spy/25792262

Fire Strike Extreme: 25,542 https://www.3dmark.com/fs/26964846
0 Kudos

Adrian1983
Level 11

‎12-03-2021 09:13 PM

I have the Strix Gaming A and have all 4 M2 slots populated including 2 980 Pro's and 2 970 Evo Plus and my GPU is still running at x16 I am not sure what misinformation is being circulated here, Why would a GPU drop to x8 when we have so called PCIEx5 Bandwidth available, Either way I have just checked mine with GPUz and Hwinfo and both are reporting x16 for my 3080, I cannot imagine a more expensive board being any different.
0 Kudos