Asus B650E-E S-ATA Speeds bad due to ancient ASMEDIA 1061 controller - fix needed

[Miccellomann]

Hi there, Hi Asus.

In September I purchased the Asus B650E-E. All in all a good board. But when it comes to S-ATA connectivity, there is something odd with the board. 

From my old system powered by a B550-E, I knew that my S-ATA SSDs run wit 560 MB/s read/write. Lately I discoverey that the exact same SSD I migrated over from my old system only runs at 404MB/s read/write. So I asked myself what can be wrong here. I also considered having a bad board. But than I ran into this article:

SATA SSD/HDD drives are MUCH slower on new AM5 system (Asus Rog Strix B650E-E) | Overclock.net

Turns out that Asus uses an ancient ASMEDIA 1061 controller for the 4 S-ATA ports on this board - two of them to be precise. As these controllers are connected via PCI-E 2.0 X1, they limit the speeds to around 400 MB/s for S-ATA SSDs. This is bad and unacceptable for a board costing around 300 Euros here in Germany. Also - there is no mention in the technical documentation that there is a limitation to the S-ATA speeds. Right now this MUST be addad to avoid false advertizing over here in Germany. I consider informing German authorities to investigate this issue by the way.

Question: What is ASUS about to do to fix this issue? Is there a better driver or a workaround to get back to fiull S-ATA speeds with this board? Or is ASUS telling us, that S-ATA is legacy now an that we should move on to M.2? I mean - my three installed M.2 drives - one Gen 3 and two Gen 4, are running as advertized using M.2 Slot 1, 2 and 4. But the situation of having 300 Euro boards with old legacy chipsets on them is inaceptable. Or did I miss something here? I am not the only one having this issue.

I hope ASUS makes a statement here - and not the usual marketing blah blah. A 'yes - we messed up - the controller limits bandwith" would be a statement I would accept.....being honest, you know? Otherwise - you guys should know Steve from Gamers Nexus by now, don't you? Would be interesting to know what he has to say about this issue.

A real solution is needed here. The ASMEDIA 1061 should not be used under any circumstances in 2024.

[Miccellomann]

Well 24 hours later - I am still waiting for a statement or a fix....

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello @Miccellomann 

Thank you for reaching out to us.
As we are unable to verify the situation on third-party forums, could you please clarify whether this issue occurred after the PC was initially built, or if it arose after using the system for some time, possibly following any recent changes such as a BIOS update or component replacement?
If the current BIOS version has not been updated to the 3067 release from December 17, 2024, we recommend updating it and clearing CMOS before checking again.

If the problem persists, kindly assist us by confirming the following and gathering more information to investigate and verify the issue.
1) When all SSDs and HDDs are removed, leaving only the system drive installed, what is the read/write speed?
2) Does the issue only occur under specific circumstances, such as after waking from sleep, or does it occur after playing a game for several hours?
3) Please provide screenshots of the read/write speeds or a complete video recording of the hardware connection, power management settings in the system, temperature monitoring, and read/write tests.
4) Which SATA port the device is connected to when this issue occurs and if cross-testing the ports would improve?
Additionally, please help provide the following hardware and software specifications:
- the image of the BIOS main page, as well as the OS version and build
- the brand, model, and installation slots or ports of the CPU, GPU, RAM (including part numbers), SSD/HDD, and PSU
- are the devices connected using the motherboard’s included SATA 6Gb/s cables, and are there any extensions or adapters used to connect any devices, such as the GPU or SSD?


Thank you.

[Miccellomann]

Hi.

Removing all other SSD Devices does not change the speeds as they are limited by the ASMEDIA 1061 SATA controller mounted on this board by Asus which sadly is not documented. This is a PCI-E 2.0 X1 device which limits the speeds of SATA SSDs in general. This is no firmware related problem and no SSD related problem. There is not even a defect on the board side.

My drives are fine an function flawlessly on an Asus B550-F. There is no need for troubleshooting and tearing apart my system. Asus just needs to correct the tech data of the B650E-E as it is technically not able to reach full SATA speeds due to a cheap antique controller connected to it. Buyers are not aware of this as Asus does not mention the ASMEDIA 1061 which is mounted to this board causing this issue.

To make it clear: The product is falsely advertized at the moment. People simply do not know what they get here by just relying on your spec sheets.

What you need to do: Correct the spec sheets and state clearly that the ASMEDIA 1061 limits SATA Speeds to 400 MB/s due to the PCI-E 2.0X1 connection. Asus can not deny the presence of this controller as it is visible on the board and on the board itself clearly labeled.

And I repeat: There is no defect on my board - the board was falsely advertized by ASUS not mentioning the ASMEDIA 1061 that provides SATA connection on this board as only option. I demand a correction of the spec sheets and therefore a compensation as I received a worse product than davertized. The board it massevely overpriced as the other issue is the unusable 2nd PCI_E gen 5 M.2 slot as it shares lanes with the X16 slot. This is not an iotion when running a full blown GPU.

And regarding the latest UEFI Update - this seems to be faulty as many users complain about several bugs. Maybe you check those postings in several forums (and in your very own) to monitor the quality of your releases. So please understand that I am not willing to install UEFI versions that seem not to be stable. I run a version from September 2024 - which is stable. There is no need to upgrade the firmware right now as I run a Ryzen 9 7900X. For the 9000 series CPUs - I would agree that installing the latest UEFI could be nessecary - in my case it is not. At last not right now. My reported issue here is not a firmware related problem. It is related to a falsely advertized product not mentioning the ASMEDIA 1061 as a limiting factor here due to the way it is connected to the board. Asus just wanted to save a penny here by soldering an ancient controller to the board hoping customers do not realise to say it in all honesty.

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello @Miccellomann 

Thank you for the reply.
We kindly request you share the specifications of the SATA SSD, its connection location, and a screenshot of the read and write speeds as confirmed in your OS. This information will assist us in collaborating with our backend team to better understand the situation.
Additionally, we would appreciate more detailed information, such as whether the BIOS version is 3035, configuration details, including any specific settings applied, the OS and build version, the SSD driver and firmware versions, and whether the issue occurs under specific scenarios, such as overheating or particular usage conditions.
Regarding PCIe lane sharing, you can refer to the explanation provided on page xi of the user manual.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[Miccellomann]

Serialnumberwill be providedprivately later this day as I write from work.

OS: Windows 10 24H2 - latest available public build

SSD-Driver: Standard Windows for SATA and the ASMEDIA 1061 - no third party drivers as not provided by ASUS or nessecary.

Population of the M.2 Slots. M.2_1: Crucial T500 Gen 4 2TB , M.2_2: Crucial P3 2 TB Gen 3, M.2_4: Samsung 980 1 TB. Second PCI-E 5.0 M.2 is free. S_ATA shares no lanes with other devices refering the Asus Build diagramm. All the M.2 run at advertized speeds. PCI-E X16 Slot runs at X16 for my RTX 4070.

SATA SSD is a Samsung 860 QVO 2 TB.

Bios is your version released in September 2024 (3035).  EXPO Profile loaded to 6000 mhz (G.Skil Trident Z 32GB). Memory Context Restore is on. Eco Mode turned on. No further changes. 

Screenshot of the benchmark results will be posted later. Benchmark was made with Samsung Magician. 

To make it clear. There is no lane sharing in my szenario. There is an old ASMEDIA 1061 on this particular board that limits the SATA speeds. The board is simply falesly advertized. My board is fine - Asus just needs to correct its spec sheets.

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello @Miccellomann 

We apologize for the wait. Regarding the case you brought to our attention, we currently require additional time to investigate and verify the details. Should there be any updates or confirmed information, I will promptly share them with you.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello @Miccellomann

Thank you for your feedback regarding the SATA signal performance and the absence of specific component listings, such as the ASM1061, in our product specifications. We appreciate your observation about our simplified specifications format. While intended to be user-friendly, we understand the need for transparency regarding critical components like the ASM1061 SATA controller chip.
We will review and consider including detailed listings of essential external components in future specifications. Our products comply with component specifications, but different configurations can affect signal performance after bridging through the controller to different interfaces. The ASM1061 offers robust performance for adding extra SATA ports to a system through a PCIe interface. While it may not fully utilize the maximum potential of SATA III due to the PCIe 2.0 x1 bandwidth limitation, it still provides excellent data transfer rates that are adequate for most storage needs. Its compatibility with a range of SATA devices and support for AHCI features make it a versatile choice for enhancing storage connectivity. We will also consider adding notes in our documentation to highlight potential signal attenuation scenarios for clearer user guidance.
Thank you for helping us improve our products and services. If you have any further questions or require additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Thank you.

[Miccellomann]

Just send you the information you asked for via a private message. Thanks for your help