Z790 Hero PCIe 5.0 usage

[MzaNike]

Hello,

i feel a little bit stupid and hope you may help.
I have bought 2x M.2 Drives (1x OS, 1x Games) which I wanted to use with maximum speed, which seemed to be e.g. with PCIe 5.0.

Now I have learned(better:understood):

• M.2_1, M.2_2, M.2_3 just runs 4.0
• Using the "Hyper M.2 Card" i can just have one PCIe 5.0, when using the PCIEX116(G5)_2,
  but then i can just use the Hyper M.2_1 (the other is  not usable than)

Now I do have in Addition an Gigabyte 4090 Aero within PCIEX116(G5)_1 which is overlapping the PCIEX116(G5)_2 Port.

Result: just PCIEX16(G4) usable for the "Hyper M.2 Card" = 2x PCIe 4.0 x4.

Its my own fault not to look at the Sizes of the GC, but at the end the question is:
a) did i understood it right?

b) Where to place my drives to get max. performance?

c) Any other board known by you, giving me the opportunity for 2x PCIe 5.0 (including my Aero)?

Thanks for your help!

Regards
Michael

[JohnAb]

Do you have Gen 3, 4 or 5 NVME SSDs?

How many do you have in total? Are the motherboard slots also in use? I'd try putting the SSDs on the motherboard, avoiding slot M.2_1. 

[MzaNike]

Thanks for your Reply.

Gen 5. , just those two:

• Crucial T700 : OS
• T1700 : Games

Motherboards Slots M.2_1, M.2_2, M.2_3 are not in use, as the just run 4.0.
Putting them onto the MB does not increase speed, (or)?

Why would you avoid M.2_1?

[JohnAb]

The motherboard support page summarises things pretty well (copied below). Looks like you can only have one Gen 5 SSD installed in the Hyper card using Slot PCIEX16(G5)_2.

You can use the M.2_1 slot, no problem. I only said that because a lot of boards drop the GPU to x8 when used. However, on the Hero it might be fine (my 690 Hero is happy to have a Gen 4 drive in M.2_1) and the GPU is still at 16x. 

Regardless, if you use the Hyper card in PCIe slot 2, you are only going to get x8 on the GPU anyway. But don't worry about that, you'll see no more than a 5% reduction in GPU speed, probably more like 3%.  

So you've got some choices to make. Personally I would just install the SSDs on the motherboard running at gen 4 speeds. That way you can still have the GPU at x16. Of course, in this setup you won't be getting max speed out of one of your Gen 5 drives. No easy answer, just a case of deciding what you prefer. I haven't got any Gen 5 drives, I find Gen 4 speeds to be plenty good enough. If you use them at Gen 4 speeds now, they aren't wasted, you can always use them in an upgrade later when more Gen 5 drives should be supported.  

Intel^® Z790 Chipset**
M.2_2 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)
M.2_3 slot (Key M), type 2242/2260/2280 (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 & SATA modes)
Hyper M.2_1 slot (Key M) via ROG Hyper M.2 card, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (suppports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)**
Hyper M.2_2 slot (Key M) via ROG Hyper M.2 card, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 (suppports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode)***
6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports****
* Intel^® Rapid Storage Technology supports PCIe RAID 0/1/5/10, SATA RAID 0/1/5/10.
** When ROG Hyper M.2 card is installed on PCIEX16(G5)_1, Hyper M.2_1 slot can support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode. When ROG Hyper M.2 card is installed on PCIEX16(G5)_2, Hyper M.2_1 slot can support PCIe 5.0 x4 mode. When ROG Hyper M.2 card is installed on PCIEX16(G4), Hyper M.2_1 and Hyper M.2_2 slots can support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode.
*** When ROG Hyper M.2 card is installed on PCIEX16(G5)_1 or PCIEX16(G5)_2, Hyper M.2_2 slot will be disabled. When ROG Hyper M.2 card is installed on PCIEX16(G4), Hyper M.2_1 and Hyper M.2_2 slots can support PCIe 4.0 x4 mode.
**** RAID configuration and boot drives are not supported on the SATA6G_E1-2 ports 

[MzaNike]

Thanks a lot.

As mentioned I was not reaqding good enought 😞

Thanks for your help!