active Where best to apply the use of an M.2 ssd?

[wingclip]

Hi Folks,

My most recent system build includes an ASUS ROG Maximus XII Formula Z490 motherboard and i7-10700K CPU. (My basic system specs are included below).

 

I have 5 internally mounted SSDs. 4 are 500GB and 1 is a 1TB equally partitioned in half to about 500GB each. I’ve never tried any of the M.2 SSDs but can’t ignore the speeds they are capable of.

 

I am using the motherboard’s built-in cooling loop and from what I’ve read, that would help when using M.2 drives because of the heat.

 

However, I’ve been ignoring these drives because they all seem to require displacing two or more the SATA drive ports. I may have to change out some of my 500GB SSDs and install 1TB SSDs with partitions to make up for the displaced drives.

 

I’ll be talking to ASUS techs tomorrow about specific alternatives I may have regarding my board so I’m not looking for an answer about that here.

 

However, my question for the Orbx community has to do with the best application and utilization of an M.2 drive if I were to install one. (Also, it should be made clear that I have not installed FS2020 in my computer yet.)

 

I presently have Windows 10 Pro installed and I will be installing MS FS2020 soon.

 

Therefore, if I were to install an M.2 drive, (I’m presently looking at a 1TB Seagate Firecuda M.2 PCIe Gen4 ×4 NVMe 1.4),  would I have better flight-sim performance by partitioning the M.2 drive and sharing it with the O/S?

 

I would first transfer the Windows 10 Pro O/S from its present Sata SSD location to one of the two partitions that I would create on the M.2. Then I would make a fresh installation FS2020 on the remaining partitioned space?

 

Would that be the best way to go if I stall only a single, 1TB M.2 drive?

 

I originally planned to install FS2020 on a dedicated SSD and may still do that, but it depends on what suggestions I get here.

Thank you,

Rich

Basic System Specs:

O/S: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Z490 Maximus XII Formula LGA 1200

RAM: T-Force XTreem 3600MHz, 32GB (2 x 16 gb)

PSU: EVGA Supernova 1300G2 1300W PSU

CPU: Intel i7–10700K (OC’d 5.2 GHz)

GPU: EVGA RTX-2070 Super

[W2DR]

You can install FS2020 on either the M.2 or one of the SSD's. From a performance standpoint there is no noticeable difference between the two. Nice system BTW.

[wingclip]

Thank you W2DR! Well then, I guess I'll transfer the O/S to the M.2 drive. Thanks for the compliment on my system, which seems to be very close match to yours! LOL. In fact, after I bought the Maximus XII Formula, I realized I could have save $100 and still have gotten pretty much the same options that I was interested in if I bought the Hero Max XII instead.

 

I'll be building another system in the near future, (or may even upgrade this one, though it's barely been a year since I built it). Unless there's a considerably better mobo on the market by then, I'm probably going to go with the Hero. I've had no problems with the CPU i7-10700K and no crashes but I may try the i9-10900K. I may even go with the i9-11900K but I don't know much about it yet. It also has a 125w TDP (same as the 10700K) and so does the 10900K. (I thought the 10900K was a 95w TDP CPU until I just checked on it again. Apparently I was reading the "TDP Down" spec when I looked at it back in 2020).

 

Anyway, thanks again for the help and BTW I just watched the original B&W version of that movie again about 3 or 4 nights ago! "Klaatu barada nickto" 

[wingclip]

Just an FYI;

I spoke to an ASUS 'tech-support rep' about the M.2 and what kind of compatibility I would have with an M.2 4Gen x4 SSD. I knew I'd have some compromising to deal with and the mobo specs actually break it down in detail. However, the info is put in a way that can leave one with multiple interpretations. It left me scratching my head and the ASUS tech rep seemed just as lost about it.

 

The problem comes down to the system's hardware config & specs. The CPU, GPU, and which PCIe slot/s are used along with which SATA ports are in use, all have something to do with it. At first, after the rep returned from his research and said if I installed the M.2 in "slot 1", the GPU would shutdown and I would have to use the CPU's iGPU.

 

However, I challenged that answer by reading the specs regarding the M.2 Slot1 and PCIe info from the manual. He left to check and returned saying that the M.2 in slot 1 and the PCIe GPU in the first slot will work. At that point I didn't press him for any more info because I felt he was doing the same thing I was; reading the specs from the manual and getting a different interpretation than he did when he read it the first time.

 

The Maximus XII Formula has three M.2 slots and depending on which PCIe slot the GPU is installed, the M.2 SSD will have an affect on it and/or one or more sets of SATA ports. You can quickly lose the GPU and/or cut the M.2 speed in half if you're not careful. In my case, if I installed a M.2_4 x4 SSD in any one of the three slots, I would almost certainly wind up compromising something in a significant way.

 

The 'best-case' configuration according to the Asus Max XII Formula specs is:

"PCI Express x1: 1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot**
** The PCIEX1 shares bandwidth with M.2_1. When M.2_1 runs x4 mode, PCIEX1 will be disabled."

Yet, just before that specification, it says this:

"1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (supports x4 mode)*
* The PCIEX16_3 shares bandwidth with M.2_3. When M.2_3 runs x4 mode, PCIEX16_3 will be disabled. When M.2_3 and PCIEX16_3 are both occupied, M.2_3 runs x2 mode, PCIEX16_3 runs X1 mode."

 

I feel like I'm chasing my tail trying to understand that, but It appears that I can run an M.2 x2 SSD and my GPU without giving up either and maintaining the SSD's X2 speed. Of course, I would lose the use of two Sata Ports regardless of what I do.

 

The 'morel to this story':

The Seagate Firecuda is an M.2 4x4 SSD runs a confirmed 7400mb/s and costs about $210 for the 1TB. The Crucial's 1TB M.2 x2 Gen4 SSD runs at 6600mb/s and costs about $60 less. Therefore, I ordered the Crucial 1TB M.2 SSD and if I find I can't use my GPU in it's present PCIe slot, I'll install the M.2 in my other desktop because I don't think have enough room to move that RTX 2070 Super to any other slot.

 

That info is for anyone who may run into this themselves.

Rich

[Hauer]

Hi - my motherboard is an Asus ROG STRiX 390-E which accommodates two M.2 SSD slots. The SSD's installed consist of 1Tb & 2Tb capacity.

The smallest of the two is used for the operating system (in my case Win10 Pro) and some desktop software. The 2Tb version is 100% dedicated to flight simulation usage.

The above works perfectly for me without any hassles thus far. Am very pleased with the combination.

Good luck with your choice.

Herman

 

[wain71]

I just this weekend put a new 2nd M.2 into my system, I have one already which was for the OS, the new one is for P3D, Xplane and MSFS are on their own 4tb HDD's....all seems to work fine though I have been reinstalling everything this week as I took this opportunity to reset windows and format the HDD's ....I did read if you use two M.2's on some motherboards it can effect the use of other SATA devices but I haven't experienced this...