Quick Extreme 7+ M2 SSD question

Hey all!

Quick question.  I am getting a new samsung 960 M.2 SSD.

I have 5 other SSD's SATA on the system and one of them is the boot drive.  I am adding the M.2 as just a game drive.

If I use the lowest M.2 slot (I think its SATA_EXP2 right?) on the board and don't have anything plugged into SATA3_05 and SATA3_05 that should work right?

Using the lowest M.2 slot Vs's any of the others shouldn't effect performance at all right?

Thanks!!

5 drives PLUS that game drive looks impossible w/o giving up one of those 5 SSDs. And the fun, NOT, that re-jiggering them includes.

The SATA3_Ax ports are not affected by this limitation as the are provided by the ASMedia 3rd Party Controller. These ports are slower than the Intel provided ones that are affected.

The SATA3_x are native controllers.



You would be wise, assuming they work there, to move those USB Thingy's over to the SATA3_Ax ports to free up the native ports. Doing so would give you 2 more ports of leeway/freedom.

apachehavok wrote: Then SATA3_5 - empty but using bottom M2 SATA3_6 - empty but using bottom M2

No. Look at the 3 lines with Teal at the end above.

M2_3, SATA3_4, SATA3_5 and SATA_EXP2 share lanes. If either one of them is in use, the others will be disabled. (Bottom M.2)

Now, allow me to rephrase that one line above:
IF, any ONE of the M2_3, SATA3_4, SATA3_5 and or SATA_EXP2 ports are used, the other/remaining ports on THIS line will become unavailable.

So, it seems you're intent on using the bottom M.2 Ultra slot. Again, using the line above, to free up the M2_3 slot for that game frive you would need to not be using the SATA3_4, SATA3_5 and SATA_EXP2 ports as they share lanes.



HTH

Gotcha!!!

So my 2 SSD's that require speed (boot and game drive 1) will be plugged into SATA3_0 and1

The other SSD's are more for storage and I can keep them plugged into the A controller ones.

How much slower is that Asmedia controller?  We talking night and day difference?  Terrible?  Or only a little bit slower that might not even be detected?

Running windows 10 so I will for sure look at that optimize thing!  THanks for the info!

So according this this image:
https://technastro.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/img_8368.jpg

If I don't plug ANYTHING into those far left SATA ports (the only ones that face upward) then I should be free to use the bottom M.2 correct?

Are the M2 slots different?  Like is the top M2 faster then the bottom or is it ok to use the bottom M2 as the only M2 drive.

THanks all!!!!

apachehavok wrote: Gotcha!!! So my 2 SSD's that require speed (boot and game drive 1) will be plugged into SATA3_0 and1 The other SSD's are more for storage and I can keep them plugged into the A controller ones. How much slower is that Asmedia controller?  We talking night and day difference?  Terrible?  Or only a little bit slower that might not even be detected? Running windows 10 so I will for sure look at that optimize thing!  THanks for the info! So according this this image: https://technastro.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/img_8368.jpg If I don't plug ANYTHING into those far left SATA ports (the only ones that face upward) then I should be free to use the bottom M.2 correct? Are the M2 slots different?  Like is the top M2 faster then the bottom or is it ok to use the bottom M2 as the only M2 drive. THanks all!!!!

The "SATA III" ASMedia SATA ports are significantly slower than the Intel SATA III ports. They are faster than a SATA II port, but not in the league of the Intel ports.

The main reason I mentioned the ASMedia ports and SSDs is, I have noticed in the past that the Windows Optimize, manual TRIM feature failed to work with SSDs connected to the ASMedia SATA ports. The scary implication of that... seemingly no TRIM support on the ASMedia SATA ports.

If true, which my testing a while ago seemed to confirm, that may be simply a driver issue. We have two choices for the AHCI driver with the ASMedia SATA ports, their own driver or the Windows storahci.

I should test that again, as I've not used the ASMedia SATA ports for this reason for a long time.