Quick question on Z390 Taichi before I buy it

Hi,
I read manuals and feature lists, but just want to make sure.
I?™m rebuilding my server, want a mobo with at least 8 SATA ports, and will add 1 or 2 SATA controllers later on (so need at least 2 PCIe available x4 or x8).
My boot drive will be a m2 PCIe drive.
I read the manual, and if I understand correctly:
- if I install it on m2_1 or m2_3 it will disable 2 of the 8 SATA ports
- if I install it on m2_2, since it?™s not a SATA drive, it will not impact SATA ports

So I guess the recommended port for my config would be m2_2.
Will that impact what I can connect to the PCIe?

Many thanks!

Thanks Lenster.
However, not being a specialist of those things, not 100% sure that it answers my question... and what the answer is
I understand from that thread that when you connect 3 NVMe, it will disable 4 SATA connectors.
What I want to do is connect only 1 (I suppose on slot nb 2), and make sure that it will not disable any SATA connector.

Also, the last poster of that thread said he had the nvme on slot 1, and all SATA used. However, if I understand the Z390 Taichi user manual, connecting something on slot m2_1 will disable some of the SATA ports.

Many thanks for your answer.

CHnuschti wrote: Using M2_1 or M2_3 will disable each 2 sata ports, while using M2_2 will disable only 1 sata port, as the manual says crystal clear.

Thanks.
But the manual actually says:

• If M2_1 is occupied, SATA3_0 and SATA3_1 will be disabled
• If M2_3 is occupied, SATA3_4 and SATA3_5 will be disabled
• If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_3 will be disabled

The case "M2_2 occupied by an NVMe drive" is not listed here. If I understand the manual correctly, I should connect my NVMe to M2_2 if I want use the 8 SATA ports.

I just want to make sure that:

1. I can connect my boot NVMe drive on M2_2
2. If I do so, I'll be able to use all 8 SATA ports
3. Understand if using M2_2 has an impact on PCIe lanes

xliv wrote: But the manual actually says: If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_3 will be disabled The case "M2_2 occupied by an NVMe drive" is not listed here. If I understand the manual correctly, I should connect my NVMe to M2_2 if I want use the 8 SATA ports.

It's possible I'm misjudging this. In fact there is a difference between M.2-"SATA" and M.2-"NVME". The first has the same performance like a common SSD-SATA (read/write something around 500MB/s), while the MVME (running per PCIe) variant is much faster (3000+ MB/s).
So it's possible that using an M.2-NVME on slot 2 indeed does not disable any other SATA Ports. I wouldn't bet on it however respectively investigate further.

If it would be / is so, I don't get why those specific options of M2 slot 2 have not been put to M2 slot 3 with the heat sink. Since most probably prefer using a slot with heat sink that still (with NVME) does not disable other SATA ports.