CPU Build for Two PCIe 4.0 Gen4 NVMe M2 high-bandwidth storage devices

[PVC]

That's very interesting and I will keep that in mind. Though, the single-stick M2 adapter cards all seem to be PCIe 3.0 and I'm looking to get to the new PCIe 4.0 double-speed technology.

That is, except for the big 4-stick M2 adapter cards like the ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 Gen 4 Card which supports (PCIe 4.0 NVMe RAID). I don't want to get into RAID. One PCIe 4.0 M2 stick seems hot enough much less 4-sticks. Yikes.

Maybe it's too soon in the PCIe 4./0 technology and I will wait a while for PCIe 4.0 to get more mature. But Yes, I will likely consider an Adapter card as a less hot location than the back-of-the-motherboard mounting location for a second M2 stick. Plus I would have room for that Big heat-sink on the Sabrent 1TB.

 

[ermac318]

That's very interesting and I will keep that in mind. Though, the single-stick M2 adapter cards all seem to be PCIe 3.0 and I'm looking to get to the new PCIe 4.0 double-speed technology.

That is, except for the big 4-stick M2 adapter cards like the ASUS Hyper M.2 x16 Gen 4 Card which supports (PCIe 4.0 NVMe RAID). I don't want to get into RAID. One PCIe 4.0 M2 stick seems hot enough much less 4-sticks. Yikes.

Maybe it's too soon in the PCIe 4./0 technology and I will wait a while for PCIe 4.0 to get more mature. But Yes, I will likely consider an Adapter card as a less hot location than the back-of-the-motherboard mounting location for a second M2 stick. Plus I would have room for that Big heat-sink on the Sabrent 1TB.

What exactly are you needing all this storage bandwidth for, exactly?

Just an FYI while B550 and X570 motherboards support PCIe 4.0, the Ryzen 4000 APUs do not appear to (check the spec sheets of motherboards and they'll say PCIe 3.0 with Renoir).

 

[PVC]

I changed the Title because this discussion has morphed beyond choosing a case!!

Oh, if Ryzen 4000 doesn't support PCIe 4.0 then I am really looking at moving to PCIe 4.0 too soon! When I read the motherboard specs it seems to indicate that it will;

Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO:​

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 4.0*/3.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4)​

* For 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors only.​

​

Storage Interface​

1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe 4.0*/3.0 x4/x2 SSD support)​

* For 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors only.​

Regarding my high-bandwidth storage requirements; First let me preface this by saying No Gaming, No OC, No discrete GPU card.

For years now I configure two storage devices as follows;

• C: Windows System Files and installed software (nothing else)
• D: Personal files (documents, pictures, videos, music, etc)

I use the built-in (image backup/restore) capabilities of Windows to go back and forth to various configurations of Windows and/or various configurations of installed software. This gives me peace-of-mind to control exactly what is installed on my PC. As an aside I use Disk Cleanup to get rid of previous versions of Windows and other temp files in order to keep Drive C: small (30GB or so).

It works really fast on PCIe 3.0. I am looking for this same capability when I move to PCIe 4.0. btw> Yes, I know about Acronis and other image backup tools.

 

[ermac318]

I changed the Title because this discussion has morphed beyond choosing a case!!

Oh, if Ryzen 4000 doesn't support PCIe 4.0 then I am really looking at moving to PCIe 4.0 too soon! When I read the motherboard specs it seems to indicate that it will;

Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO:​

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, supporting PCIe 4.0*/3.0 and running at x4 (PCIEX4)​

* For 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors only.​

​

Storage Interface​

1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SATA and PCIe 4.0*/3.0 x4/x2 SSD support)​

* For 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors only.​

Regarding my high-bandwidth storage requirements; First let me preface this by saying No Gaming, No OC, No discrete GPU card.

For years now I configure two storage devices as follows;

• C: Windows System Files and installed software (nothing else)
• D: Personal files (documents, pictures, videos, music, etc)

I use the built-in (image backup/restore) capabilities of Windows to go back and forth to various configurations of Windows and/or various configurations of installed software. This gives me peace-of-mind to control exactly what is installed on my PC. As an aside I use Disk Cleanup to get rid of previous versions of Windows and other temp files in order to keep Drive C: small (30GB or so).

It works really fast on PCIe 3.0. I am looking for this same capability when I move to PCIe 4.0. btw> Yes, I know about Acronis and other image backup tools.

The X570 board specs pre-date Renoir (which still technically isn't out yet). All "Matisse" CPUs (Ryzen 3000 non-APUs) support PCIe 4.0. Renoir (Ryzen 4000 APUs) are based on the same architecture but appear to not support PCIe 4.0, based on the specs listed on newer B550 boards.

Have you considered using the new Sandbox mode of Windows 10? Hyper-V desktops? Virtual Machines? Have you looked into dual booting? There must be more elegant ways of achieving what you're looking for.
You could also only use a single M.2 drive and use partitions to split the data between your C and D drive, while storing your OS images on D.

 

[PVC]

All "Matisse" CPUs (Ryzen 3000 non-APUs) support PCIe 4.0. Renoir (Ryzen 4000 APUs) are based on the same architecture but appear to not support PCIe 4.0, based on the specs listed on newer B550 boards.

Thanks!! That is big news for me since I was planning to use AMD's builtin graphics.

I think you are saying that PCIe 4.0 works only for AMD processors that use non-integrated graphics, in other words PCIe 4.0 works only when you are using a discrete graphics card. This is not going to work for my intended purposes.

As an aside; I couldn't get Sandbox to work for any of the big software applications that I swap in and out. Also, I believe that single drive solutions (when there are large amounts of data to be transferred from/to the same device) is slower because the reads and writes cannot occur as fast.

 

[Mark13]

I am going through the same process on planning a non - gaming system for 65 watt TDP APU. I chose the 678 case - boxy upright style - has space for a short video card - I will use the PCI slot for a 2nd NVMe drive & possibly add a side fan. It is very industrial looking - but I rather like it.