Which m.2 slot to use

PandaH05 · May 4, 2021

Hey guys so I just bought a prime x570 pro for my all white build and I noticed the heatsink is for the m.2 slot 2 not the 1 does it matter which slot I use in terms of speed because I would like to use that heatsink

my specs for this build
Rtx 3080
5950x
Ssd: Samsung 980 pro 2tb
1200w psu
Corsair 5000x
32gb 3600mhz ram Corsair dominator

elghinnarisa · May 4, 2021

A excellent time to rip open the manual you got with your motherboard or the digital version from the manufacturers website (ASUS) which will answer this question for you!

newtekie1 · May 4, 2021

M.2_1 is wired directly to the CPU, so with your 5950X using that slot will technically be faster. However, the difference won't be noticeable so use whichever slot you want.

elghinnarisa said:
A excellent time to rip open the manual you got with your motherboard or the digital version from the manufacturers website (ASUS) which will answer this question for you!

Have you looked at the manual? It doesn't exactly make it clear which one to use. If anything it makes it a little confusing because the only thing it really tells you is that M.2_1 will run at PCI-E 3.0 if a 1st or 2nd gen Ryzen processor is used, making it sound like that is the inferior slot.

jboydgolfer · May 4, 2021

if the nVme Heatsink has a thermal pad (as they often do), be sure to peel off the plastic coating layer before installing it on your drive.

PandaH05 · May 4, 2021

newtekie1 said:
M.2_1 is wired directly to the CPU, so with your 5950X using that slot will technically be faster. However, the difference won't be noticeable so use whichever slot you want.

Have you looked at the manual? It doesn't exactly make it clear which one to use. If anything it makes it a little confusing because the only thing it really tells you is that M.2_1 will run at PCI-E 3.0 if a 1st or 2nd gen Ryzen processor is used, making it sound like that is the inferior slot.

Yea I looked at the manual but it wasn’t very clear on which one to use

newtekie1 said:
M.2_1 is wired directly to the CPU, so with your 5950X using that slot will technically be faster. However, the difference won't be noticeable so use whichever slot you want.

Have you looked at the manual? It doesn't exactly make it clear which one to use. If anything it makes it a little confusing because the only thing it really tells you is that M.2_1 will run at PCI-E 3.0 if a 1st or 2nd gen Ryzen processor is used, making it sound like that is the inferior slot.

So will It run at 4.0 with a ryzen 3rd gen or 5th gen

newtekie1 · May 4, 2021

PandaH05 said:
So will It run at 4.0 with a ryzen 3rd gen or 5th gen

Yes.

PandaH05 · May 5, 2021

Ok thx

DeathtoGnomes · May 5, 2021

jboydgolfer said:
if the nVme Heatsink has a thermal pad (as they often do), be sure to peel off the plastic coating layer before installing it on your drive.

Why would they do that? No one ever does that the first time.

WhitetailAni · May 5, 2021

DeathtoGnomes said:
Why would they do that? No one ever does that the first time.

But I did...
Does that make me weird?

OP, use the top slot. It has the most possible speed, though it will likely make no difference when you're using it.

AsRock · May 5, 2021

PandaH05 said:
Yea I looked at the manual but it wasn’t very clear on which one to use

So will It run at 4.0 with a ryzen 3rd gen or 5th gen

Just try them both and just see.

PandaH05 · May 7, 2021

Hey guys my bad last question is the motherboard I picked good other then the fact it has no WiFi (I use Ethernet) like is it good for overclocking and gaming

?

System Name	Dusty
Processor	5900x
Motherboard	MSI B550 Tomahawk
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	Corsair Vengence LPX 32GB
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X
Storage	yes
Case	Fractal Design Define R6
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750w
VR HMD	Oculus CV1

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Americas cure is the death of Social Justice & Political Correctness
Processor	i7-11700K
Motherboard	Asrock Z590 Extreme wifi 6E
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A
Memory	32GB Corsair RGB fancy boi 5000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Reference
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1Tb + Samsung 970 Evo 500Gb
Display(s)	Dell - 27" LED QHD G-SYNC x2
Case	Fractal Design Meshify-C
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus+ Gold 1000 Watt
Mouse	Logitech G502 spectrum
Keyboard	AZIO MGK-1 RGB (Kaith Blue)
Software	Win 10 Professional 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	the MLGeesiest

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Dumbass
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling	Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory	G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s)	GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage	Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s)	1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s)	onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard	Corsair K100
Software	windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores	https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2

Which m.2 slot to use

PandaH05

elghinnarisa

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

jboydgolfer

PandaH05

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

PandaH05

DeathtoGnomes

WhitetailAni

AsRock

TPU addict

PandaH05

System Name	Desktop-TJ84TBK
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix B350-F Gaming
Cooling	ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 120mm, Noctua NF-F12
Memory	B-Die 2x8GB 3200 CL14, Vengeance LPX 2x8GB 3200 CL16, OC'd to 3333 MT/s C16-16-16-32 tRC 48
Video Card(s)	PNY GTX 690
Storage	Crucial MX500 1TB, MX500 500GB, WD Blue 1TB, WD Black 2TB, WD Caviar Green 3TB, Intel Optane 16GB
Display(s)	Sceptre M25 1080p200, ASUS 1080p74, Apple Studio Display M7649 17"
Case	Rosewill CRUISER Black Gaming
Audio Device(s)	SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Seasonic FOCUS GM-750
Mouse	Kensington K72369
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2013
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit, macOS 11.7.8
Benchmark Scores	are good

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s)	Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.