Plextor M.2 M8peG 256GB Nvme on AsRock Z97X Killer 3.1 motherboad

[zackinaus]

Dear All,

I have recently purchased a Plextor M.2 M8peG NVME drive for my Z97 system.
I have 2x GTX 970 running SLI in two PCIE 3.0 @8x/8x configuration.

The Plextor M.2 drive is currently installed at the M.2 slot which is rated only at pcie 2.0 x2 (10Gb/s).

I would like to know how can I get the most performance out of the drive.

Should I install the drive on a m.2 pcie converter and plug into the 3rd PCIE 16x slot? Would it be reducing the bandwidth for my SLI setup to 8x/4x?

I heard of my Core i5 4590 has direct PCIE controller of 16 lanes, how can I utilize that so my graphics card's pcie lane would not be affected?

PCIE Slot spec of my motherboard are as follow:
- 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE2/PCIE4/PCIE6: single at x16 (PCIE2); dual at x8 (PCIE2) / x8 (PCIE4); triple at x8 (PCIE2) / x4 (PCIE4) / x4 (PCIE6)

Thank you all in advance for your input.

Regards,

Zack

 

[Ebo]

You need a new Mb with a PLX chip on it, since it gives another 4 lanes if I remember correctly.

 

[zackinaus]

You need a new Mb with a PLX chip on it, since it gives another 4 lanes if I remember correctly.

Thank you for your reply Ebo.

If I have to change a new motherboard just to take advantage of the speed of NVME, I would rather upgrade to a new platform since Z97 is already 2 generations back.
I am just trying to squeeze the remaining bit of performance out of the current setup before my next upgrade.

I am pretty sure the NVME drive will work in full speed if I plug it into the 3rd PCIE 3.0 x4 slot with an M.2 to PCIE adapter. However my concern is will it lower my SLI lanes to x8/x4/x4 and how much performance hit for my GTX 970s SLI?

 

[Grings]

Sli wont work in 8x/4x, it only works on 8x/8x

 

[zackinaus]

Sli wont work in 8x/4x, it only works on 8x/8x

Oh really....Guess we all learn new stuff every day. Looks like I will be sticking the NVME drive in that M.2 slot and bear with the restricted speed until I upgrade to a newer platform.

Thank you so much Grings.