GURUS I need help - Extreme 6 Z97 w crossfired 290's, Raid 0 Hyper X's

[cisco kidd]

HI Guys, new to this forum. Wondering if I could get some feedback on the best way to connect what I list below especially if I add an M.2 msata drive, would love a Samsung SP941 but price prohibits at moment and does it not rule out Crossfire.
More than likely a Plextor 256Gb Slim M.2 even though it is pciex2 vs pciex4 of the SP941. NVMe would of course be nie but will not be happening any time soon for me.

So if I were to go with the M.2 as my main OS drive how would one add the balance? Also best configuration with no M.2 just whats below, Also have a RevoDrive 3 120 but unsure if it is useful anylonger , but could be great for dedicated games drive.

Extreme 6 Z97
4770K under custom loop
2 x 290 Crossfired in loop
2 x Kingston Hyper X 240
WD 2TB storage
EVGA G2 1000
Switch 810

Thoughts and my first post here

Cheers

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Re: GURUS I need help - Extreme 6 Z97 w crossfired 290's, Raid 0 Hyper X's

Not a problem connecting a PCIe x2 M.2 SSD to your board in the M2_2 slot, since it does not use any of the PCIe 3.0 lanes that you want the video cards to have.

The M2_1 slot uses four PCIe 3.0 lanes, so any SSD connected to it will leave less for video cards.

Otherwise use the Intel SATA ports for all your drives, they perform better than the ASMedia SATA ports. No difference with or without the M.2 SSD.

Unfortunately, the PCIE5, PCIe 2.0 "x16" slot is really only an x2 lane connection, while the RevoDrive 3 needs an x4 slot. So impossible to use it at its full capability, or maybe not at all.

[cisco kidd]

Re: GURUS I need help - Extreme 6 Z97 w crossfired 290's, Raid 0 Hyper X's

Not a problem connecting a PCIe x2 M.2 SSD to your board in the M2_2 slot, since it does not use any of the PCIe 3.0 lanes that you want the video cards to have.

The M2_1 slot uses four PCIe 3.0 lanes, so any SSD connected to it will leave less for video cards.

Otherwise use the Intel SATA ports for all your drives, they perform better than the ASMedia SATA ports. No difference with or without the M.2 SSD.

Unfortunately, the PCIE5, PCIe 2.0 "x16" slot is really only an x2 lane connection, while the RevoDrive 3 needs an x4 slot. So impossible to use it at its full capability, or maybe not at all.

Thanks for the feedback. Crossfire of the gpu's is priority. Bummer that pcie5 is x2 vs x4 so I will probably sell the Revodrive 3 I have. Unsure if I will go the route of M.2. SP941 seems like the best option but costly. Not sure of the Plextor option is really worth it. Will the Extreme 6 support the NVMe standard?

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Re: GURUS I need help - Extreme 6 Z97 w crossfired 290's, Raid 0 Hyper X's

Thanks for the feedback. Crossfire of the gpu's is priority. Bummer that pcie5 is x2 vs x4 so I will probably sell the Revodrive 3 I have. Unsure if I will go the route of M.2. SP941 seems like the best option but costly. Not sure of the Plextor option is really worth it. Will the Extreme 6 support the NVMe standard?

You may have not understood what I wrote, unless it's not an issue for you.

The XP941 needs an x4 connection. The M6e is an x2 connection. An XP941 will not perform at full potential if not used in the Ultra M.2 port. But using that port will reduce the PCIe 3.0 lanes from 16 to 12, so any video cards will run at x8 and x4. But if that is Ok, great.