Asrock x570 Taichi paired with NVMe M.2 storage options
Asrock x570 Taichi paired with NVMe M.2 storage options
Hey everyone, I’m checking if anyone has this motherboard and installed M.2 drives in it. I received the board but haven’t received the two M.2 drives yet. I have some questions about installing them properly. First, I found some confusion online about fitting a M.2 drive into the main slot—how do you secure it? Should I install the drive first and then place the heat sink over it, or is there another method? Second, if I use two M.2 drives in slots 1 and 3, does that mean I’m using only one SATA port for those drives? Third, I’m not sure how M.2 drives function overall. If I put them in slots 1 and 3, would it block other storage devices from using their ports? Would the BIOS show these drives like any regular HDD or SSD? When setting up Windows 10, do I just create a partition during installation as I normally would?
Hardware support for M.2 drives and heatsinks is available. Since M.2 sizes vary, the stand-off adjustment can be customized. For standard 2280 drives, the correct stand-off position is usually sufficient. The steps are: 1) take off the heatsink 2) locate the proper stand-off placement and adjust if needed 3) detach any thermal pad label under the slot 4) insert the M.2 drive at an angle into the slot 5) remove the thermal pad label from the heatsink and place it over the drive 6) fasten the slot with a screw on the stand-off 7) reattach the thermal pad label to the heatsink and secure it with its screws. For detailed guidance, refer to the user manual. If using longer drives, consider using slots 2-1 and 2-2 for optimal performance; slot 2-3 is typically reserved for larger sizes like 22100. The 2-1 position is recommended for high-performance systems due to its CPU connection.
M.2 NVMe drives rely on PCI-E connections. Since motherboards typically have limited PCI-E lanes, they often include switches to manage these connections. It seems the 2-3 lane configuration creates a balance—either for the PCI-E slot or the x4 slot (#5). Slot 2-1 likely uses dedicated CPU lines, while slot 2-2 uses chipset lines. I might be missing details and could lose some SATA ports if you choose this path. On other systems, you usually have a choice between using an M.2 slot with four lanes or repurposing those lanes for SATA. This isn’t clearly stated in the manual. Generally, NVMe drives function similarly to any storage device.
I would refer to the guide, I remember it having detailed, step-by-step directions for each slot, accompanied by images. Nonetheless, the M.2 NVMe SSDs aren’t your weakest link, as long as the installation setup doesn’t harm the drive itself, you should be okay.