B460M Will 1st PCIE x16 supports speeds up to x8.
B460M Will 1st PCIE x16 supports speeds up to x8.
You're checking the ASUS PRIME B460M-A R2.0 setup. The board has four PCIe X16 slots, one full X16 lane connected to the CPU, and two smaller X1 slots. You mentioned you don't want to use the X1 slots for anything, but you're curious about what happens if you put the wireless adapter in the X16 slot. The specs indicate that when both X16 slots are used, each operates at half speed (X8). Since the second slot is only X4 and uses a chipset connection, it should run at X4 regardless. So, installing the wireless adapter in the X16 slot will likely force it to run at X8 instead of full X16.
Typically, slots that use bandwidth are shown in the specifications. Therefore, both slots should operate at maximum capacity since the X4 slot is linked through the chipset. The PCIe lane allocation depends on the motherboard maker, which means it differs between models (even within the same chipset). The most reliable source is the user manual.
PCI-E x16 slot connects directly to PCI-E lanes provided by the CPU. The PCI-E x1 slots and the bottom PCI-E x16 slot (capable of delivering up to four lanes) also receive lanes from the chipset. This means you can connect your wireless adapter either in the PCI-E x1 slots or in the bottom PCI-E x16 slot without affecting the top PCI-E x16 slot. It's fascinating how the motherboard model B460M suggests a B460 chipset, yet the documentation refers to the H470 chipset. In practice, there aren't significant differences between them, just a minor note.
Your board is too inexpensive to provide this feature. CPU lanes are limited to x16 only on the single connected slot, that's the complete picture.
Received a setup with multiple PCIe slots and processors. The board supports both PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 and x16 configurations, with the latest CPUs handling 4x bandwidth. The configuration includes one x16 and three x16 slots, plus a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot. Everything appears standard and functional.
Asus made a poor advertisement with incorrect details on this board. They mentioned things like "vrm heatsink," "safeslot core," and "support for 11th gen CPU." I understand these are only valid for the H470 model, but even then, this board meets all my requirements at a reasonable price. Still, do you think it's worth comparing to the Gigabyte H510M S2 (just a few dollars different in my country, but different chokes) or the PRIME B460M-A? The latter has a heatsink but fewer MOSFETs and standard chokes, making its VRM weaker and more prone to overheating. It's also a bit pricier. I won't be overclocking and plan to use an open bench with an Intel blowdown cooler.