PCIe and M.2 topics
PCIe and M.2 topics
I currently own an MSI X370 gaming pro carbon motherboard and have faced some issues recently. My 6900XT graphics card is in the top PCIe slot (#9), paired with a 1TB M.2 in the top M.2 slot (#10). I also have a second graphics card for streaming in the bottom PCIe slot (#12), which I keep there because placing it in the #11 slot would cause it to run warmer than desired. This setup has never caused problems until I recently added another M.2 drive to the bottom slot (#10 bottom), which now blocks the lanes needed by my second card. My question is, can I still use the lanes from a different PCIe slot for my new M.2, or am I forced to move my second graphics card up to the #11 position?
It's not feasible to repurpose PCI-E lanes from another slot. The motherboard assigns lanes to specific M.2 slots or may disable lower PCI-E x16 and SATA3 ports. To resolve this, consider relocating the GPU to a middle x16 slot and inserting the NVMe in the second M.2 slot. Use an adapter like the one from Startech for an x4 to M.2 connection in the middle slot. Opt for an x1 adapter and place it in any available x1 slot, though this will lower speeds. Connect the external enclosure via a USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gbps port on the back, which may further affect performance.