Switching from Z690 to Z790 motherboard
Switching from Z690 to Z790 motherboard
Hello all, I’m currently working on an upgrade, switching from a Z690 board to a Z790, while also enhancing my CPU, GPU, power supply, AIO, and case. I’ve listed my present setup and the new plan I’m considering. My main question is whether the Z790 can accommodate six M.2 drives, five SSDs (including a RAID 0 array), and a second GPU without affecting any ports or features. I found a good deal on this board on eBay and want to verify that this arrangement will function properly before buying. I’ve already reached out to ASUS for details, but they haven’t replied yet—probably because of the holiday period. I want to be clear: this isn’t about criticism or past issues; I’m just seeking advice from those with real experience in these systems. Thank you for your time, and I’ll see you next time.
Current setup:
- Board: ASUS ROG Maximus Hero Z690
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KS
- Cooling: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420
- GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X 24G
- RAM: 128GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
- Case: Phanteks Eclipse P500A
- PSU: Corsair RM1000
- Storage: Samsung 250GB NVMe M.2, 2TB SSD, 4 x Samsung 870 QVO (RAID 0)
- Additional: Corsair MP600, 8TB M.2 SSDs in ROG Hyper M.2 slot
Proposed upgrade:
- Board: ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Extreme
- CPU: Intel Core i9-14900KS
- Cooling: EK Water Blocks EK-Nucleus CR360
- GPUs: Primary RTX 1590, Secondary RTX 4090
- RAM: 128GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
- Case: Phanteks G500A
- PSU: Corsair HX1600i Titanium
- Storage: Crucial T50 1TB M.2, Samsung 990 PRO 4TB, 3 x MP600 (one replaces S95), 4 x 870 QVO
Questions:
1. Will the Z790 Extreme support six M.2 drives, five SSDs (RAID 0), and two GPUs without losing performance or disabling ports?
2. Do I need to tweak the BIOS settings for this configuration?
3. If everything is installed correctly, can both GPUs access storage and SSDs at full speed at the same time?
Appreciate your help, and have a happy holiday season!
On desktop systems such as 1700, the available PCIe lanes are insufficient to run all these components at maximum performance. Both GPUs would operate at x8, and many M.2 drives rely on the chipset for data transfer. Consequently, only two GPUs could run at x8 here. One M.2 slot would be disabled because the second port is already occupied, leaving just four usable slots—three from the chipset and one Gen 4 drive. SATA connections should function normally. Bandwidth sharing with other chipset-dependent devices is expected, but the limited SATA speed makes this a minor concern. It might be beneficial to use larger SSDs with U.2 form factors or consider a NAS with 40/100GbE for faster storage options.
You're asking if your setup supports 4 M.2 drives, 6 SSDs, and two GPUs.
it's a bit unusual, but I think you're either passing it along or just need an alternative setup. if your tasks scale well on multiple cores, switching to an AMD EPYC could be a good move. you'd be able to run several GPUs at 16x speed with a lot of NVMe storage, and with over 1TB of RAM you'd be utilizing nearly all the PCIe lanes on a standard desktop. at this point, you might need a NAS or external storage for more space, though there are definitely large SATA SSDs available for bulk use. i doubt anyone has shared positive experiences about fully overclocking a board by disabling PCIe slots or SATA ports. good luck getting everything working, and keep an eye on future upgrades—disabling those ports usually isn't recommended.