Yes, you can connect two NVMe drives to the CPU.
Yes, you can connect two NVMe drives to the CPU.
I'm reviewing NVMe options for your setup. Your NZXT N7 B650E has three NVMe slots: PCIe 5.0 x4, PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 4.0 x2. The first two slots go to the CPU, the third to the chipset. You plan to use the first two for maximum speed. You're wondering if you can connect both NVMe slots to the CPU without impacting the GPU or taking away lanes. The GPU is a Navidia 3080FE with a Ryzen 9 7900X, and you have the motherboard manual handy.
Unless you're aiming for maximum performance, it's fine. But I wouldn't give up that for marginally quicker NVMe speeds—20 to 16 equals 4, 4 minus 4 equals 0. Still, the chipset isn't too bad after all.
I assumed but wanted to confirm. It didn’t make sense to add NVMe slots to the CPU if it wouldn’t boost the GPU performance. Regarding using one of the two NVMe slots connected to the CPU, I should probably opt for PCIe 5.0 or the 4.0 slot since some reports suggest the first could share bandwidth with the GPU slot. Would it be better to pick the second one instead?