Z390 cards featuring a wired x16 (x4) connection via the chipset
Z390 cards featuring a wired x16 (x4) connection via the chipset
Are there any recommendations for VRM Z390 boards where the bottom X16 port connects directly to the chipset? This would let you install an X4 device without affecting GPU performance. I was quite let down by the ASRock Taichi—it forced all ports through the CPU, so even using the top X4 slot drops it to X8. The Ultimate model would have fixed this, but it's currently out of stock or too expensive. I’m thinking about upgrading soon, especially since I plan to get a new GPU and don’t want it to become a bottleneck. Right now I’m using an M.2 slot for my NIC, but I’m wary of cheap adapters and the risk of power issues, like coil whine on the 12V rail.
Not a specialist in lane configurations, but I recall BuildZOID mentioning this board. https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/WS-Z390-PRO/
I also had that idea, but missed the fact that the ASRock Taichi doesn’t support this feature. The plus is its open-back PCIe x1 slots let the NIC connect properly, yet I noticed performance drops quickly when it starts to bottleneck. Oddly enough, it runs smoother at full x4 even though most of the time it shouldn’t be hitting limits—like only moving 200MB/s to a HDD.
I was attempting to apply Buildzoids suggestions but this appears to fall outside the scope of the given advice. That’s quite costly compared to the cheaper Taichi Ultimate boards, and it still removes an M.2 port to include a PCIe x4 slot. It feels odd since the x1 slots could just be upgraded to x4 if you already have a PLX chip. It was just timing issues—Taichi Ultimate would have been ideal, but now the price gap because of limited availability is much larger than before. It was also the cheapest board with built-in 10G, and I already had the NIC. I assumed a standard board would suffice, but it didn’t work out. Building a motherboard that downgrades GPU performance by adding extra x4 slots seems strange.