This might be a really easy question, but I want to be sure.
I ran out of SATA ports on my WRX90 workstation. I saw that there are 2 additional ports called “SlimSAS” in the documentation. After a little research I think these are SFF-8654 connectors, right?
“So far so good, a SAS-HDD like the Seagate Exos X - X18 should work” I thought.
But then I stumbled upon the following passage in the manual:
(Titled “CY Slimline Kabel SAS 4.0 SFF-8654 4i 38pin Host auf 4 SAS 29pin SFF-8482 Target Festplatte Fanout Raid Kabel” - sorry, I can’t post the link)
Thank you, SAS Experts! This is my first ride off the SATA train
No bueno on SAS drives. The mobo doesn’t have a SAS controller and only supports either NVMe or SATA drives. The type supported is controlled in the UEFI/BIOS.
If you have SATA drives, and the UEFI/BIOS correctly configured, then the cable above should work.
Someone else had explained it pretty well on this forum, but I don’t find the post again.
The computer needs to “speak” different protocols (“languages”, if you will) to use SATA/SAS/NVMe drives.
Your board can do SATA and NVMe, but not SAS. A BIOS setting controls which one to use on your SlimSAS port.
I ordered the cable and installed it today. HDD is not discovered in any OS (Proxmox, Win11, Debian).
I looked around the BIOS, but I cant find the setting. The only mention to SlimsSAS is under “Onboard Devices” → “PCIe Link Speed”:
The SlimSAS ports on the WRX90 only support NVMe drives, unfortunately. SATA and SAS are off the table. ASUS really did a sloppy job on this board compared to the WRX80.
It’s in the title, you gave him advice on a general basis? I find that a tad bit irresponsible, to be honest.
I actually didn’t understand, that SATA/SAS requires another protocol. It is quite new territory for me. But don’t worry, this is how we learn the best
So just to be clear… what kind of device would I put on that port? A SlimSAS to U.2 Adapter and then a U.2 SSD? What’s the benefit of this port Layout?
There are two SlimSAS connectors out there, one referred to as “8i” and one referred to as “4i” due to the number of PCIe lanes they pass through. The correct name is SFF-8654 with an additional annotation (I assume referring to the number of leads in the connector).
Your mobo is obviously using the “4i” (smaller) kind and it’s really used to connect storage (NVMe drives).
An example for the type of cable that should work is:
But don’t just buy this, I have no experience with this product.
Over the years there have been multiple port designs, initially to transport SAS signaling, but more and more to channel PCIe (NVMe) signaling over cable.
Thank you! So better leave it and get a HBA for ambitious storage scenarios on the WRX90.
Out of curiosity: are there any devices other than U.2 SSDs that connect to this specific port implementation on the WRX90?
Sorry for nagging. I’ve watched the video, but U.2 is just mentioned at the end. I haven’t heard any SlimSAS explanation. I get, that it is all just PCIe.
My main question is:
How did ASUS intended this port to be used? Like… shouldn’t there be a kinda common use case for picking this kind of cabling?
Most people use SlimSAS to U.2 cables, as the most common connector for 2.5" NVME SSDs is a U.2 port. SlimSAS is supposed to have better signal integrity and less problems than U.2 ports they used to put on MBs, and can also expand to x8 lanes on a single plug instead of x4, so you could technically have a 14GB/s SSD on the single port if one existed that was made for an 8 lane SlimSAS. The ASUS implementation is still 4 lanes, so it really is no different than a basic U.2 port they used to have, just a different port form factor now. To be honest keeping the U.2 ports would have made everything easier.
I used my NVME ports to run to two Optane 1.5TB drives. Yes they are only PCIE 3 drives, but the latency is still way better and in a RAID0 they make a really great gaming drive. As fast as any PCIE 4 nvme is, but with way better random performance and way better latency.
No, cause raid setup in bios through AMD hardware to have it work before a Windows install is garbage tier performance.(Incorrect information)
I kept Windows on a PCIE 5 NVME and use the Optane just for gaming, mostly single player gaming too where you aren’t bound by server response time to load every level.
Thank you! This is exactly the explanation my mind graved for
Going a little off-topic here, but since latency is my (and maybe swoys) main concern: do you have any data or source available that backs your assumption? Or is it “a good feeling” (which is also worth a lot!).
Currently I am on 4x Crucial T700 PCIe5 NVME (Proxmox Software Raid10) and my VDI-client disk access still feels like they could go a little faster.
Hmm. It appears I was wrong on the Optane AMD bios raid perf. I felt like I watched a video testing it before and it was ridiculously bad, but checking in to Wendels vid here: https://youtu.be/xPLedb19E54?t=1305
It shows great performance. So maybe ill go back and make some changes to my setup next time it is time to do a windows reinstall. Thanks for making me look into it again to make sure my numbers were right or not.
I do indeed use two 1.5TB Optane drives as my gaming drive. I bought them for $350 each which is a little pricey for gaming sure compared to NAND, but they also go on sale from time to time for $300 now. I wanted to take advantage of the U.2/SlimSAS NVME connectivity of my Threadripper board since I was getting a big shiny new computer anyway.
I see the 1~ TB model is down at $200 right now with coupon code:
