I just upgraded my motherboard (Gigabyte Z97 UD5H BK) and it has an M.2 slot up to 10gbps mounted. I want to ask if i purchase an ssd that has those specs, like plextor m6e, would i get that performance or i would just cap at 6gbps due to the limitation of sata 3? Should i opt for the PCI option to utilize that full speed?
M.2 is not sata, it uses 4x PCIe lanes (So if you have a single graphics card then it will run at 8x and you cannot do SLI since you will only have 12 lanes left. It will therefore not cap at Sata 3 speeds but at M.2 speeds.
First i wanna thank you for your quick response. So let me get this straight. If i put an ssd in the m.2 slot on my motherboard, i will get the 10gbps but i will lose potential to use an sli config? So it's the same to use the M.2 slot or a PCI slot, correct?
Pretty much though M.2 will always be 4x whereas there are PCIe SSD's that use 8x. M.2 is so much less viable for Z97 than it is for X99 or Z170 :c.
But yeah that's pretty much it, that's what I experienced anyway when I tested my friend's M6e.
Thanks again mate! So i think i will stick to my regular ssd 2.5"..
M.2 can use SATA Express, PCIe 2.0, or PCIe 3.0. It depends on the ssd and the motherboard specs. The M.2 slot on the particular motherboard you listed does not support PCIe 3.0 ssd's and the plextor m6e is PCIe 2.0 ssd so it shouldn't effect your PCIe 3.0 lane count. You should be able to install 2 graphics cards in the 1st and 2nd PCIe 3.0 slots, each running at x8 and still have the M.2 running at 10gb/s since it will be using the PCIe 2.0 lanes. At least that's what I gather from reading the specs and the manual. Manual doesn't mention anything about the M.2 slot effecting the PCIe 3.0 lanes. It will, however deactivate SATA3 4/5 connetors.
i read that in the manual also but still i didn't understand if it's gonna affect the sli config or secondly if it's gonna cap at 6gbps. I just wasn't sure enough to go buy that Plextor to utilize only 6gbps from the possible 10.