ASUS ROG Strix Z790 E Gaming WiFi Motherboard Overview Slots and Storage

Today We're Answering a Subscriber Question! The ASUS ROG Strix Z790 E Gaming WiFi Motherboard Overview of Slots and Storage for PCIe Resource allocations! The Specifications will be Our Outline. Using Four pieces of Documentation this time, Motherboard Manual, Bios Manual, ASUS Thunderbolt 4 card Compatibility support and ASUS Bifurcation Chart. We have Three Slots, 5 M.2 Connectors and Four SATA Ports. There will be give and take with Shared Resources. We'll separate CPU Lanes from Chipset Lanes.
Notes:
1. 20 CPU PCIe Lanes - PCIe 4.0 & 5.0
2. Bios: PCIe Bandwidth Bifurcation Configuration
[X8/X8]
Split up PCIEX16(G5) that runs X16 into X8/X8.
3. 28 Chipset PCIe Lanes - PCIe 3.0 & 4.0
4. Thunderbolt 4 - PCIEX16(G4)_2 slot only!
Links:
1. ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi
amzn.to/3gC8puZ
rog.asus.com/u...
2. ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 HERO
amzn.to/3U9Ak3c
rog.asus.com/m...
3. Intel Core i9-13900K Processor
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www.intel.com/...
4. ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 with Intel Thunderbolt 4 JHL 8540 Controller, 2 USB Type-C Ports / USB4
amzn.to/3U5VzTf
www.asus.com/m...
See: ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 Card Compatible Model List - 14-1 Pin Header
www.asus.com/m...
5. Intel Z790 Chipset
www.intel.com/...
6. ASUS 2 [Motherboard] Compatibility of PCIE Bifurcation between Hyper M.2 series Cards and Add-On Graphic Cards - Official Support -
www.asus.com/s...
7. AVerMedia GC573 Live Gamer 4K, Internal Capture Card, Stream and Record 4K60 [X4]
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8. Elgato 4K60 Pro MK.2, Internal Capture Card, Stream and Record 4K60 [X4]
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8. Blackmagic DeckLink Duo 2 [X4]
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10. Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 4K Mini [Thunderbolt]
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11. Blackmagic Design Web Presenter 4K [USB-C]
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Subscribe, Thumbs Up, Comment! Appreciate Your Support! Thank You for Watching!

[@jeff7160]

I've been in tech for 37 years, nowadays you don't hear people discussing the bus architecture or understanding it. Great instructional video covering data movement across the motherboard!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Jeff, Welcome! You're right! Most People are not aware of what they are Buying by accepting what is being Marketed and Sold. PCIe Resource allocations are always limited where there are Shared Resources. And Motherboards such as this, with this Chipset, are all hype. Not enough substance. We cannot afford to be losing PCIe Lanes! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@MiniatureMasterClass]

That's because 90% of the KZbinrs who make PC review and build videos don't have this kind of technical knowledge. The fact they have millions of subscribers doesn't help them know anything useful about computers. All they are good for is making RGB porn.

[@JosephKarthic]

​@@BuildOrBuycan you advice the best z790 board which is Bang for buck?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@JosephKarthic, Welcome! Touch call. We do not care for that Chipset. From Our perspective, that's a neutered Chipset due to the way that Chipset allocates PCIe Resources. Especially when Bifurcation is required. Hope that helps!

[@JosephKarthic]

@@BuildOrBuy ok, the last time i bought a motherboard is in 2010, an asus p7p55de, now i want to upgrade, im a casual gamer and chosen the i5 13600k, but i welcome any good suggestions for my upgrade..

[@MrErball]

Man, where did Gill go? 7 months, and no new videos. His videos are focused, direct, and informative. I hope all is well in his world, and he comes back with some new content soon.

[@MrErball]

NM, sorted by newest and saw the responses. Looking forward to some awesome new videos. Keep it up!!!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Eric, Been extremely busy adding new Production capabilities! And that aspect has taken on a life of its own. Always Answering Subscribers Questions!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Eric, Next BuildOrBuy Video will be about DDR5, then CXL - Compute Express Link followed by NVMe Key Value Command Set. That should get us past the current junk being sold! I'm now FAA Part 107 Certified! And that was very invloved!

[@sedgleyathome]

@@BuildOrBuy I am glad hear you are keeping all well. That's most important to hear he is all well and I can understand how busy he is at the moment.

[@jarnhand266]

@@BuildOrBuy Yeah, just glad you are ok. Got a bit worried...

[@frankbumstead3838]

Finally deep dives into the technology. There are too many channels that just skim along the surface. Thanks for the hard work you do.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Frank Bumstead, Welcome! Glad You found Us! Thanks for noticing! Appreciate Your Comments and Support! And We're just hitting the high points!

[@lukebraddford3287]

This guy is the best. Even though I bought a new board I’ll still be watching all the videos to be more informed about all of them.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Luke Braddford, Welcome! I'm honored! Very much Appreciate Your Comments! PCIe allocations are absolutely fascinating! We definitely need more PCIe Resources! Intel is lacking on that front whereas AMD is stepping up and raising the bar! Think about this, allegedly 20 CPU PCIe Lanes whittled down to actually 16 useable CPU PCIe Lanes vs 24 usable CPU PCIe Lanes plus 4! The edge with Intel is the 8 DMI Lanes from CPU to Chipset. Whereas AMD uses 4 CPU PCIe Lanes from CPU to Primary Chipset. AMD is still the better value. And none of these Motherboards should cost over $500. The AMD 7950X CPU has been very aggressively priced! Lots to keep up with!

[@Joshkaay]

Thank you for making this so many people in this new pc hype generation don’t understand why we bought HEDT back in the day pcie lanes were one of the main reasons , really enjoyed the video straight forward and to the point will be subbing 💯💪🏼

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Josh K, Welcome! Great point! Spot on! What Intel brought forth with X299 then AMD X399 was amazing! Why would anyone settle for less. We know better! I'm honored! Appreciate Your Support!

[@thedigitaljedi3243]

The contributions that you give to the Tech community are EPIC!!! You are a treasure to our community. I've learned so much watching your tutorials on bifurcation and express lanes. I have the Asus Z790-F motherboard and I'm truly enjoying its capabilities. The only gripe I have is my download speeds being slower over Ethernet for some reason. My older systems have much faster download speeds. I have the latest BIOS. In regards to storage I'm using 4 Samsung 980 Pro NVME M.2 drives. In the BIOS I enabled XMP II to take advantage of the memory which is Gskill Trident Z DDR5 7200. I also enabled the A.I. Overclock which does an amazing job on its own for overclocking. The 13900k runs extremely stable and very cool with the NZXT Kraken.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi TheDigitalJedi, Welcome! I'm honored! Appreciate Your Comments! The issue You're having could be an issue that was suppose to have been resolved or exhausted due to the Intel 2.5Gbps Chip. Nothing about the Z790 Chipset, yet! ASUS Motherboards with Intel I225-V 2.5Gb NIC loss/disconnects/no connection to router/NIC not showing in device manager. This is according to an article on Reddit. Link below: www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/kppyoi/psa_asus_motherboards_with_intel_i225v_25gb_nic/ This goes back 2 years and to reiterate, should have been resolved by now. Odd. Check Your Intel 2.5Gbps Chip for the Stepping / Revision. If that's not the issue then I can't help but wonder about Chipset PCIe Lane allocations. That should be 1 Dedicated PCIe Lane. However, I wonder if it's Shared. Without a Block Diagram, up for conjecture. Hope that helps! Keep Us informed on Your Chip Revision. We need more Data on this! Odd ASUS does not mention which 2.5Gbps Intel Chip they are using. That would help. Tell Us more about Your Router Brand and Model. Bifurcation and PCIe Resource allocations are extremely important. Neither of which is going away! Yes, ASUS makes Overclocking easy! Enjoy Your Build!

[@thedigitaljedi3243]

​@@BuildOrBuy Oh wow I can't believe I missed your wonderful reply. My apologies. I'm working alot of hours LOL! I have the 1226-V on my Z790-F. I changed my Speed and Duplex setting from Automatic to 2.5gb Full Duplex and it helps. My download speeds have increased to an average of 750 - 800mbps down, whereas before the speeds fluctuated from 133mbps to 550mbps down. The router I have is the CGM4331COM from Xfinity. My package is 1200mbps down and 50mbps up. My older Alienware system has the Killer E-3000 which is phenomenal. My download speeds are always 1000mbps to almost 1200 mbps down. I truly hope a driver release will fix this issue on the Z790-F. I'm praying it's not the hardware. The board is awesome otherwise.

[@thedigitaljedi3243]

@@BuildOrBuy I used Ookla Speedtest and selected the nearest server locations before conducting all test. Sometimes while downloading my games from Steam I have noticed a disconnect and then the download resumes. Before I changed the setting from Automatic to Full Duplex 2.5gb my test were all over the place. I noticed my speeds would start high around 900mbps and then drop tremendously to 450mbps or below before the Speedtest is completed.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@thedigitaljedi3243, All good. Glad You found a partial Solution for now. Yes, a Driver Update would be nice. Thanks for Sharing!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@thedigitaljedi3243, Very sporadic fluctuations! We always must Test and Verify!

[@MrVoayer]

Technical, detailed and precise !!! Well done !!!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello MrVoayer, Welcome! Excellent! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@JayzBeerz]

Hi Gill, I can't wait for this to start.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi JayzBeerze, Excellent! I'm honored! PCIe Resources on this Motherboard are Shared and somewhat obfuscated. Fascinating how that's done. And says a lot about the Z790 Chipset!

[@user-sc7ly8gs5s]

Собираю очередной компьютер себе, и как раз столкнулся с описанной вами проблемой - раздвоение. Спасибо за отличный обзор! Долгих лет жизни и здоровья вам!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi ALADUSHKA, Translated for anyone else reading Our Comments! I am assembling another computer for myself, and just ran into the problem you described - a split. Thanks for the great review! Long life and health to you! Appreciate Your Comments! Success on Your Build! Blessings and Best Wishes!

[@JayzBeerz]

Hi Gill, Been missing your videos. Hope you upload one soon.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello JayzBeerz, Been busy! Adding to Our Production capabilities! I'm now a Certified Commercial Drone Pilot! FAA Part 107 Certified! That has taken on a life of it's own! For example: Did a Realtor POD Cast yesterday about Aerial Photography! Next BuildOrBuy Video will be about DDR5 then HEDTs! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@jb1593]

​ @BuildOrBuy Wanting to build my new pc of dreams, but I was out of this PC World from the time of P4, .....Many attempts to understund, and only after a month only I found your channel...This is the reviews that we need, logical reviews, high quality informations, not biased racing reviews with so many variants behind the scenes......I'am a glad to be one of your happy subscribers.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello jb1593, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! I'm honored! Currently working on adding to Our Production capabilities!

[@vick7490]

I'm starting my build tomorrow with this board, I was confused whether to install my 980 pro 4.0 m.2 boot drive on the gen5 m.2, but after seeing this I'm definitely not doing that. Thank you!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Vick, Welcome! Good timing! All about Clarity! Glad We could help! Enjoy Your Build!

[@vick7490]

@@BuildOrBuy I can still use the PCIEX16(G5) slot to connect my 3080ti and run it at its full x16 bandwidth correct(? The configuration I'm planning is M.2_2(socket 3) for my boot drive, M.2_3(socket 3) for my game drive. I appreciate your help and reply! I'm glad your video showed up on my recommended list, a true godsend! :)

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@vick7490, As long as You stay away from M.2_1, GPU will be X16! Crazy what We deal with regarding Slots and Storage for PCIe Resource allocations! To reiterate, 1. M.2_2, to CPU, Dedicated. 2. M.2_3 through Chipset, Dedicated. Thank You! I'm honored! Appreciate Your Comments and Support! Success on Your Build!

[@Thebossreserve]

​@@vick7490How is your motherboard behaving? WiFi connections, network, booting into Windows?

[@johnny9048]

Love this content, no bs just hard details. My other pc sites get way to distracted. Thank you for a new subscriber.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Johnny, Welcome! I'm honored! No Bovine Scitology here! Just the layout of PCIe Resource facts! You'll never look at another Motherboard the same way again! Solving Problems and Providing Solutions! Keep it Simple and Make it Work! Speaking of which, working on a DDR5 Video. Too much obfuscation from Vendors!

[@sethdesilva]

Hey Gill, Just wanted to let you know that I'm looking forward to your next video. Glad to see that everything's alright- no videos for an extended period of time is rarely a good sign from youtubers. Can't wait for more in-depth reviews. Your videos are truly unparalleled.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello sethdesilva3001, Welcome! Thank You very much! I'm honored! Been Busy adding to Our Production capabilities! I'm now FAA Part 107 Certified! And that's taken on a life of it's own with Aerials! Next BuildOrBuy Video will be DDR5!

[@thedigitaljedi3243]

Hi @BuildOrBuy, It's been awhile since we've seen one of your awesome tutorials. I hope all is well.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello thedigitaljedi, Welcome. Yes. Thank You very much. Been busy. Added to production capabilities and that has taken off. Bills to pay. Working on future videos for BuildOrBuy. Hopefully soon. Right now, I answer questions. We don't always get notified of comments.

[@henryharrison8005]

I speak for those of us who have limited technical knowledge regarding computer science. Although I did not comprehend the gist of your presentation, I watched in fascination. I liken it to Einstein explaining special relativity to those who understand the concept. There is truly something magical when a person demonstrates mastery of knowledge. You are concise, succinct, and lay out your case in a well organized outline. Your oration is steady and easy on the ear without having the need to be outrageous to keep viewers engaged. Well done! In a nutshell, I have retired recently and now looking for a gaming computer. My main interest is flight simulation, racing, and some video editing. Could you possibly give your recommendation for CPU, GPU and Motherboard? I had chosen Intel i9 13900K, NVIDIA RTX 4090 Founders Edition, and ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WIFI, that is until I watched your video.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Henry, Welcome! All boils down to PCIe Resources! You want either a HEDT or a Workstation! And Budget! Appreciate Your Comments! Fascinating Topic!

[@henryharrison8005]

@@BuildOrBuy The Strix Z790 E had many great reviews and recommendations. I'm glad I happened to find your review which exposed the limitations of this motherboard. Why does a manufacturer produce higher end consumer motherboards with additional expansion slots that, if used, inhibits the performance of the machine? My intention was to utilize a System Integrator as I do not have sufficient knowledge to make sound decisions. Also, a System Integrator would provide a warrantee as well as much needed tech support. I was willing to pay the extra cost for peace of mind. The system I had settled on was nearly 6k, and that, in my opinion, is more than enough for a great gaming pc. However, it looks like I would have received this inadequate motherboard. Now the process begins again and unfortunately, I don't know who I can trust.

[@imt558delux]

So, 3 months passed since last answer. Hope this man is alive and well.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello imt558delux, Welcome! Answering Subscribers Questions on a regular basis across multiple Videos! Currently adding to Our Production capabilities! I'm now a Certified Commercial Drone Pilot!

[@tempfile3368]

I appreciate this, I see a lot of builders using this MOBO and splitting the lane between the GPU and an SSD M.2_1 and no one addresses the issue.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Temp File, Welcome! Thank You! We Appreciate Your Comments! Tsk, Tsk on Everyone else. Know better, do better! If one knows the consequences, fine. But to blindly follow the crowd, not fine! Everyone should know their Lane count and where those Shared Resources are going and why that works the way it does. Know the Plumbing! All about Slots and Storage of PCIe Resource allocations!

[@tannhaeuser]

And what’s the problem with that 8/8 config, if no modern GPU uses the bandwidth of 16? Not even a 4090 as far as I know.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@tannhaeuser, A choice made for Us or an Option to choose. We're reading Reports of a 1% to 2% Performance hit. One User Reported in a 4K configuration without details of a 20% Performance hit using X8 Lanes. As always, this is something else everyone should Test and Verify. Your Results may vary. We definitely need more quantifiable Data on those Stats. A concern to be aware of if not already. Appreciate Your Comments!

[@mariozamora9684]

Great explanation. Watched the whole thing. Thank you for taking the time to produce such content.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Mario, Welcome! Excellent! Appreciate Your Comments! You'll never look at a Motherboard the same way again now that You know!

[@imross7985]

Wow! I’m just getting into building gaming pc and this video has been the best video I have found. The educational information! Fantastic, keep it up ! 🙌🏼

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi ImRoss, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! An eye opener on what We're expected to tolerate. Crazy, right! Keep it Simple and Make it Work!

[@NeoDon1]

Wish this guy was still around. Hope he is ok? Videos and explanations are GOOD!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@NeoDon1, Welcome. Still around. Been very busy. Added to production capabilities and that has taken off. Here to Answer Subscribers Questions. Working on new Videos as time permits. Question, Ask!

[@NeoDon1]

@@BuildOrBuy Glad to hear it and can't wait for more ASUS X650/850 MB and AMD Stuff Thanks

[@RobertA-ns3fh]

man!...this guy is awesome!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Robert A, Welcome! Outstanding! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@Alex_Greu_de_gasit]

Awesome videos, sir! I like that you take your time to explain stuff and make everything clear. Cheers from Romania!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Alex, Welcome Romania! Outstanding! Appreciate Your Comments! Thanks for Watching!

[@zipididoda4752]

Absolutely outstanding information - credit to you sir for spending the time and effort on explaining more clearly what I'm reading in the manual.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Zipidi Doda, Welcome! Excellent! Appreciate Your Comments! Clarity! Solving Problems and Providing Solutions!

[@TopherCKJ]

Does he still upload videos??? I've encountered a few of his over the years and am just now starting to respect them. Thank you for your time and please come back.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@TopherCKJ, Welcome. Still here. I answer questions as time permits. Been busy. Added to my Production capabilities and that has taken off and now pays the bills. Hope to get back to making Videos eventually. Have several in the works. In tbe mean time, If you have a question, ask away.

[@koolk2115]

Another amazing video and again, thank you. I have the Z790-F with 4 Samsung 980 Pros being utilized.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Kool K, Welcome! Outstanding! I'm honored! Appreciate Your Comments! Success with Your Build! That should tied You over until We can get PCIe 5.0 M.2 NVMe Drives!

[@MrUpsidedowngaming]

Love this, I'm slowly learning how to follow these! Great teacher.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi E S, Welcome! Essential to understand Resource allocations for Slots and Storage. Especially when said Resources are Shared vs Dedicated. Appreciate Your Comments! We like to Keep it Simple and Make it Work! We think doing a Motherboard Overview as such is essential before moving forward on any Motherboard Reviews! This is like hiding in front of Us and once We realize what We're looking at and trying to use, We now understand the What, Why and How of what's right and what's wrong! Hence, not enough Resources! Hope that helps!

[@FastLikePuma]

Best damn explanation and video ive seen in a while. No gimmicks no bull shit.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello FastLikePuma, Welcome! Amen to that! Definitely Appreciate Your Comments! Thank You for Watching!

[@baloneyslice247]

will using gen 4 m.2 affect gpu preformance like it does with gen 5 m.2? sorry to spam

[@MisterSixty]

WOW! Thank you for the video!!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello MrSixty, Welcome! Outstanding! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@imt558delux]

Hope that this man is alive and well

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi imt558delux, To reiterate, Welcome! Busy Answering Subscribers Questions! Going through really terrible sinus infection. Had to see a Dr this time around. What an ordeal. Thanks for Asking. If You have a Question, We do Our best to help!

[@TheZPain]

If I were to install an m.2 SSD in the M2_1 slot would my NVIDIA 4090's performance be hindered if it were installed in the PCIE X 16(G5) slot? If I were to install my m.2 SSD in the M2_2 slot (which is still dedicated to the CPU), and install my NVIDIA 4090 in the PCIE X 16(G5) slot would THIS be the "optimal" configuration? Would the heat from my m.2 SSD (now installed in the M2_2 slot) give off enough heat to affect thermals of my NVIDIA 4090? This was an excellent video. More people should be talking about this.

[@zackcook1835]

I have the same question. What would be the OPTIMAL configuration?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Zack Cook, Welcome! Great Question! First Scenario You've mentioned, Performance would not be hindered but definitely not using 16 CPU Lanes which is not what anyone would expect. You'll be fine with Performance of Your GPU. But always, Test and Verify! Your Results might vary. Your Secondary Scenario would be preferable for Your GPU however, what about Heat from the M.2 NVMe PCIe Drive. We've Tested 16 M.2 NVMe PCIe Heatsinks on PCIe 4.0. That's definitely faster and hotter than PCIe 3.0. And Yes, We expect PCIe 5.0 to be a bigger Heat problem unless the Design changes to improve those Thermals! Looks like M.2_1 might be able to accommodate an aftermarket M.2 Heatsink whereas, M.2_2 has to stick with the Stock Motherboard M.2 Heatsink. Fix one problem, create another. Yes, more People should be talking about PCIe Lane allocations! Definitely agree on that! Always good to explore Options before the Purchase! Appreciate Your Situation. A conundrum. Thoughts?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@zackcook1835, Great Question! Prioritize Your Options. What matters most. That's the problem on a Motherboard with a Chipset that has Shared PCIe Resources vs Dedicated PCIe Resources! Crazy having to choose! Not an ideal situation!

[@spacesnow]

My brains just exploded. Thank You for sharing that information. I just also understood I got Z690 and all that information cuold be different. Anyway You are God to understand and explain all that. Still brains gone so...

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi spacesnow, Welcome! I'm honored! You'll never look at a Motherboard the same way now! Know better, expect more! Yes, Design vs Implementation. Every Motherboard allocates PCIe Resources differently. With Consumer Desktop Motherboards, Shared Resources. Crazy, right. Appreciate Your Comments! Thanks for Watching!

[@josephaltman460]

Fox noose kills. Great video btw!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Joseph Altman, . Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! Thank You!

[@pissman6952]

Almost 10k subs im supriced that you know these stuff as people dont even know a pc is i just discovered you wish you good

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Chi ha ha, Welcome! Seems not many realize the relevance nor implications! Thank You very much! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@cristo341]

Nice video. Instantly subscribed. Thanks for breaking that down and saving me a brain hemorrhage

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Cristo, Welcome. Just now seeing Your comment. Thank You. Much Appreciated. Lots to ponder.

[@CArlos-vf7qn]

it's been a year, but thanks for the video

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello@@CArlos-vf7qn, Welcome. Specifics and procedures are still relevant to this Consumer Desktop Motherboard. Results are still the same, not enough PCIe Lanes.

[@xerjinxerjin6170]

Great video, what’s really annoying it’s the manuals and descriptions. For example I can’t even find a biofaction chart for Gigabyte MBs. It fundamentally unclear what Bus architecture is for gigabyte Z790. However watching your video you seem to be suggesting that I can do a CPU M.2 and GPU together but as 2 x 8 channels. Having looked at the GPU impact at 8 not 16 is only 2-3% drop…..which I can handle. So this MB is ok for me….but I have to push everything else through the chipset….

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Xerjin Xerjin, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! Exactly! That about sums up the situation. Success on Your Build!

[@DizConnected]

I've been watching HOURS of your M.2 Heatsink and Thermal Pad testing. I hope you start making video again soon. May I suggest videos on PTM7950 PHASE CHANGE THERMAL PAD, you can buy them from the LLT store, would love to see if they work on M.2 but also would love to see you test them on CPU and GPU. Just found your videos a couple days ago and love how you test stuff and hope you return soon.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Kelly, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments. Been busy with Aerial Photo Video Production and Commercials. Planning other BuildOrBuy Videos. Great idea. Thanks for Watching!

[@spqrpraetorian]

This was super helpful, I am buying this board and a Gen5 nvme this weekend and this helped me better understand what I was getting into when planning my other storage options.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi SPQRpraetorian, Welcome! Outstanding! Of the 5 We know of to be Released, which one were You able to Source and from where? We've only seen one in Japan. Otherwise, crickets.

[@spqrpraetorian]

@@BuildOrBuy My Micro Center in Yonkers NY has the Inland TD510 in stock, I checked the stock of other NY Micro Centers and they all had stock of that drive as well. We might finally be seeing the drives in the wild now. My plan is to install the TD510 in the Gen 5 M.2 slot and my currently owned 3090ti in the GPU slot. I have 3 other nvme drives that will go into the chipset M.2 slots. This is amore of an upgrade than a full build, the back panel on my current motherboard has failing ports.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@spqrpraetorian, Thanks for Sharing! That Inland TD510 appears to be exclusive to Micro Center! Most interesting. Failing Rear I/O Ports sounds like effects from ESD. Not good. Any other random issues? Any Power Surges lately?

[@LM8Gaming]

Glad to know you’re doing well! I just got the notification of availability (finally) for Gen5 M.2 Nvme SSD’s from crucial. Read and writes are around 11 & 12GB’s. Retails around $180 for 1TB. In the future do you plan on making videos on Gen 5 drives? My main concern is the amount of heat they’ll generate with that crazy speed.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello LM8, Welcome. Just now seeing Your comments. Been busy since increasing Production capabilities. Bills to pay. Heat is definitely an issue. Based on current designs, the faster we go, the hotter we get. From our Test and Verify Videos we've experienced, Passive Cooling is more effective than Active Cooling. Go figure. Yes, that's the plan. And now PCIe 7 is in the works with insane speeds, comparatively. Has to be new Designs. PCIe 5.0 was definitely growing pains. Who knows how long PCIe 6.0 will last. That may be brief. As to our next Videos, we were working on DDR5 and M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0. But that may change quickly and drastically. None of the Consumer Desktop Motherboards can do what everyone wants and needs. Nest step, HEDT or Workstation.

[@WildOne01]

Gil, hey thanks for posting these vids. Found your channel via search for "build or buy". Tremendous info and no BS! Like that. Earlier this year you posted a build for a gaming PC built around a GB Aorus Master MB, AMD 7950x Ryzen 9 CPU and GB Geforce RTX 3060 graphics card. I bought all the parts via you links you provided (thanks!) and am building it now. I've built machines before but it's been a long time and I'm back to newb status. Anyway I've put it together, it posts with a single beep and I get to the AMI screen with message to Enter Setup. I'm stalled here as, for whatever reason the 3 x 200mm Thermaltake case fans aren't running and assume they should be. During startup I get a single red flash from LED3 on the top case panel. I assume tAny idea why the fans aren't working? Bill

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Bill, Welcome. Thank you. Just now seeing Your comments. Where are you on this? What was causing the POST? Was it just taking a long time to POST? If so, memory Training. That can be turned off after the 1st time to speed up Boot strap process.

[@laisikwong]

Great instructional video, Thank you

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Peter Lai, Welcome! I'm honored! Thank You very much! Appreciate Your Comments! Glad We could help!

[@jollygreen4662]

Best videos on mobo

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Jolly Green, Welcome! Excellent! Appreciate Your Comments! Thanks for Watching!

[@TOOL1023]

Thank you for this video. I just happened to click on this video and realized that I had my brand new 2k+ system setup incorrectly.. Thank you.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi TOOL1023, Welcome! Glad We could help! Appreciate Your Comments! Success on Your Build! What did You change? PCIe Resource allocation? Fascinating Topic!

[@TOOL1023]

@@BuildOrBuy I dropped my M.2 Gen 3 to the second slot. This pushed my GPU back to x16 from x8. I hope I did it right lol.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@TOOL1023, Did You get a chance to Test and Verify both ways? Always! Never take anything for granted. Your Results may vary. Yes! You're running full X16 now for Your GPU!

[@TOOL1023]

@BuildOrBuy What do you mean verify both ways? I know I had sdd in pci 1 5g slot before and gpu was x8 and when I moved ssd to 2 slot it was x16. Is that what you mean?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@TOOL1023, To reiterate, Verify Speed of Your GPU usage both X8 and X16 and see if You notice a difference. According to Reports, expect a 1% to 2% Performance hit in that scenario. Hope that helps!

[@RickyBobby_USA]

Great vid! I haven't been a part of the comments and your vids in a while. I see that you haven't done any other vid in a year. Hope you're doing well and Merry Christmas.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi RickyBobby_USA, Good to hear from You! Added Aerials to Our Production capabilities. Wow that's taken off. Been very busy with Aerials. I'm now FAA 107 Certificated. Fascinating! We're working on more BuildOrBuy videos, DDR5 and HEDT. Stay tuned! And Merry Christmas!

[@Lukas_Miglioranza]

@@BuildOrBuy Yes but you could have said it! A 30 sec vid where you say: "guys to much to do! See you in..." I was very worried. Luckily you're fine! The new HEDTs are out! Your review is urgently needed! You Are The Number One! 😃🤗

[@beebeedeluxe]

@@BuildOrBuy So glad to hear you’re doing ok and are just super busy 🙏🍻🌝

[@stevehunt2125]

EXCELLENT video - many thanks :)

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Steve, Welcome. Appreciate your comments.

[@henrikvester7171]

Very insightful as always - thank you

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Henrik Vester, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! Thank You for Watching! Interesting Chipset. Intel can do better!

[@Pinkfloyd1173]

Sir, thank you so much for this information and making it easy to understand. You got a sub and will be looking at your other vids!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you again. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤❤❤🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello MrPinkfloyd1173, From the Dark Side of the Moon... Welcome! Excellent! I'm honored! Appreciate Your Comments! Keep it Simple and Make it Work!

[@aaronlee6821]

Fantastic video with just the information I needed. I'm trying to decide which motherboard to go with, and had no idea about how these shared resources with regards to PCIe lanes worked. Now that I know, it really changes a lot of things. I'm sold on getting a 13th gen Intel CPU, due to it's high single core performance, but trying to get all the connectivity in one PC isn't going to be possible. So I'm thinking I'll dedicate my old PC for capturing video and sending it to my NAS, and then loading those capture files onto my primary PC for working on them. Maybe not as clean as I hoped for, but with the current state of the Intel CPU/chipset, it simply isn't capable of doing everything in one system that I want.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Aaron, Welcome! Such essential knowledge is obfuscated! Only the WRX80 Workstation can deliver with Dedicated PCIe Resources. With Shared PCIe Resources, it's a mess! Appreciate Your Comments! Success on Your Build!

[@aaronlee6821]

@@BuildOrBuy The problem for me with a WRX80 workstation though is that even the fastest CPU for that board has abysmal single core performance. I'm heavily dependent on single core performance for most of the applications I run, and I doubt few if any of the applications benefit much from more than four or so cores. So a Threadripper Pro is totally overkill with regards to price and a total underperformer with regards to CPU bound applications that I use. What I really need is a Threadripper Pro with fewer cores but with much higher performance per core. I'm going to need to do a lot more thinking and researching to figure out what to do.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@aaronlee6821, Understand. Trade-offs both ways. Sounds like You're back to this Motherboard and accept those Limitations of Slots and Storage for PCIe Lanes. Keep Us Posted on Your Decision! At least You know Your Options!

[@baloneyslice247]

@@aaronlee6821 will gen 4 in the gen 5 slot affect gpu performance like it does with gen 5 m.2?

[@nathanjgl]

Hey Gill! Love the channel, learning heaps from you. Keen to hear your thoughts on latest AMD Threadripper HEDT offerings when some motherboards surface! Keep up the awesome work 🙂

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Nathan, Welcome! Outstanding! Announced 5 hours ago! Any fresher, We'd have to Slap it! Two Chipsets! WRX90 and TRX50! This will be fantastic! Stay tuned!

[@asafblasbergvideographer]

You should be working for Asus you are amazing😊

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Asaf Blasberg Videographer, I'm honored! Appreciate Your Comments! Don't know if me and ASUS would see eye to eye. We're all about the technology for the User for a Purpose Built Computer. Solving Problems and Providing Solutions! Keep it Simple and Make it Work!

[@jameswubbolt7787]

Thanks interesting info.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi james wubbolt, That's a mess! Most Viewers don't realize how that plays out with those PCIe Resources and Shared but losing 4 CPU PCIe Lanes when We need more not less! More obfuscation! Crazy, right! Thanks for Your Comments and Watching!

[@martijnijsendoorn6911]

great video! ur work is fantastic!

[@BuildOrBuy]

He'll Martijn, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! Thanks for Watching!

[@Spoolingturbo6]

even though I have an Asus z790 TUF Gaming, This was very informative. I wish I had seen this before buying. Probably would've sent another way. with a WRx.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Spoolingturbo6, Welcome! Exactly! Appreciate Your Comments! Consumer Desktop Motherboards are neutered from the get go! And that's annoying!

[@aCaptPie]

I have been told I'm wrong for leaving M.2_1 empty, AND using the other four M.2 slots for drives since because I have a 4090 GPU installed. You have said the same thing in this video. There is one part of your video at 12:25 for "Scenario 2" where you say if you share a GPU and M.2 on the PCIe 5, "That slot goes to 8 lanes, which is fine for a GPU, whatever GPU you put in there. That's the default config and that is the best." So is it fine that the GPU would go from 16 lanes to 8? Or should it be avoided and the board set up the way I currently have it. Thanks for the wonderful video

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Capt Pie, Welcome! Outstanding! Appreciate Your Comments! Fascinating topic! Excellent Question! Glad You brought that up! Another way to look at this shortage of PCIe Lanes... The GPU is no longer driving the PCIe Bus. Think about that! Everything now is about the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive! A GPU is OK with 8 Lanes. With that being said, why should We settle for 8 PCIe Lanes when We plan for, can have and should have 16 PCIe Lanes. Who made that optional without asking Us. That's nuts! BTW: Notice Your Brand new GPU is PCIe 4.0 in a PCIe 5.0 Slot. And the next Item We await for is an M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 SSD Drive. Go figure. More obfuscation from Manufacturers! We're being Sold something We cannot take advantage of. Every Question leads to another Question. Glad You're thinking about these Options! We are too! And everyone deserves to know what's What and why. After doing this for so long, We tend to be more Observant! Hope that helps! Perception and Perspective!

[@peterrusich8387]

Great channel. Your review and opinions on the new Threadripper Pro and non Pro would be great!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Peter? Welcome. Thank you. Just now seeing Your comment. Great question. Most definitely. That's where we're headed, HEDT or Workstation. A Consumer Desktop Motherboard just does not have the Resources to do everything everyone wants or expects. A difference in building a maybe 2 year computer vs a 4 or 5 year computer. Either way, options and choices whether a little or a lot.

[@gunnarlindberg6359]

The software Bios seting is what you get in overclock and speed to MAX !

[@victorluque]

Fantastic video with a great walkthrough, liked and subscribed. What would your recommendation be for maximum gaming performance regarding where to install the M.2 drive? the SN850X runs PCIe 4 only so is there any point in using the M.2_1 socket at all? Without knowing about lanes and just getting into it after watching this video, do i lose performance of the M.2 not using the M.2_1 socket? feel like the GPU for gaming should be allowed all lanes it needs, question is if it needs 16 lanes or if the gpu loses out running on 8X lanes Running Asus ROG strix z790 E Gaming Wifi 2GB WD BLACK SN850X NVMe Asus TUF RTX 4080 Intel i7 13700K 32GB G.Skill DDR5 6400MHz Samsung G9 Neo 49" monitor

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi VictorLo, Welcome! I'm honored! Appreciate Your Support! Until We have an M.2 NVMe PCIe 5.0 Drive, no need nor reason to utilize M.2_1. And even then the PCIe Bus is no longer about the GPU. It's all about the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drives! Of which, PCIe 5.0 are still not available yet! To reiterate, Your GPU in a X8 Slot should be fine if and when We get those Drives! Nice Setup! You'll want that Drive and You'll be ready when the time comes. Our Point, everyone should know up front what's going on with Slots and Storage for PCIe Resource allocations! Too much Obfuscation! Enjoy Your Build! But keep in mind the Speed differences, PCIe 4.0 to 7,200MBps up to PCIe 5.0 initially at 10,000MBps for the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drives! And beyond! Will that make a difference? Depends. Everything matters! And changing one thing can change everything! Tweak, Test and Verify! Just keep everything running cool! Faster is also hotter until Designs change!

[@devilscut7564]

great video , as always 😊 we need more nvme coolers gen 5 😅 have u ever heard of the ThermalRight HR-10 2280 PRO SSD heatsink?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello DevilsCut7564, Welcome! Thank You! Appreciate Your Comments! Heard of it. Have no experience with it yet. Yes, We definitely need more Cooling Solutions! The faster We go, with current Designs, the hotter We get! Thanks for Watching!

[@kiranks1984]

An eye opener! Thanks...Literally could not find anyone else explaining this deep on the allocation. 1. Was looking for more details regarding how the allocation would be for the USB ports...with 4 lanes left, are all USB ports sharing the remaining 4 lanes, which ports share lanes and which ones have dedicated lanes, where can we find the info as I am having similar confusion with Z790 TUF gaming motherboard. If they share the lanes, then I would rather go for USB PCI card with B760 motherboard. 2. IS there any chart showing USB version and lane count usage? Arent the USB ports and SATA ports using PCI gen 3 lanes since 20 gen 4 lanes are exhausted by PCI and M2 slots? And if USB ports are indeed using PCI gen 3 lanes, how can USB GEN2.2 x2 provide 20Gbps with just 2 lanes as the limit of PCI Gen 3 2 lanes is 2 GBps which is equal to 16 Gbps 2. The problem with B760 motherboard is that it supports only 4 DIM lanes! Forced to go for higher end motherboard just to avoid this bottleneck. 3. With 28 lanes on chipset but only 8 DIM lanes, how does the lane allocation/sharing happen here during communication with CPU? Is there any hardware monitor app which shows DIM lane utilization?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Kiran, Welcome. Just now seeing Your comments. Thank You. Very good questions. We need Motherboard Block Diagrams. Now you see what we see. All these USB Ports are Shared. Crazy right. Easy count starting out for Slots and Storage. MSI has Motherboard Block Diagrams. And from those we can reference or infer how this limited resource of PCIe Lanes gets allocated. More smoke and mirrors. What we want and need gets closer to ideal but not perfect on either a HEDT or Workstation Motherboard. Even some SATA Ports on some Consumer Desktop Motherboards are a Shared Resource. Depends. That's why it's imperative we compare Design vs Implementation. What's possible and what's doable or being done.

[@Kodyssey]

I just ordered this motherboard to replace the junk one in my computer. Bought a prebuilt and they put the 13900KF (same as K without graphics), and a PNY RTX 4090. This was super informative, though I’m curious if the 8 lanes will slow down my GPU. You said it will work fine on 8 lanes with all GPU’s.. but with this one being so new, I wasn’t sure if it’s included in that detail. Also.. I’m on the hunt for RAM. I’m trying to use this computer as a Twitch Stream Machine and Ultra 4K Ray Trace machine all in one. With the amount of power it has.. so far it’s not been terrible, even with crap MOBO. However, I have Corsair Dominator DDR5 32GB running at 4800 MHz. I’m looking into a faster speed with lower CAS Latency.. potentially the higher end G.Skill at 64GB. What are your thoughts? Would I be fine with 32GB with higher speeds/lower CAS, or should I go with higher capacity as well

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi AustinsRetreatGaming, Welcome! Excellent Question! According to recent Reports, a GPU using X8 will receive a 1 % to 2% Performance hit. Not bad. Not great but it is what it is. We've also read some Users see a 20% difference in their situation running 4K. As for RAM, We Build According to the Rendering Engine for a Purpose Built Computer using the Adobe After Effects Multi Frame Rendering CPU Optimization Formula. That formula addresses quantity of RAM but does not address speed of RAM. 64GBs, Yes! Non ECC On-die DDR5 is faster than DDR4 and will only scale up in speed and capacity beyond what was possible with DDR4. For now, Suggest sticking with Motherboard QVL and cross Reference with Your preferred brand. DDR5 is a new animal and will continue to experience growing Pains for stability. Hence Bios Updates. Have You noticed Quantity of RAM sticks in DDR5 Kits? Curious. QVL Testing has not caught up with marketing and availability yet! We have another Subscriber who focuses on DDR5 RAM Speeds. And is conducting his own Tests. For Your Q to reiterate, 64GBs, Absolutely! He has set 2 records! Hope that helps!

[@fredve3984]

Hello Gil Boyd! Another great and instructional video. Thank-you!. I'm a long time subscriber and even go back to your days at HALPC. I have a question. Is there any way you'll ever do another "If I Were To Build A PC Today" type video? I haven't seen one in forever and I'm getting ready to build or buy another soon and would like to hear your take on current computer build landscape. Doesn't need to be a live build; if all you did was recommend CPU/MB/PS/Case combinations at a couple price points, that would be awesome and I know would help out a LOT of folks. Much appreciate your work!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi fred ve, Welcome! Definitely Appreciate Your Comments! Lots of memories! Excellent Question! Glad You've brought that up! Miss Our Live Meetings! That series needs a new life! Great minds run in the same channel! Been mulling over that thought for some time. The problem and the solution. Doing Our BuildOrBuy Live was a different audience and a different format. Doing BuildOrBuy KZbin requires a different finesse. For KZbin every Video has SEO - Search Engine Optimization. I don't know nor expect a, "If I Were Building..." Video to have the same Traction according to the Search Algorithm based on SEO. Most of Our Viewers are not Subscribers but this might help that to change! A Definite possibility. The other Aspect is the technology. We're undergoing remarkable fundamental changes right now. For BuildOrBuy Live, We Specified and Built Business Computers for work. Those Specs were simple compared to what's possible now. For BuildOrBuy KZbin We have 4 Categories to choose from. 1. Consumer Desktop Motherboard 2. Business Computer 3. HEDT 4. Workstation Our focus has always been about: 1. Technology 2. Best Value proposition of Price and Performance Quotient 3. Bang for the Buck! The Categories are fairly Constant. The technologies are in a state of Flux! Two Timelines are about to collide. 1. Product Cycles. 2. Technology What's coming will make everything else seem obsolete. Therfore How do We right now say one thing when in maybe 6 months that will be obsolete! Two technologies to be watching: 1. CXL- Compute Express Link 2. NVMe Key Value Command Set Now to Your Question, if I were Building a Computer today, the HEDT was the best Value foe longevity and upgradeability. However, both AMD and Intel have abandoned that Platform temporarily. The HEDT bridged the gap from a Consumer Desktop Motherboard to a Workstation. Intel may have new Chipsets for that soon. Expect AMD to follow. For a Consumer Desktop Motherboard, X670E chipset. Probably Gigabyte. Everything now is about Slots and Storage for PCIe Resource allocations. 1. X670E AORUS Master (AM5/ LGA 1718/ AMD X670E/ EATX/ 5 Year Warranty/ DDR5/ Quad M.2, PCIe 5.0/ USB 3.2 Gen2X2 Type-C/Intel WiFi 6E/ Intel 2.5GbE LAN/Q-Flash Plus/Gaming Motherboard) amzn.to/3HDoH1l 2. 32GBs RAM DDR5 Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 5600 (PC5-44800) C36 1.25V Intel XMP Memory amzn.to/3wHBnOy 3. CPU: AMD 7950X AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16-Core, 32-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor amzn.to/3HDJrGe 4. Video - Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G (REV2.0) Graphics Card, 3X WINDFORCE Fans, 12GB 192-bit GDDR6, GV-N3060GAMING OC-12GD Video Card amzn.to/3Y4e114 5. EVGA Supernova 850 P6, 80 Plus Platinum 850W, Fully Modular, Eco Mode with FDB Fan, 10 Year Warranty, Includes Power ON Self Tester, Compact 140mm Size, Power Supply 220-P6-0850-X1 amzn.to/3Hjguhn 6. Case: Thermaltake Core V71 Tempered Glass Edition E-ATX Full Tower Tt LCS Certified Gaming Computer amzn.to/3Dt2kJp 7. Boot Drive - M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive WD Black 1TB SN850 NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive - Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280, 3D NAND, Up to 7,000 MB/s - amzn.to/3XZViUA As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases! That's a good start! Hope that helps! Thanks for Asking!

[@fredve3984]

@@BuildOrBuy Gil Boyd! All I can say is YOU ARE THE MAN! Lots of info here to digest. Thank-you!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@fredve3984, Certainly We try! Since PCIe 3.0 and the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive, both have drastically altered what We're doing with Building a Computer! The GPU is no longer Driving the Bus. To reiterate, the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD, Drives the Bus! That's the Why behind the Motherboard Overview Videos which are focused on Slots and Storage for PCIe Resource allocations. Consumer Desktop Motherboards have limited Shared PCIe Resources. Most Viewers are not aware of that fact. Due to that fact, not all of the Connectors can be used simultaneously. Hassle but workable. Hope that insight help! Appreciate Your continued Support!

[@robertbeverly]

@@BuildOrBuy Wow! This is fantastic info. Thank-you. What operating system would you recommend? Windows 11 or stick with 10? Again thanks for posting this!!!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@robertbeverly, Welcome! Thank You! Appreciate Your Comments! Windows 10 is less hassle. Windows 11 needs more work. Keep it Simple!

[@Lamer4o1]

nice video, gave me a clear answer if I should buy it and what to do when I do buy it.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Lamer4o1, Welcome! Excellent! Appreciate Your Comments! And... Your Decision?

[@TheRealPrimeXample]

I am new to PC building and these videos are amazing. Question; If I have GPU in PCIEX16(G5) would that mean I do not want to use slot M.2_1 and use M.2_2 and _3 for two NVME drives? Thanks!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Anthony M, Welcome! Once You Build, You'll want to Build again! Anything else is less than satisfactory or acceptable. Great Question! Correct! Otherwise, PCIEX16(G5) will be utilizing 8 CPU PCIe Lanes! Crazy, right. And Yes, that's going to work. However, why accept that choice. That's the problem with Consumer Desktop Motherboards with Shared PCIe Resources! Not ideal. Remember the GPU is no longer the driving force on the Bus. Now, the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive is the determining factor. We need more PCIe Resources for both CPU and Chipset Lanes! Hope that helps! Success on Your Build! BTW: On a side note, the Intel Z790 Chipset does not allow for the CPU Lanes to be fully Bios Bifurcated. What is Bifurcation? The ability to Fork or Split. In other words, from X16 to X8X8 instead of X4X4X4X4 as is required. And to reiterate, Bios Bifurcation ony occurs on CPU PCIe Lanes! Not Chipset Lanes. Why does that matter? If installing a Quad card, We need those CPU Lanes! Each M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive requires 4 Lanes hence from X16 to X4X4X4X4. Fascinating right! Experience is the best teacher! Enjoy!

[@scottgust9709]

man this was excellent.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Scott, Welcome. Just now seeing Your comment. Much appreciated. Have to do an Overview before going any farther. All about available Resources.

[@scott501]

Great info, so different than the normal tech reviews, excellent focus on the important details! So is the best config for a standard gaming rig with an RTX 4090 and a single M.2 NVMe drive to obviously have the GPU in the top x16 slot, but the SSD in M.2_2 slot? Or is it better to have it in M.2_1 and just have them both running in x8 mode? Will this matter at all?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Scott, Appreciate Your Comments! Excellent Question! A Choice made by Us or for Us. That's the rub. The GPU is no longer Driving the Bus. The M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drives the Bus since PCIe 3.0. A GPU on a X8 Slot should be fine. Not a choice We'd knowingly make but it is what it is.

[@-mm-4434]

So to clarify: If I forgo using the M.2_1 (PCIe 5) and only use the other four M.2 (PCIe4) slots, my graphics card (when plugged in PCIEX16(G5)) should still be x16. Correct? Kind of a bummer if you confirm my understanding of the issue but I'd rather use the PCIe4 slots and sacrifice SSD latency for the sake of using the full potential of my graphics card.

[@tomretrop5315]

You are correct. I had the same question. You will want to put your boot drive in slot m.2_2. The other slots will have to go through the chipset.

[@-mm-4434]

@@tomretrop5315 thanks Tom.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi -MM-, Welcome! Looks like Tom retrop has You covered! To reiterate, M.2_1 is the problem since that's a Shared PCIe Resource.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi @@tomretrop5315, Thank You for Your help! Much Appreciated!

[@tomretrop5315]

​@BuildOrBuy naaaaa thank you Mr build or buy. This video changed my life and the way I look at things. Keep up the good work.

[@lauraim9]

Thank you! I guess I won't be using that M.2_1, want my graphics card to run at x16.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Laura, Welcome. I'm not a fan of this Chipset. I don't care for the Design which makes Implementation all the more cumbersome. You're on the right track to maximize GPU performance. Some of these choices being made for us are not a good idea.

[@whitewolf6730]

Wow’. You expanded my brain! Just got one of these and am a bit confused as to what slot should I use my 4 TB. PCIE M.2 card in? Also, which lane should ai install a sound card on? Realtek just doesn’t do it for me.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello White Wolf, Welcome. Crazy, right. A different way of looking at Motherboards based on Resources. Do not use M.2_1. Your Soundcard, which one are you going to utilize? Those other 2 Slots are using Chipset PCIe Lanes. If Bus prioritization is an issue, suggest using Slot 2. GPU will reside in primary Slot using CPU PCIe Lanes.

[@davidwhite2011]

ASRock announced the Blazing Quad M.2 Card for PCIE 5. Dual fans...

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi David White, We just need to see these AICs come to fruition. Remember, Gigabyte announced their version a year ago. Full populated. Gigabyte Aorus Gen5 AIC Adaptor - Dated: 8-22-22 www.gigabyte.com/Press/News/2018 And now ASRock! Hello ASUS!?! ASRock Blazing Quad M.2 Card - Dated: 2-18-23 www.asrock.com/mb/spec/product.asp?Model=Blazing%20Quad%20M.2%20Card Perfect on Intel W790!

[@timnicholson9352]

Amazing video. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I read through all the comments, and I’m fairly certain you answer my question multiple times, but I really would love some verification with my specific build. It’s fairly simple. I have 1 GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, and 1 Samsung 990 pro m.2 drive. Which slots should I use to install these? Thanks in advance!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Tim Nicholson, Welcome! Thank You very much! Appreciate Your Comments! Ok! 1. GPU in PCIEX16(G5) 2. M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD in M.2_2. To reiterate, GPU will get full Dedicated X16 CPU PCIe 5.0 Lanes! And M.2_2 will get full Dedicated CPU PCIe 4.0 X4 Lanes. Hope that helps! Enjoy Your Build!

[@timnicholson9352]

Thank you very much! Greatly appreciate your videos.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@timnicholson9352, Excellent! Glad We could help!

[@keopswho]

Great video sir! Atm im trying to return my z790 e and buy the hero, because the hero pci e and m.2_1 dont share as far as ai read on forums!

[@BuildOrBuy]

KEOPSWHO, Welcome! Correct. To reiterate M.2_1 is on CPU PCIe 4.0 Lanes. Dedicated. The problem is where to use the ROG Hyper M.2 card. If You go ASUS Z790 HERO, install ROG Hyper M.2 card in PCIEX16(G4) Slot. That's on Chipset PCIe 4.0 Lanes. The only way to get an M.2 NVMe on PCIe 5.0 x4 Lanes would be if used on one of the 2 Slots using CPU Lanes. Note: When ROG Hyper M.2 card is installed on PCIEX16(G5)_2, Hyper M.2_1 slot can support PCIe 5.0 x4 mode. A conundrum. Your GPU would then only have X8 instead of X16. Bummer. 1. ASUS Z790 HERO amzn.to/3YFsd0j 2. ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi amzn.to/3YGFSUO As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases! Are You certain that Motherboard is worth the difference? Hope that helps! Thoughts?

[@allgamestotal6773]

whoahhh sick down to earth guy with good teacher like explaination. subbded!!! quick one, which MOBO would you recommend for content creator mostly photoshop and lightroom. i have lots of big files as i use medium format camera. AMD or INTEL its fine with me. thanks in advance. cheers!!!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Allgames Total, Welcome! I'm honored! Good Question! Every Motherboard has different PCIe Resource allocations. Depends. List Your Top 5 Requirements in Order and see how a Motherboard fits that criteria. This was the 1st Z90 Chipset Motherboard We were asked about. That's when We realized the issue about Bifurcation is true for the Chipset and not just Specific Motherboards with this Chipset. If You can live with the PCIe Lane count, this is a good choice. If However You require more PCIe Lanes, Workstation Motherboard! Hope that helps!

[@allgamestotal6773]

@@BuildOrBuy i think i need 4 nvme. thats it. thanks::-)

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@allgamestotal6773, Just watch Your PCIe Lane count! Otherwise, Enjoy!

[@Um-icky]

I tried figuring out 20 PCI lane allocation and ended up going bald by pulling my own hair out! Unless 14th gen Intel has at least 24 lanes, I guess I'll have to take the workstation route...

[@lightthiscity4974]

First off, thank you for the time and effort explaining all of this to us. You're awesome! Secondly, at 15:44 you explain the difference between z790-E vs F. So that I am clear on your explanation, if I got the F version instead of the E, I should be good to use an NVME SSD in the M.2_1 slot while also using the top PCIe 5.0 slot for my RTX 4080 without getting a performance hit on my video card? Meaning the video card will have the full 16 lanes without the drive taking anything from it? Or should I move my NVME drive to the M.2_2 slot instead to avoid performance issues with my video card? Sorry for my ignorance on this... The wording on this table isn't quite clear. It's also worth noting that I will be putting two Samsung 1TB 980s into a RAID 0 config to act as one drive for my OS. So, I was thinking of just putting these drives in the M.2_2 and M.2_3 slots to avoid issues. Let me know your thoughts on this... And again, thank you!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Light, Welcome! Great Questions! Appreciate Your Comments! F version does not suffer from the Shared PCIe Resources this E version suffers from. On the F version, according to the Motherboard PDF Manual, M.2_1 is Dedicated. Therefore, Your GPU will not Share CPU PCIe Lanes. Better price too! Why pay for a Shared hassle of Either / Or decisions! The other 2 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drives You've mentioned will be using Dedicated Chipset PCIe Lanes. Hope that helps!

[@lightthiscity4974]

@@BuildOrBuy Thank you so much for the clarification! I am glad I bought that board then. So weird that they are pretty much the same board but with different port configurations... I guess that is enough to change lane configs as well.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello@@lightthiscity4974, Absolutely! Smart choice! Changing one thing can change everything! Success with Your Build! Keep Us Posted on Your Progress!

[@gammafilter]

Pcie management is something AsRock did better than ASUS. It seems like you favor asus, but they really did a confusing design with the pcie 5/4 lane separation.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Gammafilter, Welcome! That depends. Every Motherboard from each Manufacturer is different. ASRock started out making OEM Motherboards for ASUS. Yes, ASRock makes good Motherboards. ASUS Outsells every other Motherboard Manufacturer 2 to 1. ASUS has done more than any other Motherboard Manufacturer to enable Bios Bifurcation. We get asked the most about ASUS Motherboards. Historically, AMD Chipset, Gigabyte. Intel Chipset, ASUS! Building a Server, Supermicro Motherboard. Historically, Building a Workstation, Intel. However, AMD is changing Workstation preferences. As for this Chipset, not enough PCIe Resources. Agreed, lots of obfuscation over PCIe Lanes allocations. ASUS is trying to do too much with too little. And none of these Consumer Desktop Motherboards should cost over $500.00! Anything over that is approaching the price of a Workstation Motherboard! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@etalley7320]

Hello Gil, I have the z790E, running a MSI 4090. I just ran across this video today and I have had a really hard time finding a competent discussion on Thunderbolt for this mobo. My question, if I understand your video correctly (starting right round 11:30, but you really hit on it around the 17:00 minute mark), the onboard USB-C ports are not Thunderbolt compatible due to a lack of power. I think I heard you mention, I need to install a Thunderbolt Card into one of my available PCIe slots which then drives enabling the appropriate settings in the BIOS, is that correct? In order to maximize, which slot should I install the 4090 in and which of the two remaining slots should I install the TB card? I game and shoot photography (which drove this setup) and the sheer speed of Thunderbolt really helps in transferring very large RAW files. While technical, you explain this stuff really well for dummies, like me. Thank you. -Errol

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi etalley, Welcome. Just now seeing Your comments. Thunderbolt and Power are 2 separate issues. On this Motherboard, for Thunderbolt Ports, We need a Thunderbolt (USB4) add-in card. Thunderbolt can do 3 things: 1. Route Data 2. Route Power 3. Route Video. For the latter, Video has to be ingested into Thunderbolt to be routed out of Thunderbolt. Those 1st two make sense. The later does not. Just Motherboard alone, we get: 1. USB 5Gbps 2. USB-C 10Gbps 3. USB-C 2x2 20Gbps. Nice. Easier to implement. 4. For Thunderbolt USB-C requires add-in card. Interesting to note, Thunderbolt is supposed to be for Content Creation yet is positioned mostly on Consumer Desktop Motherboards with limited PCIe Resources. And that does not make sense. 1. Your GPU always in 1st Slot. CPU Lanes. 2. Forget 2nd Slot exists. Shared PCIe Resources. 3. 3rd Slot is for Thunderbolt. Using Chipset Lanes. We need a Motherboard Block Diagram to know the lay of the land so to speak.

[@davidwhite2011]

Aorus Gen 5 10000 SSD at CES! 12gb read speeds and a massive cooler.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi David White, Finally. Maybe. A new Product coming to fruition unless an Engineering sample! Still, exciting Progress! Announced in 2022! Thanks for Sharing! Interesting timing with CES. Dated 8-22-22 Gigabyte Unveils AORUS Gen5 AIC Adaptor with 4 Built-in NVMe M.2 Slots | News - GIGABYTE Global www.gigabyte.com/Press/News/2018

[@agoogleuser1594]

Gill, this is all great information. I have a question about a storage setup on the z790 platform. Do you know of a motherboard that would support this setup? 1. Install 2 of the amfeltec squid quad M.2 cards (each in a x16 physical slot) 2. Motherboard should split to x8/x8, this will use 16 of the 20 CPU lanes (no GPU needed in this system) 3. Install M.2 drive in an M.2 slot to use the remaining 4 CPU lanes 4. Install a 10Gb NIC in a third PCI-E slot that connects to the chipset (Shares DMI bandwidth) So I should end up with 8 drives on the squid cards and one boot drive in the M.2 slot, does this sound right? Thanks

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi A Google User, Welcome! Excellent! Appreciate Your Comments! That will work. However, based on the price of the Amfeltec Squid cards, have You considered a WRX80 Workstation Motherboard? Plenty of PCIe Resources. And no need for Amfeltec Squid Cards. Just a thought.

[@DAVI-gs6pb]

Doing my first build and I must say alot of this went over my head as it is much more advanced than where Im at. I have a hyte y60 case that has a riser cable which I believe is pcie 4 with a gaming x trio 4090 and i9-13900k. I got a 1tb 990 pro ( was going to use as a boot drive and for more demanding games)and a 2tb 980 pro ( for most the rest of my games) what would be the optimal setup for my system. Or should i just ditch the 990 and run just the 2tb 980? In the middle of building it and already hitting roadblocks with only the cpu installed so far haha

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello DAVI, Welcome! How far along are You? Where did You hit a road block? Lack of PCIe Lanes? A conundrum!

[@DAVI-gs6pb]

@@BuildOrBuy I ended up completing it everything running well so far! All is well but thank you for your reply! Now I’m looking into potentially under volting/ over clocking. However I’ll probably hold off on that until I become more comfortable! Thank you!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@DAVI-gs6pb, A Successful Build, Outstanding! Good idea waiting until You're ready!

[@alexannis4740]

Should have watch this before. Okay I have SSD 4/0 in the SSD 5.0 slots thinking transferring into the 4.0 slots.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Alex Annis, Welcome! Good point! Test and Verify! Now You know What, Where and Why for potential bottlenecks and How to Solve them!

[@MarcusMeece]

I got so vary much great info about the z790 chipset I'm doing a sff build and I'm fixing to buy the Asus Rog strix z790i motherboard I was wondering if you could do a video like this on that board I even pay you

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Marcus, Welcome. Thank You. Appreciate Your Support. Buy me a coffee. To expedite, what would you like to know. This is an interesting Motherboard you're contemplating. Never seen an M.2 configuration like this one.

[@JabaPlayGames]

Someone could do the test, put m.2_1 (G4/5) and run the GPU at 8x, then put m.2_2 (G4/5) and run the GPU at 16x and see what the real difference on FPS!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello JabaPlayGames, Welcome! We have another Subscriber commenting on a different Video doing just that on this Z790 Chipset! So far what We know to be true Confirms this Chipset to be neutered! With 3 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drives, all Performance checks out OK. However, with 4, performance is severely lacking. M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drives take a big performance hit Throttling down to speeds of PCIe 3.0 which is averaging 3,500MBps!

[@Kingtoby1981]

This motherboard shares bandwidth with the M.2 gen 5 slot making the GPU run at x8. I decided to go with the Z790 gigabyte Aorus Master just for this reason

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Tobias Spears, Welcome! How's Your Gigabyte Motherboard Build doing? We don't care for this Chipset due to Bios Bifurcation Configuration.

[@Kingtoby1981]

@BuildOrBuy I agree with you there. Gigabyte Bios has always had problems. Tbh I should have gone with AMD because all of their motherboards are future-proof, and they don't share bandwidth with the PCI express slot or M.2 gen 5 slot.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@Kingtoby1981, On paper the Z790 Chipset looks very interesting. However, the Bios Bifurcation issue was a big red flag for Us! The X670E Chipset from Our Perspective based on Subscribers Questions and Comments is a better Chipset. Especially for Full Bios Bifurcation! No loss of CPU PCIe Resources!

[@AR-ke8wg]

So to optimize from gpu don't use m.2 slot 1.... use m.2 slot 2 which is cpu connected x4..... and gpu x16 using up all 20 cpu lanes? What would populating the rest of the m.2 slots do ? (Keeping gen 5 1st slot empty that is) thanks very informative stuff appreciate it.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi AR, Welcome! Great Questions! Correct, 16 + 4 = 20 CPU PCIe Lanes. M.2_2 To CPU, PCIe 4.0. No M.2 PCIe 5.0! The rest are Dedicated through the Chipset. Hope that helps! Thanks for Watching! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@AR-ke8wg]

@@BuildOrBuy thank you, any consequences to populating rest of m.2 slots _3 _4 _5 ? Assuming there are 5 slots? Affect sata 3.5 drives or?

[@AR-ke8wg]

@@BuildOrBuy also please could you measure from base of MB to top i/o shroud? Basically height of the heatsink where i/o is and heatsink for VRM at top of the MB.... specific fit in mind for a build. Thank you.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@AR-ke8wg, Sorry cannot. In process of moving. Everything is packed up.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Ho@@AR-ke8wg, SATA Ports are Dedicated. Only losing 1 M.2_1 PCIe 5.0. Everything else is good to go!

[@TorBruheim]

Thanks for this comprehensive video. _Why can't two PCIe x8 gen5 slots be used as two PCIe x16 gen4 slots? In theory it should work._

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Tor, Welcome! Thank You for Your Comments. As a Question, You're forgetting PCIe Lane Count. Why does that matter? Backwards compatibility. And discounting Bifurcation. Which depends upon Chipset capabilities. And that would be seen in Bios configuration. Great idea. On paper. In theory... take a look and tell us what you see. In Bios.

[@troyhunter4740]

awesome, now I'm even more confused then i was before lol... I was looking at the Z790-F, but wondered if its worth upgrading to the Z790-E.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello Troy, Welcome! Just now seeing Your Comment! Sometimes We do not receive notices of Comments. To Your Question, Depends. Resource allocations are different on each and every Motherboard. And none of these Motherboards should cost over $500.00. Beyond that, We're approaching a HEDT or Workstation class Motherboard with Dedicated PCIe Resources. List Your Top 5 Requirements and see how a given Motherboard measures up! Hope that helps!

[@pressplayvideoCA]

As always great information and your content has been hugely helpful over the years including my previous build TR3960x especially lane layout and add-in 4x.m2 card. Since you're focusing on ASUS here, wondering about a new system build using an ASUS z790 creator, 13900K with RTX 4080 and keeping my ASROCK Hyper m.2 card and moving it over. 100% video editing but love the speed of that hyper m.2 card for media storage (redundat of course). The creator has the 3rd x16 slot and thinking I can run with bifurication but maybe I'm missing something? Any recommendations apprecaited!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi pressplayvideo, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! Interesting Questions. Glad You've brought that up. Since You have a Threadripper 3960, anything on a Z790 Chipset would be a downgrade from HEDT with Dedicated PCIe Resources to a Consumer Desktop Motherboard with Shared PCIe Resources. Furthermore since the Z790 does not fully Bifurcate, You would only see 2 Drives on any Bios Bifurcated Quad card. Bummer right. Suggest waiting for either Intel W790 Workstation Chipset (HEDT) or wait and see what AMD dreams up! We don't know yet if the W790 can fully Bifurcate. The Intel W680 did not. We had to contact Supermicro to find that out! If You jump over a HEDT such as You have now would be the WRX80 Workstation from AMD. Still PCIe 4.0. If PCIe 5.0 is what Your prefer, wait until this shakes out. We expect PCIe 5.0 to be short-lived since PCIe 6.0 is in the works. That is suppose to be a longer term Platform but 2 to 3 years away. Crystal ball forecasting. Thoughts? Where are You in the technology / product Cycles and what are Your needs vs wants. We need to prioritize! Top 5!

[@pressplayvideoCA]

@@BuildOrBuy really appreciate the follow up and great detail. The last line says it all lots to consider maybe roll with a great this solid system I have and consider a future upgrade after some balancing. Keep up the great content!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@pressplayvideoCA, Good idea! Absolutely! Appreciate Your Comments! Working on Research for next Video based on Questions We're receiving. Thank You for Your Support!

[@VideoByPatrick]

How does that pci5 vs pci4 mismatch affect video editing ? 13900ks DDR5 Strix z790-E 5x m2, RTX3090, 4xm2 HyperQuad Card pci3 I'd hate to lose my Asus Quad m2 HyperCard.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello VideoByPatrick, Welcome! Interesting Question. Video Editing is not about Editing. It's all about Rendering. The best Formula that speaks to Rendering We use is the Adobe After Effects Multi Frame Rendering CPU Optimization Formula. That Formula does not address Speed but instead addresses quantity. Quantity of 3 Components, CPU Cores, RAM and VRAM. The mismatch You speak of is a difference in the burst mode speed of the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive. You want to Render fast or faster? 1. CPU Cores x 4 = RAM 2. CPU Core Count = VRAM 3. M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD burst mode speeds: PCIe 3.0 = 3,500MBps PCIe 4.0 = 7,000MBps PCIe 5.0 = 10,000MBps or better. Which will Render faster? That's not the question. For the M.2, which will copy faster. Test and Verify. The mismatch would be if trying to RAID different speeds. Expect the lowest common denominator. That's a mismatch. Now to Your last part. Your Z790 does not have enough PCIe Lanes to accommodate both a X16 GPU and a X16 Quad card. Instead each will be X8 hence the Quad card would only utilize x8. However, since the Z790 does not Bifurcate, only 1 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive would be seen. A total waste of PCIe Resources on a Consumer Desktop Motherboard. The Question to be asking, what Platform supports 2 X16 PCIe Slots, electrically? Spoiler alert, there is no Consumer Desktop Motherboard that has those Resources. Explain? You need a HEDT or a Workstation like either X299, X399, TRX40 or WRX80. Hope that provides clarity.

[@VideoByPatrick]

@@BuildOrBuy I have the x299 Asus Prime Deluxe with 4x m2 Asus HyperCard, RTX3090, 64gb RAM, 3 m2 on mobo. Been looking at the 13800ks but will wait till it's "refresh" hits late '23. Love your insight ! Oh and currently i9-10980XE CPU @ 3.00GHz. I prefer Davinci 18.

[@MrUpsidedowngaming]

Question, To clarify for my new gaming/video editing build, Am I better off not putting either m.2 drives in the M.2_1 slot you mentioned? Or should I run one in there? As I will have the 4090 card below in the top PCI-E G5 slot. I have the: z790-e board you discussed, and a MSI RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID GPU Card (2) m.2 NVME 1tb Samsung 980 Pro SSDs 4 sticks of Crucial 32GB DDR5 4800mhz RAM non-ecc Thanks in advance!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi E S, Correct! Nothing in M.2_1. Lane count always stays the same for Compatibility. Using those 4 Lanes of M.2_1 forces Lanes to be allocated such that GPU will be using X8 Lanes instead of X16 Lanes which is OK. Just so You know. It's just FYI. Here's How that works. Obfuscation! And We're saying, not acceptable! Remember the GPU is no longer driving the BUS. The PCIe Bus is now all about the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Drive! Need for Speed! Hope that clarification helps! Great Question!

[@MrUpsidedowngaming]

@@BuildOrBuy your a genius, I’ve learned so much from you! Thank you!!! Merry Christmas!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@MrUpsidedowngaming, Appreciate Your Comments! Just a lot of experience! Thank You very much! Success on Your Build! Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

[@fredve3984]

Hey Gil!. Starting to put everything together. Do you have recommendations for a Ryzen 9 CPU cooler? Thanks again!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi fred ve, Absolutely! Noctua! Works well on X299, X399, TRX40 and WRX80. Will work well on Z790 unless You want Water Cooled. Black or Brown! 1. Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black, Dual-Tower CPU Cooler (140mm, Black) amzn.to/3JBUe4R 2. Noctua NH-D15, Premium CPU Cooler with 2X NF-A15 PWM 140mm Fans (Brown) amzn.to/3ZZKw1f As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases! Hope that helps! Keep Us Posted on Your Progress! Enjoy Your Build!

[@TrevorDennis100]

I watched a bunch of videos on this board before this one, and not one of them mentioned its limitations. I'd already decided against the Pro Art version because if you use all four of it's M.2 slots, you lose half of it's SATA sockets. I'd looked at the Pro Art version because Puget Systems use it in both of their high end Z790 work stations. Now I am confused and will have to at least watch this video again, but I basically need to know that if I fit a video card (RTX4080) how many M.2 slots and SATA sockets will still be working? BTW A definite new subscriber here.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Trevor Dennis, Welcome! Excellent Question! On this Motherboard, all M.2 and SATA are Dedicated! The limitation is by Design of the Chipset. That's on Intel. Not everyone knows about nor understands Bifurcation. We do! And that's a big deal if You need that capability! Appreciate Your Comments! I'm honored!

[@d4nith3]

When u will upload again? Last video was 1 year ago.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Danithe, Good question. For BuildOrBuy, working on several scripts. DDR5 and Chipsets. Been busy with Aerial Photo Video Production and Commercials since adding to my Production capabilities. And that now pays the bills.

[@templar.]

do you have any plans to thoroughly cover the Pro Art Z790 Creator Wifi? i was pretty set on the Pro Art X670E but i really wish they had included Thunderbolt 4 instead of USB4 (would like to avoid connectivity issues) and had shared lane bandwidth between the third pcie slot and a sata port instead of the third m.2 slot. the z790 does exactly this but ive heard the 13900k runs pretty hot? i also prefer am5 due to it being compatible with upcoming motherboards and cpus for the next for years, so if i ever need to upgrade, i can switch out one or the other. if i go for the z790 and a 13th gen cpu, i would have to replace both as, if im understanding correctly, the newer gen motherboards and cpus will not support either. i know you mentioned you somewhat favor the z790 simply because it has 24 cores as opposed to 16 but do you think you could go more in depth on the Pro Art Z790?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Templar, Welcome! Focusing on what You really want, USB4 IS Thunderbolt 4 based on the Chipset! Now back to Your 1st Question, no. The Z790 Chipset reads well on paper until We go from Design to Implementation. The CPU is a great benefit based on Core count. However, We realized the Z790 Chipset is neutered from the get go! Thanks for Asking! Changing 1 thing can change everything! Latest does not always mean greatest. The current crop of Consumer Desktop Motherboards are annoyingly over priced and sadly under deliver! Stick with the X670E Chipset until We have something better! Yes We need more CPU Cores for Processing power. Next step up would be HEDT or Workstation. Hope that helps! In the interest of time, We'll take a look this weekend at the ProArt Z790 and Comment further. Been working an IT Specialist Contract. Then a Server Build Spec. Then adding another dimension to Our Video Production!

[@guilladogui8259]

sir we appreciate all this great info . ive had questions before im still deicing for my future board . what would be the best slots configuration on this board using a graphics card 2x ssd m.2 cards 2x ssd sata drives and the thunderbold 4 card? the price is lower now but adding the thunderbolt card will add 100 dollars more . asrock just release a new board the z790 Taichi lite with on board thunderbolt 4 for 350 maybe you can do a review

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hello guilladogui8259, Welcome! Thank You very much! From Our perspective, We do not care for this Chipset based on PCIe Resources. As to Thunderbolt, that's 4 PCIe Lanes that must be Dedicated. As to a preference for Thunderbolt add in vs built-in, We have several Videos about Thunderbolt doing just that. There are Pros and Cons both ways. Think about Bios Updates and Thunderbolt Firmware Updates. Thunderbolt had a specific set of steps to follow to make that work. Miss a step, no Thunderbolt. Is Thunderbolt a need or a want? Every iteration of Thunderbolt makes the previous version obsolete or incompatible. Let that soak in a bit. Hope that helps!

[@DeepakGoyal]

Hi Gill, Love your content. I have the following setup and some questions. Would really appreciate if you could help. Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-PLUS WiFi D4 Processor: Intel i9 13900K I want to use the Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen 4 Card on PCIE(G5 X16 slot) with four M.2 NVME SSDs and no dedicated graphics card or RAID requirements. Questions: 1. Is it even possible to have 4 nvme ssds on this card and this motherboard? Is this card self-bifurcating? Do I need to bifurcate in BIOS? 2. How additional CPU/Chipset expansion slots can be used to achieve maximum lane usage and maximum storage? (assuming each ssd is 1TB)

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Deepak, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! With that Chipset on that Motherboard, You will only see 2 M.2 NVMe PCIe Drives! Bummer! PCIEX16(G5) = 1(X16)/ 2(X8+X8) The ASUS X16 Quad card requires Bios Bifurcation. The other option would be a Self Bifurcated card such as Highpoint for 4 or 8 Drives. Those require a X16 Slot only since they are Self Bifurcated! Links below. 1. Highpoint 4-Port M.2 SSD7505 PCIe Gen3/Gen4 NVMe Bootable RAID Controller amzn.to/3UoEcxq 2. Highpoint SSD7540 NVMe 8-Port M.2/U.2 Industry Fastest-Performance/Comprehensive Selection Capable of Supporting Over 100TB On a Single Controller amzn.to/3FkubNv As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases! Hope that helps!

[@DeepakGoyal]

​@@BuildOrBuy Thank you ❤

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@DeepakGoyal, Absolutely! Thanks for Watching!

[@mark-ze4en]

Not coincidently , the info on the bifurcation and "choices' thereof seems like a complete reiteration of the Z690 situation. I am interested in AUDIO production not gaming so ,, I will be using the integrated graphics in the Intel 13700K . Seems like there is no increased benefit expandability or functionality with the Z790 from the Z690. What ASUS motherboard would you suggest ,putting the ProArt series aside, to get the best /most PCIe5 lanes and M.2 with DDR5, and still support Thunderbolt 4 ?? Knowing I will sacrifice the desired 10GB ethernet connection in the trade.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi mark, Welcome! That about says it all. You're right! Just newer. No more added PCIe Resources which is crazy! And Yes, Bifurcation is a big deal! None of the Z790 Motherboards fully Bios Bifurcate. This brings up another Question. We have historically preferred Thunderbolt as an AIC for seperate Firmware Updates. However, that adds to the price of the Motherboard. Therefore, get an ASUS Motherboard with Integrated Thunderbolt 4 / USB4. And that's the biggest reason for the latest Z790 Chipset. To have latest Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 Support with PCIe Tunneling over USB4 in Bios, if that matters. Which one? Great Question. Our Overview Focus is on Slots and Storage PCIe Resource allocations. None of these Motherboards in this class should cost over $500 but those that cost more also offer more if You really need more! However, due to Shared Resources, lots of Connectors but they cannot all be used simultaneously! Bummer, right! We did not care for the ASUS ProArt X670E due to PCIe Resources. However, the ASUS ProArt Z790 looks to be closest to what You're seeking. Even 10GbE based on Preliminary Specs. This one in Video is 1st one being Released. ASUS right now has ProArt Z790-CREATOR WIFI redirecting to X670E which is nuts! Therefore, Patience until more variety arrives! www.asus.com/microsite/motherboard/Intel-Raptor-Lake-Z790-H770-B760/ Hope that helps! Thanks for Asking! All about the Music!

[@MarcoMartinez01]

If M.2 _1 is occupied by a Gen 4 w/GPU, does it still run 8x? Is only 8x if its occupied by an M2 that is Gen 5? Pretty sure I know the answer but would like to verify. Glad the KZbin gods led me to your channel. Never would have known!!! Thanks!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Marco Martinez, Welcome! I'm honored! Great Question! Lane count is the same whether PCIe 3.0, 4.0 or 5.0! Yes, when M.2_1 is occupied period, PCIeX16(G5) will be X8! Bummer, right! There just are not enough CPU PCIe Lanes to go around and cover everything like We want! It is what it is. Hope that reiterated clarification helps! Yes, some of this takes a bit of time to wrap Our mind around this obfuscation! Crazy! Success on Your use and understanding of PCIe Resources!

[@crakatinni]

G'day mate, excellent information! I've recently bought an i7-13700k (16 cores). To optimise that would be 64Gb RAM and 16Gb VRAM according to AAE, correct? Due to shared resources, I'm unsure of an appropriate chipset to utilize for a very basic workstation for rendering in unreal engine. Keep in mind I'm considering an RTX A4500

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi General Chaos, Welcome! Correct. Based on a Workstation and using a Workstation GPU, that speaks to DDR ECC RAM. If using DDR5 ECC RAM, right now for Intel W680 Chipset which means a W680 Workstation Motherboard by Supermicro. Link below. SuperMicro X13SAE Motherboard - ATX, LGA1700, Intel W680 Chipset, 4X DIMM w/Full Warranty amzn.to/3vzOfFP As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases! Hope that helps! Unless You're using a Consumer Desktop Motherboard then this Motherboard is fine for that purpose but to reiterate will not use DDR5 ECC only On-die ECC DDR5 which is Non-ECC. Clarity and Specificity!

[@crakatinni]

@@BuildOrBuy Excellent 👌 Thanks for the clarity, I've learnt a lot from you're channel. Keep up the good work you're on fire 🔥 🔥 🔥

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@crakatinni, Thank You! Outstanding! Much Appreciated!

[@mqcapps]

Another lesson in reading the specs. I built a PC for a family member and used a Ryzen 7 5600 G CPU. It works real good but then I noticed that the M.2 SSD was running 1/2 speed. I read the CPU data that said very clearly that it will not support PCIE 4.0 which meant that it was running at the rated speed. He wanted the G CPU because it doesn't require a GPU, and a decision was made to go to a Ryzen 5 5600X in order to get the PCI E 4.0 speed. It came down to what's more important in the long run, as the slots run the gadgets. Since it was running on a PCIE 4.0 board, why waste the capability. He swapped out the CPU and all is well. Like me, once he does his PC case peeling ceremony, he does not want to pop the hood ever again.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Mike, All give and take. All about the Gadgets! And Crazy Options! Thanks for Sharing! So what about the GPU? Changing one thing changes everything!

[@mqcapps]

@@BuildOrBuy watching out for the GPU police to parachute in....he's happy with the radeon rx 6500xt..on sale... he's a gamer...and thinks the GPU is overkill but the pcie4 with the 7k MBs class m.2 issue is what matters to him...

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@mqcapps, Fascinating and interesting. Priorities based on Perceived value instead of real Test and Verify Solutions. If he's happy, ok! Thanks for Sharing!

[@mqcapps]

@@BuildOrBuy Update: I tested with three AAA games. Cyberpunk, Horizon Dawn, Metro, and added some others such as Blake Stone and Doom. Unsurprisingly, they all ran without a hitch. I'm not surprised because because I ran those games on my old i7-4770K and my RTX 580 GPU. A lot of KZbin said that those games "would not run", but they ran without a hitch. They came back and said that they wouldn't run without features X, Y, or Z which I can't remember, but I am not interested that the shade of green in the grass is correct. Since I got the one beep from my motherboard beeper speaker, I knew all was well. I also discovered that the original 5700 G CPU will not overclock the RAM past 3200. It doesn't need to be faster than that, but it just another one of those things. I’m going to repurpose all of these extra parts for the next family build. It's a lot easier for him to swap out the GPU than an M.2 drive. It's hard to explain that some games, like all software, have good and bad coded products. The hardware can be magnificent running a lot of badly coded applications. I remember when overwatch came out and the graphics were kindergarten crayon quality in that characters were running through doors and trees and all that stuff, the edges weren't quite sharp and stuff like that but it was and still is a top-selling game because the players think it's fun. I'll bet that 95% of the overwatch players never heard of ray tracing or RDNA 2 or 3... and only care if the stuff does what it's supposed to do. I'm actually okay with KZbin talking about the technical specs because that's the way for game publishers and equipment manufacturers to know that there is some level of scrutiny for their products. The hard part is separating the marketing and sponsorship from product reviews. What upsets me is having a young kid working at a minimum wage job to save all that money to buy a $1600 graphics card rather than paying into their tuition fund or buying clothes for the winter. But I have a more serious crisis in the family because the youngest family member asked me "do we have a manual typewriter because I want to learn how to type on it"; I wonder what kind of technical revolution she has in mind and where she got this radical idea. I’m really worried that she may discover another radical product; I think it's called paper and works inside of a typewriter. I hope I have some correction tape still sitting around.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@mqcapps, Amazing how so many Computer Viewers are into Games. We've always been about Work related Computers. If it does the job then everyone should be happy. Priorities! Always Plan for the future! It gets here quick! Marketing and Editorial were always being blurred when We worked Comdex and PC Expo. We were always wrestling with keeping those Vendor Depts separated. Oftentimes talking to the same Staff. Vendors were always trying to help Us do Our job when We saw that the other way around. Still happening! Yes, easier to swap out a GPU than an M.2. Most curious. Just dumped a perfectly good 50 plus year old ribbon typewriter. Heavy machinery taking up space.