Gigabyte Z690 AERO D Thunderbolt 4 Motherboard Adding Storage

Adding Storage to a Motherboard gets a little more complicated when We add a Quad card which requires a 16 Lane slot, electrically. In Answering today's Question, We'll read a Comment for the Context of the What, Why and How of the Problem and the Solution. Do We have enough PCI Express Resources to Bifurcate the Slot? We'll see! Comment, Motherboard, Chipset, CPU.
Video Details:
1. Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 AIC Adaptor Comparison and Simple Install Tutorial TRX40 Designare - KZbin
• Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 AI...
amzn.to/3QKz45N
2. Gigabyte Z690 AERO D (rev. 1.x) Key Features - Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global
www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/...
amzn.to/3xWY0yK
3. PC Builder - Intel Core i9-12900KF - PCPartPicker
pcpartpicker.com/list/92sZkX
5. Intel Core i9-12900KF Processor
www.intel.com/content/www/us/...
amzn.to/3u0PlKh
6. Intel Z690 Chipset
www.intel.com/content/www/us/...
7. Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
amzn.to/3NiLm2r
8. Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti Vision OC
amzn.to/39JSaZv
Support BuildOrBuy... www.buymeacoffee.com/gillboyd
www.amazon.com/shop/buildorbuy
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Subscribe, Thumbs Up, Comment! Appreciate Your Support! Thank You for Watching!

[@daslolo]

Love how in-depth you go, as always and I'm considering swapping the taicho-z790 for this mobo because the taichi fan-VRM doesn't give confidence on such an expensive and over specced (on paper) board.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi daslo, Welcome! Outstanding! Appreciate Your Comments! Interesting Situation. Unless You need or will use the extra PCIe Lanes, no need to upgrade unless You just want to Upgrade for the latest. Also... Based on the ASUS Bifurcation chart, neither Chipset can fully Bios Bifurcate a PCIe Slot from X16 to X4X4X4X4. To recap: Z690 Chipset 1. 12 PCIe 4.0 Lanes 2. 16 PCIe 3.0 Lanes Z790 Chipset 3. 20 PCIe 4.0 Lanes 4. 8 PCIe 3.0 Lanes Same Lane Total Count of 28 PCIe Lanes just more PCIe 4.0 Lanes and less PCIe 3.0 Lanes. A Lane shuffle! Perception and Perspective! Hope that helps! ASUS Bifurcation Chart for Reference www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1037507/ Most Viewers don't realize that PCIe Lane Resource allocations are a big deal with every Consumer Desktop Motherboard due to Shared PCIe Resources vs Dedicated PCIe Resources! Lots of Options but not all Options are available simultaneously!

[@daslolo]

@@BuildOrBuy no 4x4x4x4? oh that's unfortunate. Do you know of a board with 2x pciex16 (turning x8 when both occupied) that does ... well... 8x -> 4x4? I haven't found any as this is more server requirement. This means that wanting 2 gen5 ssd would mean buying those expensive bifurcating adapters.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@daslolo, Now this is a good example of changing one thing, changes everything! This Motherboard supports Partial Bios Bifurcation of X8/X4/X4. In Bios PDF Manual, Page 19. See: PCIE Bifurcation Support. On a Quad card that looks like positions 3 & 4. That should do what You want. However, that's only for PCIeX16 Slot! No mention of PCIeX8 Slot. Curious! Hope that helps! Another way to look at this. To do what You Propose is a $1,000 Motherboard for PCIe 5.0. If You could live with PCIe 4.0 then a Workstation makes more sense. Or, wait a bit. The newer HEDT is coming with PCIe 5.0 Support! Time frame? Crystal Ball forecasting, maybe 12 months. Being talked about but not announced! Yet!

[@daslolo]

@@BuildOrBuy x8 + x4x4 is Perfect, and at that price! I went looking at that pdf and was surprised to see how rich the Gigabyte documentation was compared to Asrock. There is no mention of bifurcation even in the x399 taichi which I have. For editing + code compiling station, which metric is more important?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@daslolo, If You have X399, that's a HEDT. Although older than this Z690 Chipset Motherboard, the X399 is above the Z690 Chipset in terms of PCIe Resources. The difference? Dedicated vs Shared PCIe Resources! As for Metrics, List Your Top 5 Requirements for a Motherboard and see how each Measures Up to Your Expectations. The HEDT is not altogether gone. Intel may have something on that in 12 months. There's now talk AMD would follow. However, both will be based on PCIe 5.0. And each will mean new Chipsets and new Motherboards. As for Bifurcation, in Order, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock. Supermicro Bifurcation, depends upon Motherboard and Chipset. That's why We have to check and verify every Motherboard We're asked about. Even then, whatever is seen in actual Bios may differ from Manual. Hope that helps! To reiterate, if You have ASRock, look in Your Bios under PCIe Slot Configuration and see if there's anything to change Slot Configuration from X16. That setting should be available but may not.

[@gerald4027]

I am mentally having a i/o overload.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Gerald, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comment! This was meant for clarity since We keep getting this Question over and over about adding a Quad card to any given Computer Motherboard. So We check the Specs and lay out those PCIe Resources. We think those Details matter instead of just yes or no answers. Obfuscation! This all started with PCIe 3.0. Just not everyone is aware yet of the situation! Hope that helps! Our Goal is to Keep it Simple and Make it Work!

[@rogerbutt6690]

Hey Gill, Thanks for all the wonderful interesting info. I put a system together a year ago. Gigabyte Z690 UD AX rev 1.0 64 GB DDR5 RAM, I9 -12900k I liked that it has according to the manual 2 x Thunderbolt AIC connectors. So i thought I could have 2 Thunderbolt AIC's in the PC. I do audio production and currently have 2 x Presonus Quantum 2626 connected to the GC-Titan Ridge rev 1.0. I got a good opportunity to get a MOTU 8Pre-es Thunderbolt 2 audio interface. So i got a 2nd titan ridge. I needed to connect all 3 interfaces to TB as the quantums can not route any audio without being connected and there are no daisy chain TB connecters on any of the 3 interfaces. I noticed the new Titan Ridge card was a V2.0 card and I could not get the 2 to function together. It would show ports 1 through 4 on the Thunderbolt Control Center, list the devices but no audio interfaces in the control panel. Still under the impression that I coud put 2 x TB cards in 1 PC as there were 2 headers, I went and got 2 x GC-maple ridge cards. This was even worse, since i read the manual and it said to attach both 3 and 5 pin headers to the card, realizing then that I would not be able to install 2 cards. So I installed the maple ridge card and that worked by itself, then i tried adding the titan rige v1.0. I bridged pins 3 and 5, connected the USB and lo and behold I have both Titan ridge and maple ridge working in one computer - I have no clue how this is possible and if you have any opinion or info regarding this I'd sure appreciate to hear your thoughts!! Do you know if it is possible to have 2 maple ridge cards in one computer?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Roger Butt, Welcome! Thank You for noticing! We try! This is fascinating! For reference, Intel has 2 Thunderbolt 4 Chipsets. One is 2 Port. The other is 4 Port. There's an issue with either the Chipset or PCie Bus Resources that's giving Us grief. And another reason USB-C 20Gbps 2x2 is easier to implement but that precludes Thunderbolt 4 as long as We're using the Intel Chipsets. 1 Titan Ridge and 1 Maple Ridge. Most interesting. Only 1 will have Bios Support. Meaning, only the 1 with Bios support can have the Memory Apertures set to Accommodate Connected Devices. Otherwise said Devices may randomly Disconnect and Re-conect with the expectation of Memory allocations to occur. A conundrum. Back to Intel... Thunderbolt Chipsets: JHL8540 and JHL8440. Intel JHL8440 - Goshen Ridge 4 Port www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/189982/intel-jhl8440-thunderbolt-4-controller/specifications.html Intel JHL8540 Maple Ridge 2 Port ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/193684/intel-jhl8540-thunderbolt-4-controller.html We need that 4 Port Chipset on an Add in card! We originally expected that 4 Port Chipset to be in Laptops. So far, crickets! Then there's the ASMedia ASM4242 Chipset. Talked about but not released yet. That ASMedia Chipset could solve this conundrum created by Intel. Remember ASMedia developed the new AMD X670E series of Chipsets for AMD. Most interesting, right! In a nutshell, what You Propose should be doable but currently is not in Windows, yet! Big yet!

[@rogerbutt6690]

@BuildOrBuy thanks for your feedback Gill! So much to learn... just about Thunderbolt!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@rogerbutt6690, We're all doing the same! About the time We get something figured out everything changes and We start all over again! Always constant Research to keep up or get left behind!

[@gerasimosioardanitis5494]

Hello Gill I was just about to order the Asus Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE, do you think I should reconsider as I am building it for blender 3D art.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Gerasimos Ioardanitis, Welcome! Excellent Question! Great Solution for Your Workstation! Smart Choice! The only consideration would be if You need Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4. If not, ASUS! And that ASUS WRX80 Motherboard has 20Gbps USB-C! Which CPU are You considering? On Amazon - Asus Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE amzn.to/3a3ItVB www.asus.com/us/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/Workstation/Pro-WS-WRX80E-SAGE-SE-WIFI/techspec/ As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@maxhughes5687]

Or you could get a aTR PRO with 112 cpu lanes to the PCIe sockets (7 X 16). TR PRO gives you 8 channel ram with 4 Times the throughput/sec of dual channel ram.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Max Hughes, Absolutely! WRX80 Workstation! Just now fielding another Question about Dual Channel and had to mention Quad and 8 Channel. Also just Answered a Question about a Dual AMD EPYC Build in response to a Case for that. To be Dual Liquid Cooled! Wicked, right! Viewers are doing amazing Computer Builds!

[@timberwrightsvs480]

Hi Gill ~ Just like Kyler, I, too, was looking at the Gigabyte Z690 Aero D TB4 motherboard as one of our picks for a potential "creator" PC system. We also have the Asus ProArt Z690-Creator Wifi motherboard on our short list, which you made a video on back in late-2021. As I've watched your videos covering the Z690-12th Gen Core iX combination motherboards, the prevailing message seems to be that these motherboards weren't designed to effectively take advantage of what the newest Core iX CPUs have to offer and, furthermore, you don't seem to be very impressed with "features" like dual-channel RAM. I do a lot of multi-channel audio upmixing and my wife edits wildlife audio/video footage. The point being that we move around a lot of large files, so, naturally, I moved away from the all too obvious gamers' PC market and toward the creator side of the PC world. The problem is that, by watching your videos, I've learned that the PC motherboard designers have pretty much walked away from creators/editors and have, instead, run toward the gamer market. So what's the real answer here? I'll admit that I don't have the time watch a lot of YT videos, so, perhaps, the answer to my question is to simply point me to a video that addresses my confusion. If you haven't yet made that video, please give me a clue as to the "what, why and how" of building one's own creator/editor type PC. Cheers for the informative videos.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Timberwright Svs, Welcome! You're Spot on right of Your assessments! Yes, Your time is precious! Keep it simple and make it work! We need a Video on this alone about what You're asking! Or a Live Discussion / Call-In! Dual Channel RAM is getting old when We have 4 and 8 Channel RAM! You bring up an excellent Question! What type of work. Audio or Video or Both. Workloads can change. We highlight and preference for a purpose Built Computer for Rendering Video. Audio is all Single Core, no Multi Core anything. Although that may be changing with some of the new Audio Plug-in formats coming! However, for now, a Foundation. The Motherboard. The Chipset. Do You want to Build a Computer that has minimal Upgrade potential. Meaning, CPU, RAM and On-Board Storage. No Added Storage for an M.2 Quad card to Add 4 additional M.2 NVMe PCIe Drives or more! Do You Build a Desktop or a Workstation. We recommend a Workstation Build for longevity. Vendors want Us to Build a new Computer every 2 years max instead of Us Building a Computer to last maybe 7 to 10 years Max. Your Audio, bouncing tracks may be more RAM intensive. Any Virtual Instruments? And when You Render that Audio out, that's all until the task is complete. Audio is CPU Rendering whereas Video can be either or both. Depends. And in Rendering Audio, you wait for that task to complete! You need M.2 NVMe PCIe Storage. And You'll consume more of it as You acquire that capability before off loading the final Product! In Our Answering Subscribers Questions, We point out what can and cannot be done with current Motherboards according to their Design. We have many Videos about Adding M.2 NVMe Storage as JBOD or RAID for Capacity and Speed. And those questions are all focused on, 'How To' when most Viewers do not have the PCIe Resources for that to be a viable Option. Bummer, right! Hence a Video to explain how that works! Content Creators are not shown what they need but what Vendors want to sell, short term Computers. Always best to know Our options before making any purchases that We have to live with or endure over the long haul. We're focused on the technology. The answer to Your Question is the Workstation or live with limited Solution options! We're looking toward the WRX80 Workstation! The 'in between' AMD HEDT is being phased out. That was the TRX40 HEDT. History! It was perfect for Content Creators! As for the Intel HEDT, they had that on the X299 Chipset. That was what 5 to 7 years ago. We'll have to wait and see if Intel can bring about anything worth Our time for the HEDT beyond what they've shown for PCIe 5.0, on the Desktop, which so far is not delivering anything worth while! PCIe 5.0 needs to mature a bit. PCIe 4.0 is solid and it works very well! PCIe 5.0 by Design is amazing. PCIe 5.0 by implementation is not enough to get Us anything of value. You would benefit from a WRX80 Workstation. Then choose a CPU to accommodate Your needs. Tell Us more about Your Applications. Your DAW? Pro Tools? Cubase? Dongles? Your Audio interface? Your Video Rendering engine? Vegas, Premiere or DaVinci Resolve? We need to consider the Options! We're all about the Motherboard Chipset! Chipset rule! That tell me a lot about a CPU based on the Motherboard Chipset! Appreciate Your Comments!

[@timberwrightsvs480]

@@BuildOrBuy I hope that I didn't misrepresent myself with my comment, Gill. My wife and I are not in the creation or editing business; we simply have hobbies that require the transfer of large files. I also neglected to mention that I left PC World behind more than a decade ago and made the move to Mac OS X. I'm not a Mac commando, by any means, but I have to admit that the move made my small business much more productive. The biggest reason why I began researching a new PC was because our modestly large physical entertainment collection (both audio and video) consists of old formats that require older utilities to work with and, in most cases, these utilities were never written for use with Mac OS X...but I digress. To simplify things, I see the future of long-term storage being in M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs, so one of my top priorities when researching a new PC build was expanding in that direction. Based on what I've seen in your videos, it would seem that the "gaming PCs" that Intel and/or the motherboard manufacturers obviously see as their bread and butter are not designed with this kind of expansion in mind, so I'm hoping (against hope perhaps) that I can find something out there that's between the gamer level and the corporate level. Regardless, I will definitely look into your WRX80 Workstation recommendation. Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

[@timmark4190]

Gigabyte Z690 Aero D vs Asus Z690 ProArt. You did do the review of the Asus but I did not understand if you like it or not. Between these two which one do you prefer. Thanks

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Tim Mark, Welcome! Excellent Question! Which one? Is the ASUS worth 2 Items? Better or Different Audio Codec and adding 1 more M.2 NVMe PCIe Drive for the money? Neither Motherboard is well suited for Adding a X16 Quad card based on CPU PCIe Resources. Chipset PCIe Resources are not used for Bifurcation. Did We miss anything? Hope that helps! Let Us know which one You choose.

[@hellonader]

Creator PCIe expanss slots Question. So will this board support more than one graphics card? I have two 2070 Supers that I would like to salvage from my old build and I hear that these cards don't use the full potential of PCIe 4 and above anyway and with no performance difference between x16 and x4. Will I be able to plug them both in successfully into this board? Thank you for your advice!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Bill Bigsly, Welcome! Great Question! Looking at Your Motherboard Block Diagram, the X16 and X8 Share CPU PCIe Resources. Therefore Your 2 GPUs will both be X8 to CPU. That 3rd Slot, X4 would be preferable for something else. To reiterate, I would not want a GPU running X4 on Chipset Lanes. Hope that helps!

[@hellonader]

@@BuildOrBuy Thank you for the response! Even worse for my case, I iust realized this video is about the Aero D and I was considering the Aero G.

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@hellonader, Absolutely! Here to help! Change one thing, changes everything! Would You like for Us to take a look at that other Motherboard?

[@starrims]

how is the VRM of this motherboard compared to ROG Strix-E

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi S T A R R I M S, VRAM? You mean VRM? As important as that is, We're more focused on the PCIe Resources. If We cannot Add Storage as everyone is asking, nothing else much matters. Priorities! Hope that helps! Perception and Perspective.

[@starrims]

@@BuildOrBuy aaah yes VRM, 🤦🏻‍♂️ Yes storage situation is pretty important for creator focused users

[@jayadasvasuleela4832]

I am a creator, I have been waiting for a long time for a video like this, I am going to buy this motherboard. Will it support Nvidia quodro A4000?

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Jayadas Vasuleela, Welcome! Consider a WRX80 Workstation Motherboard for more Storage Options. However, Yes, this should work just fine on that Motherboard. And the RTX A4000 GPU is only 2 Slots wide. Perfect! Hope that helps! PNY RTX A4000 Pro Graphics Board - PNY Bulk Packaging and Accessories [16GBs VRAM] amzn.to/3OyJZy5 ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WIFI AMD Threadripper Pro EATX workstation motherboard amzn.to/39ZI2vy As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 1. CPU Cores x 4 = RAM 2. CPU Core count = VRAM Success on Your Build! Keep Us Posted on Your Progress!

[@sabishiihito]

Quad card means putting the GPU in an x4 slot and...eh. Who wants to cripple such a powerful graphics card? EDIT: I guess the only saving grace is the lower x4 slot should be PCIe 4.0 which is equivalent to PCIe 3.0 x8

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi sabishiihito, Glad You caught that! Exactly! The other option, on this Build, would have been a CPU with Video. Neither Option is desirable! All of these types of Questions deserve more than a yes or now but the What, Why, How and any possible Options for a Solution! Suffice to say, not enough PCIe Resources! I miss not having a Live Audience! Another very good point. However, through the Chipset. Not ideal for the GPU! But doable!

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@Kyler, Now You know and Understand those PCIe Resource assets from CPU and Chipset. It's easier to see this from a more Objective Perspective! Success on Your Build! Keep Us Posted on Your Progress! Eager to know which WRX80 Workstation Motherboard You have Your eye on! And when the time comes, be ready to re-evaluate! We know, Thunderbolt is a primary determing factor! Exciting prospects and opportunities!

[@martinjpiana]

Hi GILLL First amazing and in depth video. from a Creator-3d rendering standpoint (octane. so GPU intensive) i watched your video because I'm just considering THIS motherboard. The only reason why I'm considering it is because: a)available (my country is s**t for building `professional` grade PCs) b)looks ok for a 8x-8x PCIe 4 slot `SPACING` design for two GPUs with 2,5 slots size each (RTX 3080ti build (EVGA FTW3 2.5 thick..i think) c) i only need one NVME m2 running at full speed. Pcie gen4 or 5 4x all tied with a 12th gen 8-10 cores. CPU - i5-i7 (definitely not i9) for my case i always build the system from the GPUs out. when i used CPU rendering was the CPU out.. now the CPU needs to unlock all the power the GPUs needs. and don't bottleneck drives or GPU.s then i don't mind having a ton of cores. that's why i even considering i5 (if i don't loose essential features for my workflow) the professional 3d freelancer - motion grapher are in a weird place where the ```workstation``` grade equipments are underpowered and overpriced Vs the Gaming Stuff (aesthetically horrid) is all over the place on pricing and performance, and is really challenging to find this "creators" niche products (so often overpriced) Thanks again and your time and thoroughness is really appreciated. cheers martin

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi Martin Piana, Welcome! Appreciate Your Comments! We Content Creators are left to scramble since the HEDT market is running on old fumes! Great Question from the GPU perspective for Rendering in Building a Purpose Built Computer... What You propose: 2 - EVGA RTX 3080Ti FTW3 with 12GBs each VRAM; 2.75 Slot Width; Does NOT Support NVLink Bridge. Whereas, have You considered: 1 - EVGA RTX 3090Ti FTW3 with 24GBs VRAM; 2.75 Slot Width; DOES Support NVLink Bridge. Requires Less Power therefore puts out less heat. And will remain in the only X16 PCIe Slot instead of a being used in 2 - X8 PCIe Slots! 1. EVGA - Products - EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING, 12G-P5-3967-KR, 12GB GDDR6X, iCX3 Technology, ARGB LED, Metal Backplate - 12G-P5-3967-KR" www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=12G-P5-3967-KR 2. EVGA - Product Specs - EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 GAMING, 24G-P5-3985-KR, 24GB GDDR6X, iCX3 Technology, ARGB LED, Metal Backplate" www.evga.com/products/Specs/GPU.aspx?pn=f62c60ad-fd39-4cca-ab59-ead120bdff04 amzn.to/3O1rPE2 As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases! Hope that helps! Perception and Perspective! Besides, combining 2 GPUs does not combine the RAM of most Render Engines. In using multiple GPUs, Data must be copied to each GPU. Using 1 GPU is a better Resource allocation for a Larger Data set!

[@martinjpiana]

@@BuildOrBuy HI ! And so thanks for the reply. Octane render does not need NVlink. (Actually suggest avoiding it in the current 3000 series.) this Renderer uses as many cuda cores you can connect to a pci Slot. with the caviat that it will use the LOWER memory card Vram (it is what it is) so thats why is not really advisable to mix cards with different size memory. But other than the vram you can add any GPU supporting cuda and it will scale ..almost perfectly every time. Currently using two GTX 1080ti and trying to get RTX3000. For size and temperature i want to go with the RTX3080ti and see what the 4000series will bring. My question is..is the PCI lanes budget of a 12th mid range CPU with this board enough to run GPU gen3/4 8x8x and Nmve gen 4/3 4x ? Meaning full speed? (As far as i know current GPUs never get chocked by the 8x vs 16x bandwith)

[@BuildOrBuy]

Hi@@martinjpiana Absolutely! Yes, We're combining CUDA Cores but to reiterate We're NOT Combining VRAM. Ok, No NVLink required! However, the more VRAM per GPU the better! However, also Yes, a GPU will not overwhelm a X8 Slot PCIe Bus. To reiterate, PCIe is no longer about the GPU. The PCIe Bus is now all about the M.2 NVNe PCIe Drive for Speed! And PCIe 6 and 7 are in the works as We Speak! And PCIe 5, right now, is not delivering on M.2 NVMe just yet. Neither are the Motherboards currently supporting PCIe 5.0 using Intel Chipsets! Design vs Implementation. Looks good on paper!