Intel H370 Chipset 20PCI Lanes

[mogans]

Hi folks,

I'm planning to buy Intel Core i7-8700(Non K) processor along with Asus STRIX H370-F GAMING Motherboard. I already have Asus GTX 1060 6GB Graphics card and a Samsung 970 EVO M.2.

Since, H370 chipset has 20 PCI Lanes. My question is whether my Graphics Card (16X) and M.2 (4x) will utilize the exact 20 PCI lanes available or the M.2 drive will share the PCI lanes from 16X Graphics card which makes the remaining 4X lanes unused. In that case should I need to opt for Intel i7-8700k-Z370 Chipset combination to get the fullest benefit.Please advice.


Thanks in Advance for your replies.

 

[Campy]

The graphics card PCIe slot is connected directly to the CPU, not through the chipset, so the premise of your question is wrong. I'll try to explain.

Your CPU has 20 PCIe lanes(not to be confused with chipset lanes). Of those 20 lanes from the CPU, 16 go to the first and second x16 size PCIe slots on your motherboard, and this is where you connect your graphics card.
The remaining 4 slots are for the DMI link, which links the CPU to the chipset. From there, the chipset has it's own lanes which are used for all the I/O; hard drives/SSDs, USB ports, networking, and anything else that you want to connect.
Everything that gets connected to the chipset has to share the x4 DMI link when communicating with the CPU, but that's not an issue for regular use.

As you said, the H370 chipset has 20 lanes and Z370 has 24. This allows motherboard makers to provide more connectivity on Z370 than H370, but it won't affect the graphics card or overall system performance in any way.

The biggest difference between H370 and Z370 is that Z370 supports CPU and memory overclocking while H370 doesn't. Because you are planning to get the 8700 non-K that shouldn't be a problem for you.

 

[mogans]

The graphics card PCIe slot is connected directly to the CPU, not through the chipset, so the premise of your question is wrong. I'll try to explain.

Your CPU has 20 PCIe lanes(not to be confused with chipset lanes). Of those 20 lanes from the CPU, 16 go to the first and second x16 size PCIe slots on your motherboard, and this is where you connect your graphics card.
The remaining 4 slots are for the DMI link, which links the CPU to the chipset. From there, the chipset has it's own lanes which are used for all the I/O; hard drives/SSDs, USB ports, networking, and anything else that you want to connect.
Everything that gets connected to the chipset has to share the x4 DMI link when communicating with the CPU, but that's not an issue for regular use.

As you said, the H370 chipset has 20 lanes and Z370 has 24. This allows motherboard makers to provide more connectivity on Z370 than H370, but it won't affect the graphics card or overall system performance in any way.

The biggest difference between H370 and Z370 is that Z370 supports CPU and memory overclocking while H370 doesn't. Because you are planning to get the 8700 non-K that shouldn't be a problem for you.

Thanks for the clarification

 

[mogans]

The graphics card PCIe slot is connected directly to the CPU, not through the chipset, so the premise of your question is wrong. I'll try to explain.

Your CPU has 20 PCIe lanes(not to be confused with chipset lanes). Of those 20 lanes from the CPU, 16 go to the first and second x16 size PCIe slots on your motherboard, and this is where you connect your graphics card.
The remaining 4 slots are for the DMI link, which links the CPU to the chipset. From there, the chipset has it's own lanes which are used for all the I/O; hard drives/SSDs, USB ports, networking, and anything else that you want to connect.
Everything that gets connected to the chipset has to share the x4 DMI link when communicating with the CPU, but that's not an issue for regular use.

As you said, the H370 chipset has 20 lanes and Z370 has 24. This allows motherboard makers to provide more connectivity on Z370 than H370, but it won't affect the graphics card or overall system performance in any way.

The biggest difference between H370 and Z370 is that Z370 supports CPU and memory overclocking while H370 doesn't. Because you are planning to get the 8700 non-K that shouldn't be a problem for you.

In that case my M.2 drive will use the PCI Lanes available in the Chipset right?

 

[RLGL]

One m.2 slot running at its max will disable 2 SATA ports, 5&6. That is the way the Prime Z 370 is. If you utilize the second M.2 slot, it will disable SATA port 1. The m.2 slots run at different speeds.
I had 2 Prime Z 370 boards, neither would run right and the had detection issues with the slow speed slot. they both went back to Microcenter.
I switched to an Asrock board that has 2 SATA controllers and 2 high speed m.2 ports. The board I now have is the Z 370 Gaming K6 with Samsung 960 and 970 EVO.

 

[Campy]

In that case my M.2 drive will use the PCI Lanes available in the Chipset right?

Yes.

 

[DietDrThunder]

I just bought this motherboard. The last PC before this that I built was 10 years ago. I didn’t realize that not only do you have to plug in the 24 pin ATX power supply connector, you have to plug in the 8 pin power supply connector as well. It took me 30 minutes and finally reading the instructions to figure out why the power to all the lights and fans came on but the motherboard wouldn’t boot. Boy, do I feel stupid.

 

[PingSpike]

I just bought this motherboard. The last PC before this that I built was 10 years ago. I didn’t realize that not only do you have to plug in the 24 pin ATX power supply connector, you have to plug in the 8 pin power supply connector as well. It took me 30 minutes and finally reading the instructions to figure out why the power to all the lights and fans came on but the motherboard wouldn’t boot. Boy, do I feel stupid.

I have...had an FM2 Asrock board that also had a god forsaken 4pin molex connection on the motherboard I guess for extra power to pci-e slots. I forgot to plug it in once and it booted anyway but then showed a full screen animated graphic of a hand plugging that particular plug into the motherboard. Made me laugh.