Question x2 NVMe on Ryzen, does it disable SATA ports or not?

[aelese33]

I'm looking for a definitive answer from people who've already tried it on this motherboard.

• MB: Asus Prime B350M-A
• CPU: Ryzen 1600AF

I want to get a x2 (not x4) NVMe for my system. Motherboard has 6 sata ports (4 from the chipset, 2 from the CPU). Will it disable SATA 5/6 or not?

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As a background, Bristol ridge APUs supports 2*SATA and x2 NVMe, while Ryzen CPUs supports 2*SATA and x4 NVMe (but not at the same time).

In specifications page of Asus B350M-A, two different limitations is listed for Bristol ridge APUs and Ryzen CPUs.

Specs page say:

[for ryzen] The M.2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA6G_5/6 ports, therefore the SATA6G_5/6 ports cannot be used when a SATA/PCIE mode M.2 device is installed.

[for bristol ridge] The M.2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA6G_5/6 ports, therefore the SATA6G_5/6 ports cannot be used when a SATA mode M.2 device is installed.

It is known for a fact that you can't use a x4 NVMe and 2*SATA at the same time.
So it is possible that the text quoted above assumes an x4 NVMe.
But it's not clear whether the same limitation still applies when a x2 NVMe is used with a Ryzen CPU.

As a contemporary example, Gigabyte states it very explicitly in AB350's manual that x2 NVMe and 2*SATA ports can work at the same time.


This means Ryzen CPU can run "x2 pcie plus 2*SATA" configuration.

I'm wondering whether the CPU support is enough, and the same table will also applicable to my motherboard?
Or does it depend on motherboard tracing?
Or does it depend on BIOS configuration? (for the record I can't see any settings in the BIOS for changing M.2 configuration)

Thank you very much

 

[damian101]

The specifications are pretty clear about that:

"1 x M.2 Sockel 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*3
1 x M.2 Sockel 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 2 mode)*4"

"3*The M.2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA6G_5/6 ports, therefore the SATA6G_5/6 ports cannot be used when a SATA/PCIE mode M.2 device is installed.
4*The M.2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA6G_5/6 ports, therefore the SATA6G_5/6 ports cannot be used when a SATA mode M.2 device is installed."

SATA ports 5 and 6 will only be disabled if there is a SATA or an PCIe x4 SSD in the M.2 socket.

 

[aelese33]

The specifications are pretty clear about that:

"1 x M.2 Sockel 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*3
1 x M.2 Sockel 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 2 mode)*4"

"3*The M.2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA6G_5/6 ports, therefore the SATA6G_5/6 ports cannot be used when a SATA/PCIE mode M.2 device is installed.
4*The M.2 Socket shares bandwidth with the SATA6G_5/6 ports, therefore the SATA6G_5/6 ports cannot be used when a SATA mode M.2 device is installed."

SATA ports 5 and 6 will only be disabled if there is a SATA or an PCIe x4 SSD in the M.2 socket.

Thanks. I didn't read it that way (I associated them with processors in the title), but it makes sense after you pointed it out.

I'll try it eventually and share the result.
In the meantime if anyone has used that configuration before please share your experience. There are some contradictory experiences like this one even though full configuration used wasn't super clear.