Looking at an AMD office computer build need help understanding pcie lanes/ssd storage

[DenverOh]

Afternoon everyone,

 

So the business is doing well. Reaching a point where by summer there will be limited storage space (hhd/ssd) on the Dell Optiplex.  I've upgraded the tower the best I could with a new SSD and a HHD. Though I have a staff member that has been really stepping up our social media and doing some video editing.

 

So I'm looking at putting money back into the business and building a proper computer.  I'm trying to better understand M.2/SSD/HHD storage and how many PCIe lanes I will need.

 

Going to be a basic build with a decent CPU / GPU. But looking to have multiple storage drives (4-6 maybe) If I want to have that many drives should I be looking for a CPU that has more PCIe lanes (ie. threadripper?) or am I okay with the latest generation I 7 or Ryzen 7?

 

 

 - How I currently see things is that the GPU will take up 16 PCIe lanes, the M.2 will take 4.... so will the sata connected SSD/HHD also take up PCIe lanes or only use them when they are being accessed?

 

Cheers

[NunoLava1998]

SATA doesn't use PCIe at all, so you're fine with 20 PCIe.

[monjessenstein]

AFAIK sata drives don't take up pcie lanes. You can get pretty cheap B350/B450 mobos with 6 sata slots so I'd do those.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Ryzen CPUs have 4 PCIe lanes for general use, and normally this is wired to a M.2 slot. Otherwise it comes from the chipset. However, note that if the M.2 slot uses PCIe lanes from the chipset, it may disable SATA ports. This isn't universal behavior, so check your manual for what you can and can't do.

[Dylanc1500]

Just a heads up, M.2 is a form factor and does not mean it will be a PCIe device as it also has SATA. Some M.2 PCIe devices may also only use two lanes instead of four. So keep an eye out when looking at M.2 drives.

 

SATA:

 

PCIe x2:

PCIe x4: