10th Gen Intel Processor in 11th Gen board for SLI (Do I need to lose the M.2 drive, and if so, is Z590 worth losing M.2 functionality for?)

[GuruMeditationError]

The TLDR: Will running two Titan RTXs at x8x4 (rather than x8x8) make a difference to performance?

The B4: (I know, SLI's dead, and SLI'd Titan RTXs only have an improvement of 3.8% over SLi'd RTX 2080TIs, and so it doesn't make financial sense to SLI Titan RTX's. And yes, I know SLI's dead.)

 

I'm finally putting together a system that leaves the option open for SLI (for when supply chain issues are resolved and I can pick up something inexpensive on the used market).

I know SLI's dead at this point but I've got a usage case where (in my opinion at least & your mileage may vary) it's more or less worth doing.

I'm planning to SLI Titan RTXs (I know there's only a 3.8 percent uplift with Titan RTX cards in SLI over 2080 TI's in SLI, but I've already got a Titan RTX, so I'll probably just add a second Titan RTX sometime in the future, depending on cost.

I'm planning on running a 10th Gen Intel Processor (probably a 10900k overclocked (I have high-speed DDR4 RAM that gives me a meaningful uplift in FPS when I game at 1080p on Intel's platform, which I will be doing, so I don't want to move to  RYZEN and it seems future DDR4 based motherboards, for as long as they last (both from Intel & AMD) won't be supporting SLI)).

I'm thinking of pairing the processor with an 11th Gen (Z590) motherboard, because I feel like there might possibly be granular improvements to the Z590 boards that would be worth benefiting from (although I couldn't tell you what they might be, because I don't have that deep an understanding of motherboard construction/topology/features etc, I just feel like Z590 boards should be better than Z490 boards (it might be that Z490 boards are just more suitable if I'm using a10th gen CPU but I don't have enough understanding of the area to know one way or another)).

The thing is: If I add an M.2 drive to an 11th Gen board that has a 10th Gen Intel CPU installed, it drops the second PCIE slot down to x4, so I'd be running the cards in an x8x4 configuration (the primary M.2 slot that's linked directly to the CPU in Z590 boards is only functional with 11th series CPUs and so will just remain disabled. The 2nd M.2 drive, when populated, drops the speed of the second PCIE slot to x4).

Will running two Titan RTXs at x8x4 (rather than x8x8) make a difference to performance, and should I just not use the M.2 drive and instead stick to SATA SSD's so that I can run the cards at x8x8 rather than x8x4?
 





 

[AbydosOne]

4 minutes ago, GuruMeditationError said:

Will running two Titan RTXs at x8x4 (rather than x8x8)

AFAIK, SLI requires x8x8...

[GuruMeditationError]

1 minute ago, AbydosOne said:

AFAIK, SLI requires x8x8...

Wow, really? Are you sure? I'll run some searches. :0)

[GuruMeditationError]

5 minutes ago, AbydosOne said:

AFAIK, SLI requires x8x8...

lol...yeah, it seems you're right. x8x8 minimum for SLI

So I guess the question now is whether it's worth losing M.2 functionality to utilize a Z590 board instead of a Z490 board.

Hoping I don't have to post a new question...input would be appreciated. :0)

[Kilrah]

Yup...

 

Also, what board? Normally before 11th gen the m.2 would be connected to the chipset and thus not affect the CPU lanes. 

[igormp]

Are you planing on use those 2x Titans for games? If so, keep in mind that you'll also need a mobo that's certified for SLI, and most Z590 motherboard don't, and the one that do require an 11th gen cpu.

[GuruMeditationError]

7 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Yup...

 

Also, what board? Normally before 11th gen the m.2 would be connected to the chipset and thus not affect the CPU lanes. 

I'm looking at the Z590 overclocking boards, right now favouring the Asus Maximus Apex.

 

I have very fast DDR4 memory (2x16GB, 3800MHz / 14-16-16-36) and I understand Z590 boards have a better chance of higher memory speeds. I wouldn't mind trying to tweak the memory to run a little faster if possible. However I was looking at Buildzoid's overview of the EVGA Dark, for instance, and it seems it doesn't work too well with RAM modules larger than 8GB capacity. I'm hoping that's not universal across the Z590 overclocking boards...I need to look further into that.

But yeah, looking at the Z590 Apex manual, it seems (unless I'm reading it incorrectly?) populating the second M.2 drive drops the second PCIE X16 lane down to x4.

So, I think I'm going to drop the M.2 in favor of potentially faster RAM & CPU overclocking. I've no idea which is more valuable (M.2 or better OC) from either a theoretical or usage standpoint. I just don't have that depth of understanding or experience with this stuff.

 

[GuruMeditationError]

14 minutes ago, igormp said:

Are you planing on use those 2x Titans for games? If so, keep in mind that you'll also need a mobo that's certified for SLI, and most Z590 motherboard don't, and the one that do require an 11th gen cpu.

Thanks, I think the z590 Apex supports SLI with 10th gen...?...or at least the manual's "Specifications Summery" doesn't say that it doesn't?

[Kilrah]

4 minutes ago, GuruMeditationError said:

But yeah, looking at the Z590 Apex manual, it seems (unless I'm reading it incorrectly?) populating the second M.2 drive drops the second PCIE X16 lane down to x4.

It does indeed which means you can't use the board slots, but there are still 2 DIMM.2 slots you can use that go to the chipset.

[GuruMeditationError]

5 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

It does indeed which means you can't use the board slots, but there are still 2 DIMM.2 slots you can use that go to the chipset.

Oh okay...so that's what that's for. 

So, I can use an M.2 drive via that socket and not have it affect the PCIe lanes? I'm looking at the manual and it seems that's the case?

[Kilrah]

Correct

[GuruMeditationError]

6 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Correct

Brilliant, thanks. :0)

 

And I should be able to SLI with the Z590 Apex even though I'd be running it with a 10th gen CPU? I didn't think that'd be an issue but igormp posted above to suggest there might be a conflict.

[Kilrah]

The manual mentions SLI is supported and doesn't list restrictions for it, so should be good. 

[GuruMeditationError]

6 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

The manual mentions SLI is supported and doesn't list restrictions for it, so should be good. 

Thanks, and yeah, it only states that support varies with different graphics cards, so I'm guessing it should be okay...would be a bit of an oversight for them not to specify that SLI wouldn't work without an 11th Gen CPU. 

Thanks so much...

...I just need to look into the RAM issues now: will it overclock DIMMS of greater than 8GB capacity and if not, would there be an advantage in going with four DIMM slots daisy-chained. 

[igormp]

1 hour ago, GuruMeditationError said:

So, I think I'm going to drop the M.2 in favor of potentially faster RAM & CPU overclocking. I've no idea which is more valuable (M.2 or better OC) from either a theoretical or usage standpoint. I just don't have that depth of understanding or experience with this stuff.

Since your other questions were already answered, I'll just comment on that specific point: the amount of used PCIe lanes should not interfere with your RAM&CPU OCs, so you don't choose only one and can go with both.