windows boot and storage m.2 slots

[NIGHTSTALKER_8_4]

Budget (including currency): 

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Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

I have a ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi) ATX So im wondering does it matter what m.2 slot I use for my boot drive and for my storage. I have a 250gb 970 evo plus I was going to use sole for my windows 11 boot drive and am getting a 2tb ssd for storage and games, does it matter what m.2 slot I use, and does ssd speed matter for gaming, I know it does for the PS5 but had heard it doesn't make a difference when it comes to your computer, so should I save money on a 970 evo for example or get the 980 pro?

[Ryuikko]

Usually for storage I'd recommend whatevers cheapest since speeds of ssds  afiak don't have a lot of perfromance boost in games, especially pcie gen 3 vs 4. You'll get a load time boost buy using ssds but it won't appear as much in gaming as if you were handling mass content creation. I'd assume your boot drive would be closest to your cpu and mass storage elsewhere, but if they're both pcie gen 3 I don't think it'll matter ~that much. You can always consult your mobo manual to see what the rated speeds are for the m.2 slots are and go from there accordingly.

[PDifolco]

I've got 2 M2 on a X570 board as well

 

One slot is on the CPU PCie lanes, the second (farther from the CPU) on the mobo lanes. Both work at PCie4x4 speeds but it you have any other extension card (GPU apart) the mobo lanes will be shared, which may reduce the drive speed

 

So short answer is : install the boot drive on the 1st slot and the other on the second slot !

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

26 minutes ago, PhillieFan1984 said:

does ssd speed matter for gaming, I know it does for the PS5 but had heard it doesn't make a difference when it comes to your computer, so should I save money on a 970 evo for example or get the 980 pro?

For now, you'll probably won't notice it. In the future when technologies like Direct Storage hit their stride, perhaps. 

[brob]

I've always thought that the fastest path and drive should be used for the system drive.

 

Benchmarks will definitely show a difference in game loading between a 970 Evo and 980 Pro. I doubt the difference would be noticeable by most users.

[NIGHTSTALKER_8_4]

How much difference with putting games on a 2.5 sata ssd vs m.2 nvme

[brob]

25 minutes ago, PhillieFan1984 said:

How much difference with putting games on a 2.5 sata ssd vs m.2 nvme

 

A ton of variables, but as a general statement there is not much difference in game load times between a SATA and NVMe SSD. For the most part just a couple of seconds.