Motherboard SSD slot “in addition to” DIMM.2 card?

[jstodaro]

I have three(3) SSD (PCIe 4,0 NVMe) cards that I need to install on my new “Asus Z690 ROG Maximus Extreme” motherboard… that is, before I go ahead and install the “water block” over the “motherboard”.  Note that this is my first PC build. 

 

My question is this: Is it okay to install one(1) of the SSD cards in the PCIe 5.0 slot that is directly below the CPU, and the other two(2) SSD cards in the DIMM.2 expansion card?

[SupaKomputa]

i dont see why it would be a problem? but you still have 2 more slots on the motherboard

[agent2]

Hey there, 

 

I would not recommend populating the top M.2 slot, as it takes away four PCIe lanes for the GPU which makes the top slot operate in x8 mode. Please use the bottom two, as the middle one is connected via the dedicated CPU PCIe lanes for storage. 

The last SSD you can mount on the DIMM.2 expander card, as that one and the bottom M.2 SSD both are operating via the chipset now. 

It's a bit of a sneaky thing ASUS have done where they advertise lots of M.2 slots but just take CPU lanes away to make it happen. 

 

I hope I could make your first build a bit more understandable. 

 

Cheers! 

[jstodaro]

Thanks guys!