New config. advice

[TELmo]

I have to admit, I'm quite taken with the Lite... and for that price too!
Except for this...
*If M2_3 is occupied, PCIE2 will be disabled.
Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

And it only has 3 M2 slots, so any card added to PCIE2 will disable Slot M2_3 and vice versa.

I'm not sure what I could put on it at the moment, but I'm sure I could use all the M2 slots.

 

[Woomack]

If you check the motherboard's specs, you will see that most motherboards have a disabled 2nd PCIe x16 slot or a limited first slot to x8 when you use all M.2 sockets (some expensive motherboards won't have that). Sometimes, it's not clearly described on the main product website.

I can't see ASUS Strix B650E-E mentioned. Maybe check it as it's cheaper than the X670E and not so much different - https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-b650e-e-gaming-wifi-model/

I assume you are not going to overclock the CPU. If you think you will try to do that in some time, then search for a motherboard with a second bclk/asynchronous bclk for CPU only. It's available only on more expensive motherboards, but ASUS X670E-F costs around €375, so it's not so bad - https://amzn.eu/d/fHTFGEO

If you think about the future, then maybe get a motherboard that can do PCIe 5.0 x16 and 2x M.2 5.0 x4, even if anything else is disabled. I guess that the X670E-F will give you that, but you can probably find some other options.

 

[TELmo]

Thanks @Woomack and @EarthDog

In the end, I think the Strix X670E-F at €449 is still the best choice.

For 2/3 reasons:
-4 M2 ports (2 in PCIe 5 (CPU) and 2 on the chipset in PCIe 4)
-does not disable PCIe slot 2 v4 (unless there's a mistake in the documentation!?)
-Price and is still an X670
-Available

[Motherboard] Compatibility of PCIE bifurcation between Hyper M.2 series Cards and Add-On Graphic Cards | Official Support | ASUS Global

 

[Woomack]

Amazon sells it cheaper - €375 https://amzn.eu/d/gAxkLpw with shipping to all EU countries. At least I live in Poland and everything arrives in 1-2 days. They may add your local VAT difference + shipping. Shipping is usually ~€5-10, and free if you have Amazon Prime. You can sign for a free month and cancel it before it expires. Then you will still get free shipping and another free month or more in some time.

It doesn't disable the second PCIe slot, but it works at x4. Because of that, the first PCIE slot works at x16 all the time. On higher models, it's 8+8+4 when all slots are in use, or some slots are inactive when M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD is in use.

I needed more M.2 PCIE 5.0 a while ago and I decided on Gigabyte B650E Master - it has 4x M.2 PCIe 5.0. However, one PCIe slot works at x8, and the other one is disabled when all M.2 sockets are occupied. I don't recommend this motherboard as you never know what you get (3 different revisions, some act weird with higher frequency RAM). However, for me, it was a better choice than the X670E Master.

 

[TELmo]

@Woomack

I have the impression M2 that they all work in 4X on all compatible PCIe 5 motherboards.

Except perhaps the specific PCIe/NVME cards.

Or do you mean that PCIe slot 2 will work in 4X instead of 16X when all M2s are used?

Edit : Yep, is that you said.... my bad !

 

[EarthDog]

Or do you mean that PCIe slot 2 will work in 4X instead of 16X when all M2s are used?

The slot.

It doesn't disable the second PCIe slot, but it works at x4.

 

[Woomack]

@Woomack

I have the impression that they all work in 4X on all compatible PCIe 5 motherboards.

Except perhaps the specific PCIe/NVME cards.

Or do you mean that PCIe slot 2 will work in 4X instead of 16X?

X670E-F doesn't have any other option. No matter what M.2 you use, the first slot works at x16 and the second one works at x4.

Most other motherboards limit the first slot to x8 when the second one is in use. Some Gigabyte motherboards do the same so x16 is the first one and x4 is the second one, no matter what you use. However, there are some motherboards that will disable the second PCIe slot when M.2 SSD is in use as they share the same PCIe lanes.

In theory, the X670E chipset has more PCIe lanes and should offer more. In reality, everything depends on the motherboard manufacturer, and in most cases, X670/E and B650/E motherboards have almost the same number of PCIe lanes in use. The main difference is that most X670/E motherboards are considered as high-end and have additional components/features when B650/E are considered mid-shelf option. The "second wave" of AM5 motherboards was already a bit different. Gigabyte used B650E in their top OC series and also in something like B650E Master, which costs as much as X670E and shares almost all features (except for PCIe lane distribution).

If you were looking for a budget but still a good option, then the mentioned ASRock B650E Taichi Lite is a very successful mobo, and it is supposed to be significantly cheaper. It lacks some features, but it was designed to save money and still deliver the most important stuff. If the price is not much different, then ASUS will be better.

 

[TELmo]

Thank you very much for your time and explanations, I will stay with Asus then.

You have somehow convinced and reassured me based on my future expectations and developments.

 

[TELmo]

I forgot to tell you, I'll get back to you after assembly later this week... and maybe I'll still have questions, but of a different kind ;-)

Best regards

 

[TELmo]

I'm sharing a little update with you, even if it's all going to get lost in the shuffle of the forum.
But I think it's always nice to share for those who have been involved and those who have been following this thread.

My supplier didn't have the 7 mm offsets for AM5s that Woomack had recommended. So I went to MAMAzon, it's really just 2 metal plates and nothing else (I knew that, no worries).

I moved house recently, and threw away the box of good old NH-D14 a bit too quickly! Thinking, "bha ... I'm still going to change!"
Being on my current old Intel configuration, there were bound to be AMD parts in that box, screws/plastics and other cables.

At first, I was thinking of taking the 4 spacers (4 thick plastic washers) from the old Intel and putting them on the AMD 5.
I was really skeptical and worried about what would happen next, so I spent a bit of time finding the information and finding the solution.


I found my invoice for the NH-D14 and realized that it was the "special" version - SE 2011 (intended for the big Intel machines of the time).
I noticed that this version was for AM2 and AM3!
That's when I thought, OK! Who's going to tell me if those 4 bits of plastic mentioned above were going to be the same height as for AM4 / AM5! Which I didn't have any more anyway (except the Intel ones... but there again, very septic).

For €10, I didn't think twice about it! even for 4 plastic washers, I went back to my supplier and bought the complete AM4 / AM5 screw kit: NM-AM5/4-MP83 (he had that, ouff, in black only, I take!).
Don't mess around with pressure on CPUs, you already have to push like hell to close the socket! A setting too low or too high = it breaks or heats up!


You have to look for it, but Noctua are pretty good!

Not yet mounted, the family first, that will come...