Secondary NVMe drives in M.2 slots running off PCH - 50% write speed @ PCI 4.0 4x

[Solace]

AX210 still has the same payload in the firmware sadly and also PCIe adapters still share the same BUS as the PCH regardless of slot... I was hoping there was +4 lanes direct to CPU but it appears every other slot than the primary is on the PCH. Replacing the mobo internal adapter would also be a waste of time to try.

Only other alternatives for anyone else who runs into same issue,
Harass vendors to fix it <- already sent email linking this as its reproducible and POC is provided. If others could provide test results it would accelerate the progress
Get non intel based NIC that has 256 max supported payload minimum (pretty sure realtek has this set) <- stupid to buy another adapter when you have one...
Use ethernet over wifi <- fucking defeats the purpose of buying a wifi board
Use USB wifi adapter <- likely no max payload issue and even if it exists back mobo ports are direct to CPU, not on PCH
Use NVMe 3.0 ssd <- downgrading is just dumb but hey it techincally works

Maybe buy SN850s instead? I'm tempted to order two just for the validation. If anyone else has already and a wifi board or one with a thunderbolt port I would ask that this gets tested. Takes less than 10 minutes and is effortless.

 

[Shadowarez]

ill try crystal disk, as ssd, hdd tune, and the sab rocket software, when i get chance as well. as the sabrent ssd tool shows the speeds pretty close to what it supposed to be but as ssd shows nearly 1500mb discrepancy. wonder if it will be the same with all other tools, ill also see if i cant get a disk speed test in linux,

 

[Solace]

ill try crystal disk, as ssd, hdd tune, and the sab rocket software, when i get chance as well. as the sabrent ssd tool shows the speeds pretty close to what it supposed to be but as ssd shows nearly 1500mb discrepancy. wonder if it will be the same with all other tools, ill also see if i cant get a disk speed test in linux,

As in 5000+ is now 3000-3500ish for writes? I presume you enabled the ax200 adapter for the test as well and checked HWinfo to see 128bytes on the PCH bus?

I'm thinking you wont see as much as a hit since its just an overhead value and not flat 50% reduction, those with gen 2/3 4.0 drives will notice it much more than the earlier gen ones only hitting about 4-5000.

 

[Shadowarez]

Based on TLC NAND Flash memory, its performance speeds can reach up to 7100 MB/s (read) and 6600 MB/s (write) when using a PCIe Gen4 motherboard. Using a PCIe Gen3 Motherboard Speeds will reach up to 3400 MB/s (read) and 3000 MB/s (write). Power consumption is much lower than traditional hard drives, making it the best embedded solution for new systems.

 

[Solace]

Based on TLC NAND Flash memory, its performance speeds can reach up to 7100 MB/s (read) and 6600 MB/s (write) when using a PCIe Gen4 motherboard. Using a PCIe Gen3 Motherboard Speeds will reach up to 3400 MB/s (read) and 3000 MB/s (write). Power consumption is much lower than traditional hard drives, making it the best embedded solution for new systems.

I think I may have confused you, I just meant just newer 4.0 drives as the initial release of PCIe 4.0 x4 drives were barely above PCIe 3.0 4x due to controllers were in earlier stages of development where as the newer releases are pegging the max rated speeds you mention.

 

[Shadowarez]

Yeah I'm basically going from 7100mbs to 5500mbs in as SSD but the software the SSDs have show nearly full speed. I'll def be interested to see how it changes with diffent software see why the numbers vary so widely. Once get the wifi enabled see if drives drop even more.

 

[Solace]

Each software has different settings to bench read/write, you can see these in some but not all. ATTO you can define your own specific settings unlike some others which is why the numbers will vary. Still curious to see what a before and after bench from the Rocket Plus 2tb's look like with the AX200 enabled.

 

[Solace]

think ill do a fresh install if performance is still in the 5000mb range ill see if they can offer a rma on both these drives no reason to suddenly lose 1500 mbs other then a failing drive.

Fairly certain this is not just you, I just had the primary drive throttle to about 5-5500 after a 64gig write test. The drive sit at 64/57c while idle with a heatsink on them... Even a 16mb benchmark still throttles as well... Not that I want to include this in the thread as its entirely unrelated to the main issue but it appears these things run hot and might even need active cooling to perform at full speed.

 

[Shadowarez]

Odd during the tests mine only hit about 37c-44c max

 

[Solace]

@Shadowarez there is a firmware update supposedly fixing speeds on your drives, also if you can enable wifi and test this after the update it would be of use still.