M.2 speed for HP Slimline Desktop - 290-p0055il

[karron14]

I have seen in the motherboard specification page (https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05991290) the m.2 slot is mentioned as "M.2 socket 3, 2280 type for SSD". Does it support full PCIe 3.0 x4 speed (32 Gb/s)? I've heard somewhere that it only supports x2, i.e. 16 Gb/s. Which is correct?

If I use this drive https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-SN750-500GB-Internal-Gaming/dp/B07MH2P5ZD, Would I be able to utilise the full R/W speed?

[GamingOptional]

Socket 3 = PCIe x4

So it's not x2 lanes, according to HP,  it's x4 .

Whether or not it's a PCIe 3.0 version is the question:

And for that I'd refer you to HWINFO or CPU-Z which are free programs that will tell you the version/lanes.

It's very likely PCIe version 3.0 given your computer is young but better to just double-check with a free program.

[karron14]

Yeah, I checked with hwinfo and sisoftware sandra. The m.2 port is labelled as unknown. But I managed to figure out other ports for which information are available:

1. PCIe 3.0 x1 2.5 Gbps- Ethernet

2. PCIe 3.0 x1 2.5 Gbps- Wifi

3. PCIe x1-Empty

4. PCIe x16- Empty

5. M.2 socket 1- Empty

6. M.2 socket 3- Empty

The Ethernet and wifi port are clearly mentioned as 3.0, but could the m.2 ports be different?

[GamingOptional]

You may want to browse through the driver list and see if there are any for mislabelling.

On a 2018 PC I wouldn't think you have much to worry about though.

[karron14 · Accepted solution]

Sorry for the late reply. I was doing a small test. I borrowed an XPG 8200 pro from a friend.

Crystaldisk showed a sequential R/W of 1800 MBps & 1500 MBps in this HP desktop. I also tested the same drive in my Acer Predator the R/W was about 3500 MBps & 2200 MBps. Clearly the HP does not have a  PCIe 3.0 x4.

I will go for a cheap NVME. Too much of speed is wasted on this anyway. Thanks for your time though.