Another excellent review of a board with aesthetics I could actually live with. One quick question (I hope): - Is the Ultra M.2 what is now being referred to as U.2? I'm getting a bit confused with all the new internal/PCI SSDs being launched, there is even one with a mini-SAS connector (from Intel if I'm not mistaken)... Maybe a video explaining all the internal/PCI SSD solutions and their impact on the power phases of the mobos? Since, obviously, I am no engineer a review of a badly designed/built motherboard would be a huge help... I would really like to see what "doing it wrong and cutting corners" looks like to further appreciate the good stuff if that makes any sense. Cheers.
NorthWolfe So U.2 is what people are using to talk about Intel's SFF-8639 connector, which is like a faster SATA Express protocol. The only reason people are talking about U.2 is because its Intel and Intel's drive the 750 which uses it. It by default is a SFF-8639 drive, however because that connector doesn't exist on consumer boards, they provide an NVMe connector adapter and there are some boards which have NVMe M.2 add in card adapters. The whole issue is getting over the limitations of SATA. Standard M.2 is 10Gb/s, but these Ultra M.2 are 32Gb/s which is equivalent to 4x PCi-E 3.0 and which Intel's new drive supports as do a few faster M.2 drives. I think in the future we will see a ton more Ultra M.2, however Ultra M.2 isn't an official name, just what certain manufacturers call their faster M.2 slots. I can do a video on that technology if you want.
sin0822 Thanks. Yeah, a video would be great since so much is being released that we just can't keep up. To give you an idea, my normal rendering rig will have an SSD for OS and Software + 2 SSDs in RAID 0 as a "media drive" (Photos/Music/Graphics/Project Files) + 2 SSDs as a "scratch drive" also in RAID 0 (Media Cache files/Preview files)... All these are generally 1TB SSDs. What would be the best configuration with all these new standards? So: 1 OS/Program Drive 2 Drives in RAID 0 (Media Drive) 2 Drives in RAID 0 (Scratch Drive) Backups are to external HDD enclosures in RAID 0 + RAID 1 (sometimes called RAID 10). Sorry to always be bothering you. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge, time and attention. Cheers.
sin0822 That's the normal layout of my PCs. Using "normal" SSDs (generally 1TB Crucial/Samsung/Intel). I was wondering what the ideal layout would be today with all the new types of drives. So, I basically replaced HDDs with SSDs maintaining the same basic layout (1/2/2). Would the PCIe Intel 750 and the M.2 drives give a big speed boost, and what would be the perfected layout? I saw some motherboard (can't find it now) which comes with the possibility of two M.2 in RAID. Yes, all my systems have the configuration I described (used to be HDD/Hybrids, now most are SSD only). The media RAID and Scratch RAID are kept separate in order not to create bottlenecks, since both are usually accessed simultaneously. Backups are backups... They go wherever and there are no performance issues there (generally HDDs connected by SATA cable). Cheers.
sin0822 Everything on 2011-3 Boards with M.2 10GB/s is a waste. Since all you want as you say is getting more out of it than Sata III 6GB/s and 10 to 6 is in best case only factor 1,6 faster, what is fully overcome with M.2s like XP 941. So if you wanna go with the fastest M.2 10GB/s are limitiationg those nice pices of hardware.
![[SH] Supermicro C7Z170-OCE Unboxing/Review](/img/1.gif)
Another excellent review of a board with aesthetics I could actually live with. One quick question (I hope):
- Is the Ultra M.2 what is now being referred to as U.2?
I'm getting a bit confused with all the new internal/PCI SSDs being launched, there is even one with a mini-SAS connector (from Intel if I'm not mistaken)... Maybe a video explaining all the internal/PCI SSD solutions and their impact on the power phases of the mobos?
Since, obviously, I am no engineer a review of a badly designed/built motherboard would be a huge help... I would really like to see what "doing it wrong and cutting corners" looks like to further appreciate the good stuff if that makes any sense.
Cheers.
NorthWolfe So U.2 is what people are using to talk about Intel's SFF-8639 connector, which is like a faster SATA Express protocol. The only reason people are talking about U.2 is because its Intel and Intel's drive the 750 which uses it. It by default is a SFF-8639 drive, however because that connector doesn't exist on consumer boards, they provide an NVMe connector adapter and there are some boards which have NVMe M.2 add in card adapters. The whole issue is getting over the limitations of SATA. Standard M.2 is 10Gb/s, but these Ultra M.2 are 32Gb/s which is equivalent to 4x PCi-E 3.0 and which Intel's new drive supports as do a few faster M.2 drives. I think in the future we will see a ton more Ultra M.2, however Ultra M.2 isn't an official name, just what certain manufacturers call their faster M.2 slots. I can do a video on that technology if you want.
sin0822 Thanks. Yeah, a video would be great since so much is being released that we just can't keep up.
To give you an idea, my normal rendering rig will have an SSD for OS and Software + 2 SSDs in RAID 0 as a "media drive" (Photos/Music/Graphics/Project Files) + 2 SSDs as a "scratch drive" also in RAID 0 (Media Cache files/Preview files)... All these are generally 1TB SSDs.
What would be the best configuration with all these new standards? So:
1 OS/Program Drive
2 Drives in RAID 0 (Media Drive)
2 Drives in RAID 0 (Scratch Drive)
Backups are to external HDD enclosures in RAID 0 + RAID 1 (sometimes called RAID 10).
Sorry to always be bothering you. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge, time and attention.
Cheers.
NorthWolfe You already own these drives?
sin0822 That's the normal layout of my PCs. Using "normal" SSDs (generally 1TB Crucial/Samsung/Intel).
I was wondering what the ideal layout would be today with all the new types of drives.
So, I basically replaced HDDs with SSDs maintaining the same basic layout (1/2/2).
Would the PCIe Intel 750 and the M.2 drives give a big speed boost, and what would be the perfected layout?
I saw some motherboard (can't find it now) which comes with the possibility of two M.2 in RAID.
Yes, all my systems have the configuration I described (used to be HDD/Hybrids, now most are SSD only).
The media RAID and Scratch RAID are kept separate in order not to create bottlenecks, since both are usually accessed simultaneously. Backups are backups... They go wherever and there are no performance issues there (generally HDDs connected by SATA cable).
Cheers.
sin0822 Everything on 2011-3 Boards with M.2 10GB/s is a waste. Since all you want as you say is getting more out of it than Sata III 6GB/s and 10 to 6 is in best case only factor 1,6 faster, what is fully overcome with M.2s like XP 941. So if you wanna go with the fastest M.2 10GB/s are limitiationg those nice pices of hardware.
Great review! Gave a much better understanding as to how good the quality is. I wish every reviewer would be as detailed about it, as you!
I love your detailed vids! I like knowing what is 'under the hood'--thank you so much.