Asus W680 ACE - Block Diagram & Storage options

[Styp]

Hi,

Does anyone have the block diagram of the Asus W680 ACE?

I wonder how the PCI lanes are used and what implications I have if I populate all m2 slots.
Further, can the SlimSAS 4i port be used for 2 U.2 drives? The mainboard should support bifurcation, as far as I have seen.

I am considering going for 2 used U2 discs and attaching them to the SlimSAS port, but I don't fully understand the standard...

Best

 

[mattventura]

The ability to bifurcate an x4 down to 2x2 is pretty uncommon, and also you'd need to find cables for it even if it is supported.

 

[Alterra]

I don't have a block diagram for Asus W680 ACE but the specs say one M.2 slot is attached to CPU and two to W680, and finally the SlimSAS port to W680. W680 can support 12x PCIe 4.0 lanes so they should all be usable simultaneously. Note that everything connected to W680 shares the single DMI 4.0 link to the CPU but that is still plenty of bandwidth, same as PCIe 4.0 x8.

As far as I know, the only bifurcation supported is the CPU PCIe 5.0 x16 slot which can be split into x8/x8. Or, you can split it into two x8's for two slots, but that is not really bifurcation, just switching some of the lanes into a different physical slot. W680 does not support any bifurcation whatsoever.

If you need multiple U.2 drives, you might try a SFF-8639 adapter card which fits into a PCIe slot.

 

[unwind-protect]

Asus doesn't do block diagrams. One of the more annoying aspects of that vendor.

 

[vvkvvk]

Their pro / server stuff has them on the last pages of manuals, like here on KRPA U16:


pg. 100.

Such a shame that they skimp on this on the lesser (newer?) boards

 

[Styp]

I don't have a block diagram for Asus W680 ACE but the specs say one M.2 slot is attached to CPU and two to W680, and finally the SlimSAS port to W680. W680 can support 12x PCIe 4.0 lanes so they should all be usable simultaneously. Note that everything connected to W680 shares the single DMI 4.0 link to the CPU but that is still plenty of bandwidth, same as PCIe 4.0 x8.

As far as I know, the only bifurcation supported is the CPU PCIe 5.0 x16 slot which can be split into x8/x8. Or, you can split it into two x8's for two slots, but that is not really bifurcation, just switching some of the lanes into a different physical slot. W680 does not support any bifurcation whatsoever.

If you need multiple U.2 drives, you might try a SFF-8639 adapter card which fits into a PCIe slot.

Thanks! I think the easiest solution is to populate 3 M.2 slots and call it a day.
I think W680 doesn't support PCIe 5.0, so it's 4.0 everywhere...