Solved Kingston SSD’s not retaining partitions

Scannerman · Sep 7, 2023

antspants said:
The Maximus VI Formula doesn't do 4x

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From the top;
1st (Above GPU) Blocked by CPU fan
2nd To close to GPU fan (which I just discovered I may have an issue with as they aren’t spinning)
3rd WiFi/Bluetooth.

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I could always spend $200 on a 2nd hand Maximus VI and hope the mPCIe combo is still intact and place it on my board.

Okay. So you have a total of 6 PCIe slots. Generally the first large slot under your CPU is the sweet spot for your GPU. (If you need to change this it can usually be configured in your BIOS.) The little black slot above the first red slot is probably blocked but it would only be good for a USB card, or a sound card, or something that doesn't use a whole lot of bandwidth anyway. The three red slots should allow you up to 16X PCIe lanes depending on what your CPU can handle. Technically, you do have 4x but it's built into those red slots, which are made to deliver 4x, 8x, or 16x. So one of those red slots should work fine for an HBA card. The card will only use what it needs. I'm assuming you have your UEFI (BIOS) set to auto detect. That very bottom red slot should work just fine for an HBA card. Please let me know if this helps.

Also you don't need to do anything drastic like buying another system board. Is there a physical problem with your system board? That would be the only reason to replace it. BTW that's a mighty fine looking board you have. I nearly bought one of those myself back in the day, but couldn't justify it as I'm not much of a gamer. Mind, my X99 board is registered with ROG as it is also popular among gamers and some of those boys take their system boards very seriously. Lots of good advice in those forums.

Scannerman · Sep 7, 2023

Additional info: What I would do with that board if it were mine (and the picture you have presented here is just as you have it) I would put the HBA card above the blue tooth card. There is enough clearance. HBA cards aren't huge like some graphics cards are. There is definitely enough clearance. Your fans are likely not spinning because they don't usually spin unless your GPU is getting a good work out. You can check this by booting up your PC and watching the fans in your graphics card. They will usually spin for a few seconds and then stop. The fan controller in the Graphics card is thermally controlled. The fans spin as they are needed. If they're not needed they don't spin.

I hope this helps.

antspants · Sep 7, 2023

Scannerman said:
Also you don't need to do anything drastic like buying another system board. Is there a physical problem with your system board?

Mate that is all great advice & info thanks. I wasn’t away that I could use the red slots for anything other than what takes up the entire red slot. I feel a little stupid. Thanks for taking the time, you Canadians are a great bunch. I am glad I married one.

As for the board. I need to replace only the mPCIe Combo (top left of board) its the bluetooth/wireless and it is removable. It can also apparently hold a M.2 (otherwise the board wasn't built for them 2014)

I was working on my case and had to remove the motherboard a few times in that week, on one occasion I forgot to unscrew the wireless and stripped the wires when yanking out the board (not the external antenna wires) it’s not repairable. I just need a 2nd hand board for replacing that part. As old as it was, it worked flawlessly. These 3rd party combos cause me nothing but grief, but from what I have read, could actually be a windows Bluetooth bug.

And you’re right, it’s still a great board after 9 years, I’ll always keep it, regardless of the countdown to my next build. I will be doing ROG again, that is a certain.

Scannerman · Sep 7, 2023

Glad I could help.

Sorry about the WiFi MPCIe thing. I really don't know if ASUS builds 'em anymore like they used to. They seem to be slipping on their laurels a lot these days and their support isn't what it used to be either. If you have the manual you can read up on your board features. You also have soo much SATA on that board. If you wanted to you could probably run just as many hard drives as I do with the right CPU, but you're doing fine as you are and an HBA card will give you certain features you won't normally get with regular SATA drives. More on this later. Gotta go pick up the Missuz from the lab. TC.

antspants · Sep 7, 2023

Scannerman said:
I really don't know if ASUS builds 'em anymore like they used to. They seem to be slipping on their laurels a lot these days and their support isn't what it used to be either.

You’re right, many complaints and concerns from the community. But ROG support is a lot better than “Asus” direct support. The only issue I might face is if a ROG board fails.
Good luck with the wife, a word of advice. Check that you’ve shut that door first.

Scannerman · Sep 7, 2023

antspants said:
You’re right, many complaints and concerns from the community. But ROG support is a lot better than “Asus” direct support. The only issue I might face is if a ROG board fails.
Good luck with the wife, a word of advice. Check that you’ve shut that door first.

I agree 100%. The crew on the ROG forums offer better support than ASUS does IMO. Not all of their support is strictly gaming either. I've seen a good many ITs help folks out there too. Yup. I made sure that door was shut. Thanks for the critical advice. Also managed to get the tarps folded and the tent put away. Winter is coming. . .