E5-576g-5762 M.2 NVME slot width?

@brummyfan2 sorry for the ping, but after reading about 8 similar threads I believe you'd be one of the best people to ask this

While checking my model's HWiNFO, the same as the one mentioned in this thread, I noticed one PCIe slot at 4x width, one at 2x, and two at 1x. How do I know which is responsible for which?
I'm asking because of the possible performance impairment when using an eGPU as the MX150 in this model is really, really far from VR-Ready.

Which slot is responsible for the M.2 NVMe SSD and which is responsible for the WiFi card? What are the other two responsible for? The fact the 2x slot is "Not negotiated" leads me to believe it's the one responsible for the NVMe drive slot, while one of the 1x slots is the WiFi card. Would this mean that Acer prioritized the MX150's performance over the performance of a possible NVMe SSD in this model?
Additional question: Is it possible to free up the 4x slot?

Thanks for your help.

Pictures:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/7x/8c1fkpbevus1.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/v3/3txsq6q3x57w.png

Accepted answers

brummyfan2

Hi,
You have to expand PCI Express Root Ports in the left pane to find out what these ports are used for(click + sign), Port with maximum link width 4 is for the graphics card, maximum link width 2 is for NVMe SSD and the others are used by Realtek, WiFi card etc. I have shown in my snip as an example, unfortunately, you can not free up the 4x slot, these are controlled by the chipset.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/0c/qjelnvmgsg8w.jpg

All comments

brummyfan2

Hi,
You have to expand PCI Express Root Ports in the left pane to find out what these ports are used for(click + sign), Port with maximum link width 4 is for the graphics card, maximum link width 2 is for NVMe SSD and the others are used by Realtek, WiFi card etc. I have shown in my snip as an example, unfortunately, you can not free up the 4x slot, these are controlled by the chipset.

MsFallacious

You're a real one. Thank you so much for the quick reply, it helps a lot! I don't regret posting here :')

I do have one more question though. Since the PCIe width split is negotiated by the chip, would it be possible to utilize the MX150's PCIe slot by de-soldering it (unless this model uses MXM, I haven't checked), or would I just run into the same issue as before? I suppose 2x will be good enough for my purposes. Shame we dont have TB3 on this model.

Again, thank you so much! Have a great new year, stay safe, and lets all hope for a better 2021.

brummyfan2

Hi,
The graphics is soldered on to the motherboard, I am not familiar with de-soldering, so can not comment on this, yes, you should be fine with the speed of 2 lanes PCIe.
You are welcome and have a great year and keep safe

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