EVGA X299 DARK Owner's Manual page 19

EVGA X299 DARK (151-SX-E299)
8. Supplemental PCIe 6-pin Power Connector
There is a 6-pin PCIe connector at the bottom of the motherboard (See Page 48
for more specifics to the connector itself, and associated wiring/pinouts). This
connector provides dedicated power to the PCIe x16 slots, augmenting the
+12V power provided by the 24-pin and the GPU directly.
This is optional for a single card solution, but is recommended for SLI, CFX,
and dual-processor video cards.
9. Intel SATA 6Gbit/s Ports
®
The Intel X299 PCH has a 6-port SATA 3/6 Gbit/s controller (See Page 55
®
for specifics on the connectors). This controller is backwards compatible with
SATA and SATA II devices, and supports SSDs, HDDs and various types of
optical devices (CDROM, DVDROM, BD-ROM, etc). The controller also
supports NCQ, TRIM, hot swap capability (provided the proper HDD/SSD
bays/racks are installed), and RAID levels 0/1/5/10.
10. ASMedia SATA 6Gbit/s Ports
This is a secondary SATA controller, the ASM1061 is a 2-port SATA3/6
Gbit/s controller with legacy support for older operating systems, such as
Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1. This is included largely for benchmarking and
overclocking with very specific programs, such as Super Pi, 3DMark, PCMark,
etc. (See Page 55 for specifics on the connectors)
11. U.2 Port (SFF-8639)
U.2, originally known as SFF-8639, is a high bandwidth connection specifically
engineered for next generation SSDs. U.2 brings PCIe x4 (Gen3) NVMe
performance to a 2.5" SSD form factor and provides a solution to potential
heating problems that may be present in some M.2 solutions. Port function
depends on installed CPU-type and BIOS Configuration.
12. M.2 Socket 3 Key-M 110mm (PM1)
M.2 is an SSD form factor standard, which uses up to four PCIe lanes and
utilizes Gen3 speeds. Most popularly paired with NVMe SSDs, this standard
offers substantially faster transfer speeds and seek time than SATA interface
standards. All M.2 devices are designed to connect via a card-bus style
connector and be bolted into place and powered by the connector, rather than
by a dedicated data cable and power cable.
This socket will support Key-M devices of 110mm, 80mm, 60mm, and 42mm
length.
This connector can only utilize a PCIe/NVMe based M.2 SSD devices.
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