Users running the high-end AMD X670E motherboards with Gen5 SSDs are facing various issues, mainly with the devices being limited to Gen1 speeds.
Gen5 SSDs Being Limited To Gen1 Speeds On High-End AMD X670E Motherboards, Users Also Experiencing Various Issues
AMD's AM5 platform was the first full-fledged PCIe Gen5 platform, offering Gen5 capabilities for both GPUs and SSDs. The first iteration of AM5 motherboards, the X670E and B650E series, gave users both GPU and SSD Gen5 support while the Non-E motherboards offered optional support with Gen5 SSDs. The upcoming X870E and X870 platforms will further extend Gen5 capabilities.
However, it looks like those who invested in the AMD X670E platforms are facing several issues with the primary one being their Gen5 SSDs being limited to Gen1 speeds. This issue is affecting many customers who are running a Gen5 SSD on their X670E motherboard and it's not just Gen5 speeds being limited. When both the first Gen5 SSD slot and the PCIe Gen5 slot are populated, the system experiences random crashes, with several users unable to boot into Windows.
The issues have been occurring on various Gen5 SSDs such as the Crucial T700 and T705 SSD which are some of the fastest Gen5 drives on the market right now. Users report that the Gen5 SSDs ran flawlessly at the start but later, their systems started to hang, crash & fail to boot into Windows. It would take several restarts before the system would eventually work but upon troubleshooting, it was discovered that the Gen5 SSDs were running at Gen1 speeds which hampers the overall speed and performance.
The ASUS and MSI motherboard forums show several users running X670E motherboards and a graphics card in the first slot experiencing similar issues. It was discovered by some users that reverting to Gen4 speeds or using a Gen4 drive would resolve the issue and the systems would work flawlessly which made some users believe that the issue was with the Gen5 drives but upon trying different sets of Gen5 SSDs from the same or different manufacturers, it was discovered that the issue persisted.
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Now it should be mentioned that on AMD's X670E motherboards, the first M.2 slot shares the lanes with the first slot so that might have been an issue. However, after countless reports, some users reported that MSI's latest firmware BIOS, notably the 1.0c release, fixed the issue for them but still, some users haven't been able to fix their PCs despite running the latest firmware.
On ASUS forums, users have been unable to get proper support so far and the company has asked users to reach out to their respective SSD manufacturers for support. One of the affected users who is running an ASUS X670E motherboard with the Crucial T705 SSD got a response from Crucial's support team which is provided below:
We would like to inform you that we escalated your issue to our dedicated team for further investigation, and they informed us that the problem lies with the motherboard rather than the Crucial SSD. This behavior has been observed across various motherboards from different manufacturers, and we were able to replicate it on our in-house systems as well.
The issue seems to occur when a Gen5 SSD is connected to a Gen5 slot on the motherboard, which is why you are not experiencing this problem with your Gen4 drive. If you were to connect the Crucial T705 SSD to Gen4 speeds at all times, this issue would likely be resolved.
Unfortunately, the only fix for this issue is a BIOS update from the motherboard manufacturer. We recommend reaching out to your motherboard's manufacturer to inquire about a potential BIOS update that addresses this specific problem. We have seen BIOS updates from multiple manufacturers that help resolve this kind of issue.
Please note that the Crucial T705 SSD will perform at whatever speed the motherboard allows, and this is not a fault of the drive itself. We understand the inconvenience and will continue to support you, but at this point, it is necessary to work with the motherboard manufacturer to find a solution.
Crucial Engineering Team
Crucial's response seems to suggest that the flaw is within the motherboards rather than the Gen5 SSDs. They were able to reproduce the same issue across various X670E motherboards from different manufacturers and also their own "in-house" systems. The company asks to contact the motherboard maker about the issue and that a BIOS firmware update will be able to address the issue.
Gen5 SSDs are still considered as early adopter hardware but there's a good chunk of people who are investing in these high-performance storage devices and the respective Gen5 platforms. If the platforms fail to provide decent support for a feature that is one of their highlights, then that falls under bad marketing. It should be the responsibility of all motherboard makers to address the concerns and issues that their users are facing and we hope that all affected platforms receive a new BIOS soon that will stop this Gen5 SSD limitation and make them work as intended.
