M.2 Slot is Disabled on Some B560 MBs with 10th Gen Intel Core Processor?

If you plan to upgrade to PCIe 4.0 devices, the 11th Gen Intel Core Processor is the choice to pair with Z590/B560 motherboard. However, if you don’t care about PCIe 4.0, the 10th Gen Intel Core Processor is still a good option.

Some users have recently found that one of the M.2 slots on some B560 motherboards is disabled with the 10th Gen Intel Core Processor installed. The M.2 slot is only available to use with 11th Gen Core Processor. This implies that on motherboards with two M.2 slots, only one slot is available to use.

Why is the M.2 slot disabled with the 10th Gen Intel Core Processors? Let’s get into it.

On Z590/B560 motherboards, the M.2 slot needs to be connected to the CPU to utilize the PCIe 4.0 x4 lanes from the 11th Gen Core Processor.

When the 10th Gen Intel Core Processor is installed, there are no PCIe 4.0 x4 lanes offered for M2. Slot. This is why the M.2 slot connected to the CPU is disabled with the 10th Gen Core Processor installed.

But why is the first M.2 slot still available with 10th Gen Intel Core Processor on MSI B560 models with two M.2 slots, such as the B560I GAMING EDGE WIFI, B560M MORTAR WIFI, B560M BAZOOKA, and B560M PRO-VDH?

This is because MSI uses a switch for the first M.2 slot to switch the connection between the CPU and chipset. When the 11th Gen processor is installed, the first M.2 slot is connected to the CPU to utilize the PCIe 4.0 x4 bandwidth. It is switched to the chipset and utilizes the PCIe 3.0 x4 lanes when the 10th Gen processor is installed.

There are several M.2 offerings for the MSI B560 series. Some have three M.2 slots, some have two, and some only one. For the models with more than two M.2 slots, at least two are available with 10th Gen Intel Core Processor.

Here is the list of M.2 slots on each model and the max transfer mode for each slot. For more detail, please visit the MSI website or refer to the user’s manual.

The M.2 slot max supported transfer mode with 10th Gen Intel Core Processors.

 The M2_1 slot supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 with 11th Gen Intel Core Processors.