Optiplex 3060 with nvme SAMSUNG 970 EVO - only PCIE 2.0

[DJTJ]

Same issue, the machine manual says it is PCIe 3 x4 NVME, Up to 32 Gbps

Pulling up the  max link speed for the actual hardware shows it can only do PCIe 2 x 4. To say I am ticked off is an understatement.

I had 40 of these things on order. 

Everyone pointing fingers at the SSD need to stuff it. The optiplex 3060 hardware can't freaking do it. Shut up about everything else, 2 is less than 3 that is all you need to know. You are not helping... 

[Fraz76]

Same issue too.... with Samsung Evo 970 sequential speed test read max value is 1780... 😞

[rjohnr]

if you have the pcie (vga) slot empty you can try : https://www.ebay.com/itm/NVMe-SSD-NGFF-TO-PCIE-X16-X4-Adapter-M-Key-Interface-Card-Support-PCI-Expre...

with that adaptor on 3010 i get 2000+mb/s 

[Fraz76]

Today I tested WD nvme BLACk 500GB too, after Samsung EVO 970....in all two disk max sequential read is 1700 instead of 3400+ Because the pci express connection of DELL 3060 MFF is only gen2 x 4 and not gen 3 x 4 as aspected from a H370 chipset and reported in the DELL 3060 manual and specification. I’m very very annoyed. I’m tried with  HWinfo64 and this software confirmed that m.2 nvme connection il only gen 2. 

[AKUK]

I installed a couple of Optiplex 3060 SFF units today with Samsung 970 Evo NVMe SSDs, installed the Samsung NVMe driver, updated to latest BIOS/chipset using Dell Command and Samsung Magician reports PCIe 2 still which is a bit frustrating as my laptop is a few years old now and supports PCIe 3 x 4 NVMe!

[Ziggy32]

I have re-read all the articles in this thread a couple times and there are some wonderful, very technical explanations but can someone put it in layman terms? If the manual says it is PCIe 3 x4 NVME, Up to 32 Gbps then did Dell miss-advertise? Where is the bottleneck? The bus? the slot?

[Da_Vinman]

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@Ziggy32 wrote:
I have re-read all the articles in this thread a couple times and there are some wonderful, very technical explanations but can someone put it in layman terms? If the manual says it is PCIe 3 x4 NVME, Up to 32 Gbps then did Dell miss-advertise? Where is the bottleneck? The bus? the slot?

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Good question, and it could be anything from a BIOS limitation to a hardware flaw to someone substituting a cheaper part on the motherboard, but I am really hoping it's software-based and can be fixed.

It's truly bizarre that older systems like the Optiplex 3050 run at PCIe 3.0 speeds yet the newer 3060 cannot.

I can't believe I wasted all this time and money buying top-end PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives with 3K+ read/write specs, when they're essentially running on 2014 interface hardware.

[liruisheng]

I agree with this. The same is true for the OP3060 I just bought. The Samsung PM961 also runs on PCI2.0 X4. （CrystalDiskInfo: Transfer Mode：PCIe 2.0 x4） DELL，tell me why?

[Da_Vinman]

As I posted in another thread, it's a hardware limitation of both the Optiplex 3060 and 5060 - they used "scaled down" versions of the Intel chipsets that limit their ability to hit the specifications of the NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 bus. Essentially they have a fully-featured H370/Q370 chipset for the CPU/Memory bus, but a "scaled down" PCI 2.0 design for the system bus. 

So that means CPU and memory benchmarks will be consistent with other PCs, but overall NVMe performance is shaved in half.

It's "market segmentation" at it's worst, whereby if you want that kind of performance, you need to get a 7060 - the only problem is that Dell told us all that NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 is supported on the 3060, right in the specifications. Too bad that was an "error".

[Da_Vinman]

Just wanted to post that I have the *exact* same problem with both the Samsung 970 Pro (3,500/2,700 MB/s) and the ADATA SX8200 Pro (3,500/3,000 MB/s) NVMe SSDs, and it's quite clear (that for whatever reason) the PCIe slot on the Optiplex 3060 is limited to PCIe 2.0 x4 rather than the PCIe 3.0 x4 specs of the user 3060 manual and the Intel chipset.

I slapped both of these into my Latitude and benchmarked using a USB drive and both jumped back up to near rated speeds and were certainly performing on the PCIe 3.0 bus.

I have contacted Dell about this issue and have a Case # and I implore everyone else with this issue to do the same - only with an adequate number of complaints will Dell do anything about this flaw.