Can more than one SSD be put in the same motherboard?

by Paul | Last Updated: July 5, 2022

Connecting an SSD to the motherboard requires the right type of connection, you could have an M.2 SSD or a 2.5 inch SSD, both of which make use of a SATA interface to connect to the motherboard, and the M.2 could also make use of PCIe connection to connect to the motherboard.

Can more than one SSD be put in the same motherboard?

Relatively speaking, it is possible to put more than one SSD on the same motherboard, but it also highly depends on the number of SATA, PCIe M.2 and PCIe U.2 ports that are available on the motherboard. There are cars where your motherboard doesn’t have all the necessary ports you need for more than one SSD and there are also cases where your motherboard does. The more ports that are available, the more SSDs you could actually put on your motherboard.

Motherboards vary in terms of the number of slots, not all motherboards will have the same number of slots for your SSD, and that plays a role in determining whether or not you’ll be able to connect more than one SSD on your motherboard, because the connection is almost like a bridge connecting the SSD to your computer.

If you intend to connect the SSD through a SATA port, you might be in luck because it is known that most motherboards have about four to six SATA slots available. In this case, you could have more than one SATA SSD connected to your computer.

You could also have more than one SSD on the same motherboard if the power supply can support the power socket and as emphasized earlier, it is also possible if the motherboard has more than one SATA data ports that allow you connect multiple drivers to the same motherboard.

So basically, the number of SSDs you can connect to the motherboard will highly depend on the number of ports you have at your disposal, you could have two ports that allow you to connect the SSD, and that could work just fine.

 SATA Ports  On Your Motherboard

The actual number of SATA ports on your motherboard depends on the board itself, an average motherboard has about 4-8 SATA ports, this means that you could be lucky enough to have that number and you might need about two for your additional SSD.

The number of SATA ports on your motherboard could also depend on the size of the motherboard you have, along with the chipset as well. These days, the number of SATA ports on a motherboard ranges from zero to thirteen, but this also highly depends, because the high number of ports you have are determined by whether your board is expensive and specialized.

You could also have a limited number of SATA ports on your motherboard, but for an average user, you could only need about two or three SATA ports if you want to add another SSD to your motherboard.

The SATA interface is very important for your storage drives, if you really want to have more than one SSD, you need a board that definitely has the right SATA port and also one that has more than one.

There are also different types of SATA or different versions of the SATA interface, the most current version is the SATA 3 with a total of 6 Gbps or 750 MB/s transfer speed, which is pretty solid when it comes to transfer speed rates.

Ways To Find Out How Many SATA Ports You Have

One way to find out would be to simply consult the manufacturer, this is the most direct way to get all the information you will need about the ports on your motherboard, you could get the information from the extensive data sheet available for the motherboard or even on the manufacturer’s website.

You could also know through a more manual approach, you could just open up your case and manually count the SATA ports on your motherboard, this option is a little bit tricky because you have to follow certain precautions and you could also count the number of SATA ports and not be aware of the versions.

Another option would be to make use of third-party software, the software can read your device’s status and provide you feedback on your SATA ports including whether they are in use or not. Also, you could use the BIOS, If your BIOS can, you can use it to see how many SATA ports you have on your computer.

PCIe Slot On Motherboard

Just like the SATA ports on the motherboard, you also need PCIe ports if you want to connect the PCIe SSD to your motherboard, any motherboard with extra PCIe slots could potentially allow you to connect more than one SSD.

With PCIe slots, there is no way to increase the number of slots you have on your motherboard, the only way to connect more than one SSD to your motherboard if it doesn’t have enough PCIe slots would be to upgrade your motherboard entirely.

You could also check the motherboard manual to see how many PCIe slots are available,  and also if it will be able to provide you with the speed and functionality you need to add in the extra SSD.

Conclusion

To put it simply, you can definitely have more than one SSD on your motherboard, but it mostly depends on the available ports on your motherboard, it could be the SATA port or the PCIe slot, depending on the type of SSD.

You could check the number of slots you have available in a lot of ways, the manual way is usually straight forward but if you want to avoid opening up your computer case, then you could check the manual or online.

Lastly, if your motherboard doesn’t have enough SATA ports for SATA SSD, then you could get yourself a SATA expansion card for the PCIe slots, that way, you have more SATA ports for the SATA SSDs.