Question ASUS H97-PLUS - M.2 Drive

[THRobinson]

I have an older ASUS H97-PLUS motherboard that shows as having 1 x M.2 Socket 3 slot.

I plan to upgrade the system this year to an i3-13600k, but have a bit more urgency on the storage side of things. I have a Samsung 250GB SSD as my C:\ for all my apps/games and a 2TB HDD (D:\) for storage. I could install to my D:\, but rather the apps stay on the C:\ drive.

I plan to buy a 500GB NVMe M.2 drive for the upgraded PC as my boot/app drive. The WD BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD to be specific.

Will this work with my current motherboard? maybe not full speed but work nonetheless? or am I stuck waiting until I get a new motherboard? (probably the ASUS Prime Z690-P D4, MSI Pro Z690-P, or ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming 4)

The manual for my current board shows

This socket supports M Key and type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices​

(Type 2242 storage device is supported on Rev.2.01 or later versions of this​

motherboard).​

Also... if any suggestions/recommendations about better 500GB drives or Motherboards, let me know. Tight budget so not looking for more expensive and don't need fancy, just a cheap workhorse.

 

[USAFRet]

The i3-13600k will obviously not work with your H97-PLUS motherboard.
So, new motherboard.

Which is a whole new system.

Which means a whole new OS install.

Do not bother trying to put an NVMe drive in that H97 board.
Especially if you're thinking of trying to install applications to it, and then somehow move that to a new system and new OS.


Don't bother with an NVMe drive at all, until you get it as part of the whole new system.

 

[THRobinson]

I think you mis-read my post... at the end I mentioned which 3 boards I was looking at when I upgrade.

PC PART PICKER

That would be the upgrade. My power supply, case, and such is fine so not replacing that stuff. Plan was upgrade the MB/RAM/CPU, then later grab the 500GB drive, then near the end of the year a used RTX2070 Super to replace my GTX1060 OC.

O/S Install I have no issues with. I format my drive and reinstall the O/S every year just to clean it out. Just sit and let it run while I watch TV.

So... back to the OP. Wil the SN770 work in my system?

 

[USAFRet]

OK, sorry if I misread.
I thought you were going to put it in your current ancient board.

Yes, the SN770 will absolutely work with the Z690-P motherboard.

 

[THRobinson]

Oh no, it'll be th full board/cpu/ram upgrade... can't even re-use the same ram, DDR3 not DDR4/5. I'm not switching to DDR5 yet, just simply because I need to stay on a very tight budget, hence doing it in stages and buying a used RTX2070. See them around $350CAD used in my area, vs new for what $1000+?

That said... you still mis-read.

I will be upgrading to the Z790-P. I know the SN770 will work in that.

I have the H97-Plus now.

Will the SN770 work in the H97-Plus?

 

[USAFRet]

Will the SN770 work in the H97-Plus?

And that is where I was originally.
SN770 + H97.

"work with", in what capacity?

As a secondary drive, to just hold some data?
Maybe.
What data?

 

[USAFRet]

According to the manual, it has an M.2 port, that will support a 2280 NVMe drive.

It says nothing about the PCIe level (2.0, 3.0, whatever) or whether the system will boot from one of those.

 

[THRobinson]

I'm not sure why you're not understanding the setup... no, not as a secondary drive.

Let me start over and simplify this as much as I can.

I have an Asus H97-Plus and I want to remove my current drive and install a WD SN770 M.2 drive. Will it work?

Nothing more, nothing less.

The rest of the info was simply to let people know that I am upgrading and will eventually get the SN770 for the new PC. If I can buy/use it now on my old PC I will because I need the space.

Only info I can find is that using the M.2 slot disables 2 of the SATA ports. Which is fine, the board has 6. Says M.2 Socket 3... Googled and found "Socket 3: SSD Drive Socket with SATA or up to four PCIe lanes." but otherwise not sure if that means PCIe 3.0 or not. Unlikely get the ful NVMe speed but so long as it's as fast as what I have now, that's fine.

 

[USAFRet]

I have an Asus H97-Plus and I want to remove my current drive and install a WD SN770 M.2 drive. Will it work?

Maybe, maybe not.

NVMe booting was iffy with ()97 era motherboard.
H97, even less so.

If it does, you would see zero actual performance difference vs a sinple SATA III SSD.
Which WILL work, 100%.

Buying the SN770 now, to use in a future system, is a waste of time.
Drive prices per GB go down over time.
Get the SN770 when you build up the new system.

It is a total waste of time trying to get that to work with your current H87.

 

[THRobinson]

It is a total waste of time trying to get that to work with your current H87.

Well, the time's mine to waste. Also as mentioned, I didn't expect it to run any faster than what I currently have. I need drive space now, and if I see it go on sale before I plan to upgrade in a few months, I don't see what the issue is... as long as it works and boots.

Answer however is... YES.... it will work.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGbbW6TqOvc&ab_channel=Ace1000ks1975

 

[USAFRet]

Well, there ya go.

NVMe support with the -97 era motherboards was very spotty.
Some worked, some did not.
Some, only with the most recent BIOS update.

Almost all disabled one or more SATA ports, if used as boot or otherwise.

I say it is mostly a waste of time, because drive prices almost always go down over time.
The same NVMe you buy today for that system will be cheaper in a few months when you build up your new system.

But, go for it.

 

[THRobinson]

True... prices almost always drop. That said, I wish I had grabbed one during Boxing Day sales. At reg. price I won't grab one but since my drive space is sparse, if I see it go on sale before I upgrade, I will likely buy it. I had to uninstall a few apps the other day to make room for another. Got Borderlands III finally (I'm cheap and wait for STEAM sales) and at 95GB in size, I can't play it without dumping Fortnite. Basically a one-game-system right now, given the size of modern games.

I bought the CPU fan already... around $90CAD for the Peerless Assassin 120 SE, saw it for $40CAD. Too cheap to pass on.

 

[USAFRet]

True... prices almost always drop. That said, I wish I had grabbed one during Boxing Day sales. At reg. price I won't grab one but since my drive space is sparse, if I see it go on sale before I upgrade, I will likely buy it. I had to uninstall a few apps the other day to make room for another. Got Borderlands III finally (I'm cheap and wait for STEAM sales) and at 95GB in size, I can't play it without dumping Fortnite. Basically a one-game-system right now, given the size of modern games.

I bought the CPU fan already... around $90CAD for the Peerless Assassin 120 SE, saw it for $40CAD. Too cheap to pass on.

Then just add this new drive as a secondary thing. Put new games on it.
The Steam platform is very conversant with allowing multiple drives.

 

[Moonstick2]

I had the ASUS H97M-E and installed a WD Blue SN550 1TB NVMe drive for Steam games nearly two years ago, so very close to what you're looking at. I never had any issues with it at all so I feel confident saying you'll be fine. The same drive I've now moved across to my new system.