Question Compatibility of new PCIe SSD with old motherboard (LGA 1151)

[Big Swifty]

The SSD drive I'm looking at (HP EX950) is not included on the list of supported drives for my Gigabyte B150M-DS3H (purchased in 2016) so I sent Gigabyte an email asking about the compatibility. Their response was:

"...it does not appear in the compatibility list of the M.2 discs of that model. You should see the part number to find it more precisely. This does not mean that it will not work; The compatibility list is of products that were tested and work 100% insured. Those who do not appear can work, only they were not tested and we cannot assure it."

So not being the most computer literate person and looking for some basic level of common-sense confirmation; am I safe in making the assumption that it's obvious that a drive released in 2019 won't show up on their list, likely because Gigabyte doesn't test every new component for all of their products and regularly update these support lists, and that in all likelihood I shouldn't have any compatibility issues even though Gigabyte "cannot assure it?"

 

[jimmysmitty]

It will most likely work. M.2 utilizes PCIe, in more modern designs, and PCIe is backwards compatible. The only changes would be connection interface or length of the card, some boards may not support longer cards.

The only thing to worry about would be what PCIe slots or ports (typically SATA) will turn off if a PCIe M.2 drive is used. The slots normally, on mainstream boards, share PCIe or SATA connections.