[SOLVED] GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) doesn't show M.2 SSD drive in Boot Order list

[VansFannel]

I have installed a Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SDD drive with 500GB on my GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) motherboard.

This unit doesn't appear on the BIOS and either on the boot order list, but I can find it with Linux using the command: "lsblk -o KNAME,TYPE,SIZE,MODEL". And I have also installed Windows 10 on it. I have checked after Windows 10 installation that this units appears as a drive on Linux.

But when I try to select this drive as the first drive to boot, it doesn't appear.

How can I select this M.2 drive to boot from it?

BIOS version is F6.

BIOS date: 05/30/2014

BIOS identifier: 8A06AG0I

SSD: V-NAND SSD 970 EVO Plus MVME M.2. Model: MZ-V7S500. Model Code: MZ-V7S500BW.

 

[Colif]

it doesn't show in the sata list as its pcie, i know that much. I can't see much mention of m.2 in your manual
I could guess its on Peripherals page

maybe update bios to F8 - https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-7-rev-10/support#support-dl-bios link

How to boot in it and install win10 on PCIEX card :

• SATA Mode Selection : AHCI
• PCIE Slot Configuration (PCH) : Forced x4
• CSM Support : Always
• Windows 8 Features : Win8
• Natively recognize by windows 10 during the installation (of course later install Samsung NVMe Controller Driver)

https://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=16833.0

 

[USAFRet]

Z97 boards were very spotty with M.2 support.

What BIOS version is it? You may need to update past at least F6, pref F8.
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-7-rev-10/support#support-dl-bios

Or, it may not be able to boot from that drive at all.

And even if it does, you will get no better than about 1/2 speed for that 970 EVO.

 

[Colif]

x2 is likely speed, some showed on gigabyte link above they can get x4

 

[chickenballs]

All Z97 boards support PCIe 2.0
and I don't think there are any that have pcie 2.0 4x only 2X
The chipset only has 8 pcie2.0 lanes
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/82012/intel-z97-chipset.html

Which means its less than 1/3 the speed you could get with the 970 or 1.000 GB/s