Question Help with installing M.2 NVMe SSD, and RAM issues ?

[itsthenoobfox]

Hi there,

I'm planning to get an NVMe to replace my main C drive which is currently a regular 240gb SSD. My setup has 2 SSD (240gb / 500gb) and 1 HDD (1tb). My question is, can I install an NVMe (clone from current drive C) and still have all 3 current drives work with no issues (the 240gb will be formatted and serve as additional storage)? Not sure about SATA speeds or if there's a preferred slot to which I should plug in my SATA connectors for optimized read/write speeds. If there is any, can you please let me know which slot I should plug in my SATA drives?

Any recommended NVMe specifics or are they all the same?

Mobo: Aorus x470 Gaming 7 Wifi Rev 1.1
BIOS: F62
CPU: Ryzen 7 2700X
GPU: Aorus 2060 Extreme 6GB

Also, I have a RAM issue where the system has suddenly set one of my 32GB RAMs to System Reserved.
It was working fine a while back (64GB total/2 x 32GB).

I don't know the reason why it suddenly set half of my RAM to System Reserved. I've tried tons of solutions from online guides to no avail.

 

[USAFRet]

The specs from Gigabyte don't mention any SATA ports being disabled when using an NVMe drive.
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X470-AORUS-GAMING-7-WIFI-rev-11/sp#sp

For cloning, this:

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Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
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Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[itsthenoobfox]

Hi! Thanks for your reply. I have a follow up question though. I'm confused from all these guides and discussion online. I see people talking about NVME SSD and NVME PCIE. Are all NVME the same and do they all utilize the PCIE speed? If you check this image, Im a bit confused with the form factor of the two drives circled in red. I believe my motherboard supports the one on the left or am i wrong?