Question Help with Upgrading to an NVMe SSD on MSI Z270 Gaming M3

[FreezeTime99]

Hi everyone! First time posting on this forum.

I'm planning to upgrade my old 1TB HDD, which I've been using since 2017. It's gotten old and is getting really slow. My option is the "Nvme Pcie 4.0 M.2 Snv2s/1000g Kingston," and my motherboard is an MSI Z270 Gaming M3 (a 2016 motherboard, if I'm not mistaken).

Here are my questions:

-Is this M.2 SSD compatible with my motherboard? According to the MSI website, it is, and since PCIe 4.0 is backward-compatible with 3.0, I shouldn't have any trouble.

-Do I need to update my BIOS version? I've read that some people recommend updating the BIOS to the latest version in order to avoid certain "compatibility problems". I'm still using the first BIOS version that came with the motherboard (1.0). The problem is, I'm afraid to update the BIOS and run into issues during installation that could render the motherboard useless (especially considering that my motherboard doesn't have the "BIOS Flashback" feature).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Aeacus]

-Is this M.2 SSD compatible with my motherboard?

Yes.

According to the MSI website, it is, and since PCIe 4.0 is backward-compatible with 3.0, I shouldn't have any trouble.

True.

Do I need to update my BIOS version?

Maybe.

BIOS list for your MoBo: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z270-GAMING-M3/support

If you're running AMI BIOS v1.0, then AMI BIOS v7A62v12 provides you with better NVMe compatibility. But that doesn't necessarily mean that none of the M.2 NVMe drives won't work.

So, 1st try to run the drive "as is" and if it doesn't work, then update BIOS to 7A62v12 or 7A62v17 (latter is latest).

Nvme Pcie 4.0 M.2 Snv2s/1000g Kingston

Specs of your drive: https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/nv2-nvme-pcie-ssd#specifications

Do note that 1TB drive speeds are 3,500 MB/s read and 2,100 MB/s write. These, are low, especially for PCI-E 4.0 (aka Gen4) drive.
In my Skylake build, with MSI Z170A Gaming M5 MoBo (full specs with pics in my sig), i'm running Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB, which is PCI-E 3.0 (aka Gen3) drive and my drive speeds are: 3,500 MB/s read and 3,300 MB/s write.

So, i suggest that you also get Samsung 970 Evo Plus. It has better compatibility to your MoBo (by being PCI-E 3.0 drive and not PCI-E 4.0 drive), whereby you may not need to update your BIOS at all. And you'll get far faster write speeds as well. Not to mention the Samsung durability and reliability.
970 Evo Plus review: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/samsung-970-evo-plus-ssd,5608.html

 

[Bob.B]

Hi everyone! First time posting on this forum.

I'm planning to upgrade my old 1TB HDD, which I've been using since 2017. It's gotten old and is getting really slow. My option is the "Nvme Pcie 4.0 M.2 Snv2s/1000g Kingston," and my motherboard is an MSI Z270 Gaming M3 (a 2016 motherboard, if I'm not mistaken).

Here are my questions:

-Is this M.2 SSD compatible with my motherboard? According to the MSI website, it is, and since PCIe 4.0 is backward-compatible with 3.0, I shouldn't have any trouble.

-Do I need to update my BIOS version? I've read that some people recommend updating the BIOS to the latest version in order to avoid certain "compatibility problems". I'm still using the first BIOS version that came with the motherboard (1.0). The problem is, I'm afraid to update the BIOS and run into issues during installation that could render the motherboard useless (especially considering that my motherboard doesn't have the "BIOS Flashback" feature).

Thanks in advance!

Consider swapping to a 2.5 ssd then you won't have to fuss with anything.

 

[Aeacus]

Consider swapping to a 2.5 ssd then you won't have to fuss with anything.

While 2.5" SATA SSD would also be huge uplift from HDD in terms of performance, i believe that M.2 drive also works in OP's system. PCI-E 3.0 drives should work fine. Unsure about PCI-E 4.0 and 5.0 drives - those may need BIOS update.

In my system, where my MoBo is 1gen older than OP has it, i looked up and my BIOS isn't the latest either. Instead one version newer would give me the "Improved NVME device compatibility.". Despite that, i have Samsung 960 Evo and Samsung 970 Evo Plus, both PCI-E 3.0 drives, running in my system issue free. So, i'm confident that PCI-E 3.0 drives would also work in OP's system without BIOS update.

 

[FreezeTime99]

While 2.5" SATA SSD would also be huge uplift from HDD in terms of performance, i believe that M.2 drive also works in OP's system. PCI-E 3.0 drives should work fine. Unsure about PCI-E 4.0 and 5.0 drives - those may need BIOS update.

In my system, where my MoBo is 1gen older than OP has it, i looked up and my BIOS isn't the latest either. Instead one version newer would give me the "Improved NVME device compatibility.". Despite that, i have Samsung 960 Evo and Samsung 970 Evo Plus, both PCI-E 3.0 drives, running in my system issue free. So, i'm confident that PCI-E 3.0 drives would also work in OP's system without BIOS update.

Thanks for your response! I think I'll go for a Samsung 970 EVO (Or any gen3) instead—better safe than sorry.

 

[Aeacus]

With Samsung PCI-E 3.0 NVMe drives, your options are these,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/internal-hard-drive/#m=32&c1=di_m2.pcie_30_x4&sort=price&D=1

In my 2nd build (Haswell, full specs with pics in my sig), i have Samsung 980 1TB running. MoBo in that build is even older than in my current build, namely MSI Z97 Gaming 5, but M.2 NVMe drive works just fine in there as well. That MoBo hasn't seen BIOS updates either.