[SOLVED] Installing a second M2 drive but confused!

Aug 13, 2020
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Firstly, sorry for the "stupid" question - Not the best when it comes to these things!

I have a asus prime z390-a board and currently have one m2 installed for my os. I'm looking to get a second one for my flight sims and looking to get https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073SB2MXT/ref=twister_B07SSC2LB6?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

Will this work in the second slot? I've been trying to read forums etc but they talk phrases I don't fully get. I do get it will disable some sata ports!
I don't want to dump £90 on a drive for it not to work. Someone said it would work and I read it won't because it's a SATA M2?

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
It may work. Apparently your motherboard has 2 M.2 slots. One is specifically for PCI-E SSDs and the other works with both PCI-E SSDs as wel as SATA SSDs.

So it really depends on which type of SSD you already own and which port supports both the PCI-E and SATA SSDs. The top M.2 slot supports both, the bottom one only supports PCI-E SSDs.

If you already own a SATA M.2 SSD and are planning to add the WD Blue one, I'm afraid it won't work.
 
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Aug 13, 2020
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Many thanks Taeioum! That answers my question. I find that dumb but don't fully understand it.

I'm at work and not sure what is on my current M2 and it is in the first slot. But that has my OS on it anyway so don't want to be shifting that around! I'm hopeless at Bios etc!
Just to confirm, if I buy a NVME M2, that will work in the second slot.
 
Also currently at work, so I know what you mean. :) If you Google (or tell me) your current SSD I'm sure it'll quickly tell you if it's a PCI-E or a SATA SSD. BIOS won't be an issue tough, as it only has Windows installation to boot.

But to answer your last question, yes, you're right, the bottom slot should only support PCI-E drives.

The only thing I can think of is that on my ASUS ROG Z370 Hero board it automatically selected the PCI-E x2 mode and not the x4 mode, so it didn't support full speed out of the box. Just something to be wary of.
 
Aug 13, 2020
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I really don't have a clue, all I know it's a Samsung 🤦‍♂️
I'll have a look when home!

If my current one is a NVME, even though it's got windows on it, could I just shift that into the second slot and it won't make a difference? Still be my C drive?

Really appreciate your help on this!
 
Aug 13, 2020
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Why not just buy a standard sata ssd and bypass any of this hassle or troubleshooting??

They're the same price with the same performance

Hi Matt - It's for my flight sims and they can take an age to load. 10+ minutes. I know it won't be a FPS boost but it's mainly load times. I stream too so the though process is just a smoother operation overall.
Would it make zero difference from a SSD to a M2?
 
Hi Matt - It's for my flight sims and they can take an age to load. 10+ minutes. I know it won't be a FPS boost but it's mainly load times. I stream too so the though process is just a smoother operation overall.
Would it make zero difference from a SSD to a M2?

M2 is just the form factor

Nvme and sata is the difference as an interface

If you already have am nvme drive installed rhen an m2 sata is the same spec as a 2.5 inch sata ssd.

As already stated if your boot drive is sata and you can fit an nvme m2 drive its anything upto 5 x faster than sata depending on model.

The wd blue m2 you picked is a sata m2 drive though.

You do need to let us know the drive you're currently using.
 
Aug 13, 2020
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Hey, finally home and I currently have samsung mz-hpv2560. Now from what I can see, it's not SATA so I should be able to put this one in the other slot and the new one in this current slot?
 
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Solution