Intel Ivy Bridge 3770K- what is the latest supported motherboard? Need M.2.

[Astralv]

Hey there

I have Ivy Bridge 3770K processor and P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P8Z77V_PROTHUNDERBOLT/specifications/

I used all SATA ports for SSDs (music production, samples storage). The computer itself works great. I have no issues, and no excuse to rebuild. I want to wait to the end of 2016 for the new build, but for now need more SATA ports for SSD. At least 2 would make me happy.

These are the slots I have:
3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16
2 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI

One of these slots (large) occupied by the graphics card (AMD HD 7850) and very small port has Fire Wire card.

Can I utilize any of these ports for a SSD? I was advised to get a card but I could not find what I need. I want to get M.2 port. I keep hearing that M.2 is made on PCIe 3.0, so is there a way to turn my slots to M.2?

If I was to change the motherboard... will it take out my Windows installation? I have Windows 10 (upgrade from Win 8.0 to 8.1 to 10). If I have to pay $200 to upgrade motherboard, I would consider it, but I don't want to deal with reinstalling Windows.

So is there a way to take out my motherboard and replace it with newer generation that supports M.2, and still be using Ivy Bridge 3770K?

Thank you.

 

[basroil]

You can't get anything better than a Z77 for that chip.

If you want PCIe based M.2 that's an option, but it won't be pretty.

Consider just getting a regular PCIe expansion board like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124070

 

[kraelic]

None of the 1155 motherboards have an m.2 slot, there are adapters to put an NVME m.2 drive into a x4 slot. You need UEFI Windows install and NVME code modded into the mainboard's UEFI.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1571271/tutorial-how-to-add-nvme-support-on-any-ami-uefi-bios-with-an-intel-chipset

Otherwise add a card and use a sata ssd or move a hdd to one

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124073
or
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124130

Do not use the supplied driver disk. Open device manager and find the card, then open its properties. Find the device id to search for a driver to get the latest.

 

[jossrik]

Z77 boards won't have M.2 support at all over PCIe 3.0. You'll need NVMe support to get the real fast M.2 SSDs. The good news is you can get an PCIe 2.0 board that has an M.2 adapter, those cost around 20$ or so on eBay, I actually just bought one for my Z97 board, which does support NVMe, Samsung 950 Pro, and it's noticeably faster than the SATA III SSD I was using for windows and programs, however, you don't get much storage outta the fast M.2 SSDs. I'm with Basroil on the add on board for more SATA III ports, that's a good way to go.

If you change out your motherboard, you'll have to change the windows unless you got a retail version of windows and not an OEM version of windows, and unless you specifically sought out a retail version of windows, you got an OEM version, the retail version is markedly more expensive most of the time and doesn't come with prebuilts.

 

[Astralv]

The expansion card looks like great option. It says- 8 more ports? I doubt I have that many outs on the power supply. I think my power supply is maxed out as well. I may have like another port available... need to open it and look closely. So the card you recommending is SATA III PCI-e v2.0 card, which is for the small slot. My small slots covered by the video card- I will have to move the graphic card to another location... What about the big slots that graphic card uses- no cards for those? Thank you so much.

 

[USAFRet]

Lets look at this differently.
You current board has 6 SATA ports.

What drives do you have connected? Maybe consolidate a couple of the smaller ones, into a larger one, freeing up a port or two.
Just adding SATA ports doesn't help if you don't also have the power for them.

 

[basroil]

So the card you recommending is SATA III PCI-e v2.0 card, which is for the small slot. My small slots covered by the video card- I will have to move the graphic card to another location... What about the big slots that graphic card uses- no cards for those? Thank you so much.

1) You can get those cards in sizes from 2 ports to 16, I gave you one that you would never have reason to increase from (few cases support 12+ drives!)
2) You can put a PCIe x1 card in a x16 slot just fine. If you have an open x16, just use it there!

 

[Astralv]

Thank you for your replies.

I made a trip under my desk and this is what I found out:

I have one free power connector for SATA. It is one space on the cable with 3 plugs. Do they make a 5 space cables? My PSU is 850W, it should be able to handle more- why not 5 spaces per cable but only 3? So I have only 4 outs from power supply, and one space available on one of the cables (1 of 3 out of 4).

I could unplug the DVD drive. I rarely use it- only if software comes on DVD but I don't usually buy boxed software, so most of the time it is not in use- I could plug it when/if I need it, but this is sub option.

I do have official location available with one SATA port and one power supply space that holds my old (cloned) Windows 8 system drive. I cloned my C drive before upgrading, so theoretically this computer is dual boot with Win 8 and Win 10, but the Win 8 drive is full, so it is basically useless. The only reason I keep it connected is because I read an article that says- SSDs will lose everything on it without power in less than a year. So it is on life support. But it can be unplugged. I just don't have a use for it. It is 240 Gb Intel 520. Nice drive but too small.

USARet, per your recommendation last year, I did buy 4 TB WD Black drive, thinking- I will just use that- how bad can it be... You know- I do feel the difference. And I store Kontakt libraries on it- it takes time to go from sound to sound because it has to load samples for each sound and some patches have a Gb of samples to load. If I say, "I need to find thunder with rain and frogs", and I have 500 weather sounds, it takes a while to go through 500 sounds if every sound takes time to load. So it working, but it can be better. It needs to be better- it upsets stability of the system when Kontakt loads samples too slow- it feels like the entire system stops responding. I am really tempted by 32 Gb transfer rate. This would be awesome. But I am waiting for Optain technology to become available. So I will be rebuilding early 2017 with Caby Lake, 200 chipset and Optain storage. For now...

Back to the topic... I do have 2 other 240 Gb SSDs that nearly completely full. But combining them will be hard as they contain software and it likes to stay on certain drive, or it will ask for reactivation, lose its samples and give me extra work.

Basroil, what do you mean, when you saying, "PCIe x1 card in a x16 slot just fine. If you have an open x16, just use it there!"? Take SATA III PCI-e v2.0 card such as was posted earlier and insert it in to the long port? Am I understanding you right? I do have 2 more x16 (long slots). The small slot is blocked by the graphic card and it is near impossible to move without disturbing USB cards. But X16 ports are free. Looks like I could use a card with 2 to 4 SATAs.

 

[basroil]

Basroil, what do you mean, when you saying, "PCIe x1 card in a x16 slot just fine. If you have an open x16, just use it there!"? Take SATA III PCI-e v2.0 card such as was posted earlier and insert it in to the long port? Am I understanding you right? I do have 2 more x16 (long slots). The small slot is blocked by the graphic card and it is near impossible to move without disturbing USB cards. But X16 ports are free. Looks like I could use a card with 2 to 4 SATAs.

You can use any x1 or x4 or x8 card in a x16 slot. It will automatically recognize it as a x1 device

 

[Astralv]

Ok- did not know that. Was wondering what they mean when they say one x16 or two x8. Thanks.

So is there a SSD for x16?

Thanks.

 

[basroil]

Ok- did not know that. Was wondering what they mean when they say one x16 or two x8. Thanks.

So is there a SSD for x16?

Thanks.

x1/x4/x8/x16 has two meanings:
1) The physical length of the slot
2) The logical width of the communications
The logical width is always equal to or smaller than the slot on mobo or device. Putting a x1 card in a x16 slot means you are limited to x1 speed. You cannot put an x16 card in an x1 slot though, it won't physically fit.

As for x16 SSD, no, the max right now is x8 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820228114&cm_re=pcie_ssd-_-20-228-114-_-Product), and a reasonable sized x8 SSD will typically be high enough that you're better off just getting a new computer!

 

[Astralv]

Thank you for this information. What you think about this card? Looks like good use of slot. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124130&cm_re=SATA_3_controller_card_PCIe_3.0-_-15-124-130-_-Product Any better idea? Also what would be a search word for power supply cable for SATA? It does not give me many results. Thank you.

 

[basroil]

That's fine for a card, though not sure why you would need more USB3.0

As for power supply search, http://www.newegg.com/Product/PowerSearch.aspx?SubCategory=58&N=100007657&IsNodeId=1 just pick the number of sata you need (and everything above that number) and power you expect to use (say ~300 for the base system plus 5W per ssd and 10W per HDD, then multiply by ~1.5)

 

[Astralv]

I did not state myself clearly. You know the cable that comes from power supply (modular or not)- it usually has 3 ports- you can connect 3 drives to one cable/port on the power supply. I only have 4 black ports and 4 red ports. Red are for something else (I think graphics card uses red port). I need to find 5 devices cable. I never so one- all I see is 3 devices cable (can connect 3 drives to the power supply with one cable), I was asking, what is the keyword for the power supply cable. I want to see if they make them with 5 heads instead of 3. That way I could put in more SSDs. Thanks.

 

[Astralv]

This is my power supply. Those on the picture are power cables. I need more heads per cable. http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Power_Supply/Smart_Series_/Smart/C_00001972/SMART_M850W_US_/design.htm

 

[basroil]

I did not state myself clearly. You know the cable that comes from power supply (modular or not)- it usually has 3 ports- you can connect 3 drives to one cable/port on the power supply. I only have 4 black ports and 4 red ports. Red are for something else (I think graphics card uses red port). I need to find 5 devices cable. I never so one- all I see is 3 devices cable (can connect 3 drives to the power supply with one cable), I was asking, what is the keyword for the power supply cable. I want to see if they make them with 5 heads instead of 3. That way I could put in more SSDs. Thanks.

1) It doesn't work that way. If the PSU maker doesn't offer the cable you need, go buy a new PSU
2) That is one horrible PSU. The lack of cables makes me think that that thing is NOT 850W and even if it was you won't be needing more than ~650W anyway! I highly recommend replacement.

Before you make any purchase though, check back here, not all PSUs are equal, and if you ever upgrade you'll need something that will work properly with newer equipment.

 

[Astralv]

Thank you for your reply. I thought Thermaltake has good reputation. They gave just enough cables for each port, but each cable has 3 heads per cable. I ran out as there 4 ports. I do have. I do have 8 devices connected plus case light, Fire Wire card and graphics card. I also have 8 USB 2.0 devices without it's own power supply that feed of power supply. It was not chip PSU- about $80 at a time. I sure will be rebuilding eventually and will need new PSU, but don't want to change it now- that would mean unplug everything and it is not good idea to disturb 3 years old motherboard. ...I guess I am stock.

 

[basroil]

don't want to change it now- that would mean unplug everything and it is not good idea to disturb 3 years old motherboard. ...I guess I am stock.

What the hell does that mean? PSU replacement is easy and won't damage anything. Since your manufacturer doesn't make the proper attachments your only real choice is to replace the PSU. It takes 15min at most, and that's assuming you screw up cable management a few times and need to rerun the cables
Thermaltake is known to produce barely useful garbage that blows up more often than competitors. They have one or two decent units and then a whole bunch of crap.

 

[Astralv]

Yeah, I will have to unplug all 8 devices, and then motherboard- I am afraid it would die when I attempt to unplug that huge connector. May be not. Are you saying- other PSUs offer more than 4 ports?
I have Thermaltake in 2 builds, no significant problems. But then again- depends what you call a problem. I really like my Thermaltake case. Great quality, by the way. You would recommend Corsair/ Their stuff is always overpriced (or should I say- expansive?)
Thank you.

 

[basroil]

Yeah, I will have to unplug all 8 devices, and then motherboard- I am afraid it would die when I attempt to unplug that huge connector. May be not. Are you saying- other PSUs offer more than 4 ports?
I have Thermaltake in 2 builds, no significant problems. But then again- depends what you call a problem. I really like my Thermaltake case. Great quality, by the way. You would recommend Corsair/ Their stuff is always overpriced (or should I say- expansive?)
Thank you.

I personally have my main computer with a Seasonic 660XP2 that I got on sale. That thing has 10 SATA power connectors and then another few molex that you can use with a molex to SATA power adapter.

For your probable price point though, an EVGA G2 unit should work, the 650W comes with 9 SATA and a few molex (you can use an adapter)

 

[jossrik]

Yeah, I will have to unplug all 8 devices, and then motherboard- I am afraid it would die when I attempt to unplug that huge connector. May be not. Are you saying- other PSUs offer more than 4 ports?
I have Thermaltake in 2 builds, no significant problems. But then again- depends what you call a problem. I really like my Thermaltake case. Great quality, by the way. You would recommend Corsair/ Their stuff is always overpriced (or should I say- expansive?)
Thank you.

I personally have my main computer with a Seasonic 660XP2 that I got on sale. That thing has 10 SATA power connectors and then another few molex that you can use with a molex to SATA power adapter.

For your probable price point though, an EVGA G2 unit should work, the 650W comes with 9 SATA and a few molex (you can use an adapter)

Also, you can get single SATA to double adapters, where you can run two SSDs powerwise off one lead, potentially doubling your SATA power plugs. I have an EVGA G2 1300W, I run one lead with three plugs to the back of my machine, I have two HDDs, two SSDs, my fan controller and my pump all hooked up to it, and it's running fine.

 

[Astralv]

Thank you for replies. Jossrik, I already have 3 plugs per cable run. Is there a splitter that splits each of those to two? Do you have a link or picture? If I search New Egg for single SATA to double adapter it comes with no result.

Basroil, I did see refurbished EVGA 850W PSU, at $89, but I can not wrap my mind around all the pins and connectors- I bet- it would have trouble with video card or something else... I am looking in to buying 2TB Muskin SSD at $500, but if I wait until summer, it may be less expansive. I can buy 1TB SSD at 200$ and that would hold me until fall, and then I may just replace one of my 250 Gb with 2 TB when they become reasonable in price. I do want the card, but it sounds too much trouble to change PSU. Also I will have no excuse to rebuild. The audio editing does not require super computer. It's the storage and reading and writing speeds that the most important... I did see SATA 3 to M2 adopters- not sure what it was... at Startech web site.

 

[basroil]

Basroil, I did see refurbished EVGA 850W PSU, at $89, but I can not wrap my mind around all the pins and connectors- I bet- it would have trouble with video card or something else... I am looking in to buying 2TB Muskin SSD at $500, but if I wait until summer, it may be less expansive. I can buy 1TB SSD at 200$ and that would hold me until fall, and then I may just replace one of my 250 Gb with 2 TB when they become reasonable in price. I do want the card, but it sounds too much trouble to change PSU. Also I will have no excuse to rebuild. The audio editing does not require super computer. It's the storage and reading and writing speeds that the most important... I did see SATA 3 to M2 adopters- not sure what it was... at Startech web site.

I don't think you understand PSUs all that well. Any EVGA G2 650W+ unit will handle your video card and ALL your disks just fine, at the same time. At most you'll need some extra molex to SATA power connectors, but only if your cable management is poor or you have >8 disks.

 

[Astralv]

Cable management? I just run a cable from front through the holes in the case to the back and make sure the back cover is closing. I have 8 devices now, and trying to get a card to get more devices, so it will be over 8. Also the USB devices use power and KVM switch is always freezing because it gets not enough power...

 

[basroil]

Also the USB devices use power and KVM switch is always freezing because it gets not enough power...

Unless you did something stupid like put an SAS 15k drive in a 2.5mm enclosure without external power or connect multiple unpowered enclosures with a passive hub, you shouldn't ever see the USB power exceed the port's capabilities. And even 10 USB 3.0 with 1.5A charging capabilities only ends up being ~75W, you should NEVER have an issue with the PSU I recommended three times now... You mobo on the other hand though likely doesn't handle that many devices on USB anyway!