M.2 not detected

[pedrom90]

Hi, I am making a new build and using the H110i Pro motherboard.
As far as I am aware, I have inserted all the components correctly. I was using a Sandisk Z400s 256GB M.2 in the M.2 slot under the board. However, when I turn the PC on and go to the BIOS, I can't see any information whatsoever regarding the M.2 input (not even a section which states there is a fault or the port is not detecting - nothing). I have tried booting with and without my GPU in the PCI slot, just in case there was something conflicting. I have no other storage drives attached. Just the one M.2 card. I have updated the BIOS to the latest version.
Furthermore, when I try to install Windows 10, once it gets to the section where I need to select a drive to install Windows on, there are no devises found then either.
So after a little more research it turns out that my Z400s M.2 is SATA based, and board only supports PCIe based M.2 drives.
Is this correct?
If so, would the Samsung PM951 M.2 work in my motherboard with no issue? The MSI spec page states
1 x M.2 Key M Socket supports type 2280/2260/2242 storage devices in PCIE Gen3 x2 mode on the back side
- supports PCIe 2.0x4 standard, 4.2cm/6cm/8cm length M.2 PCIe-interface SSD cards

But the Samsung PM951 is PCIE Gen3 x4 ...does the x2 or x4 matter?

Also just to confirm - will I be able to boot Windows from this drive AND fill the PCIe x16 slot with my GPU? I have read that some boards disable the last PCI x16 slot when M.2 is in use due to lane restrictions.

Sorry for the essay, but thank you in advance for any help.
Cheers,
Pedrom

 

[mcnumpty23]

"So after a little more research it turns out that my Z400s M.2 is SATA based, and board only supports PCIe based M.2 drives."

yes thats correct

the x2 pci-e gen 3 and pci-e 2.0 x4 means it wont run at full speed you need pci-e 3.0 x4 to max it out

far as i remember that means you are limited to 20Gbs rather than the full 32Gbs

 

[Rookie_MIB]

Well, doing some digging, it's possible that it only supports PCIe based M.2 drives - there are some out there, and the fact that the drive specs it as 'PCIe x4' then it could very well be that it supports the PCIe based drives only since your SATA based drive doesn't appear to show up.

As for the PCIe x4 drive with the x2 slot, it should not be a problem, it will just run at about half speed.

 

[pedrom90]

Thanks for the confirmation, guys. Much appreciated. Just a couple of things I want to get my head around..

the x2 pci-e gen 3 and pci-e 2.0 x4 means it wont run at full speed you need pci-e 3.0 x4 to max it out

far as i remember that means you are limited to 20Gbs rather than the full 32Gbs

So MSI say the mobo supports M.2 PCIE Gen3 20Gb/s x2 - just like you said.

However the Samsung PM951 states PCIe Gen3 8Gb/s x4

So if the mobo supports 20Gb/s and the M.2 is 8Gb/s - why would I only be at half speed? Would I not be at the full 8Gb/s the M.2 can do?

Also, does anyone know if this will affect my PCIe x16 slot for my GPU?

 

[mcnumpty23]

sorry thought it was sm951

the pm951 is a cheaper version of the sm951 it only goes to

1000MB/s, Write 280MB/s, 250k/74k IOPS

my sm951 goes 2100MBS and 1550MBS and cant remember the iops right now

so guess you wont have to worry about the pm951 not reaching full speed

not familiar with your motherboard though dont think 1 m2 drive should affect 1 gpu

might lose a sata express port or 2 but who uses sata express anny way m2 kind of killed those off before they got any where

 

[pedrom90]

sorry thought it was sm951

the pm951 is a cheaper version of the sm951 it only goes to

1000MB/s, Write 280MB/s, 250k/74k IOPS

my sm951 goes 2100MBS and 1550MBS and cant remember the iops right now

so guess you wont have to worry about the pm951 not reaching full speed

not familiar with your motherboard though dont think 1 m2 drive should affect 1 gpu

might lose a sata express port or 2 but who uses sata express anny way m2 kind of killed those off before they got any where

Yes indeed, PM951 - I'm trying to keep the cost down. And considering I don't really need that kind of speed, I think it should do the trick! And no, I don't need any SATA ports, I have my NAS for mass storage - so all good there.
Thanks for your help. Will give it a go and report back/mark solution if all goes to plan...

Have a good day,
Pedrom

 

[mcnumpty23]

you are welcome

and have a great day yourself

oh and my sm951 didnt show in my bios when i got it but still loaded windows fine

it was about a month after that when i got a bios update that it actually showed it so dont worry if it doesnt show in the bios as long as windows install sees it ok you are fine

 

[pedrom90]

you are welcome

and have a great day yourself

oh and my sm951 didnt show in my bios when i got it but still loaded windows fine

it was about a month after that when i got a bios update that it actually showed it so dont worry if it doesnt show in the bios as long as windows install sees it ok you are fine

Ok, thanks for the tip. What motherboard are you using?

 

[mcnumpty23]

asrock oc formula z170 the only board i could find with 3 m2 slots--far as i see it m2 drives are the way forward and will replace sata 2.5 drives eventually so i wanted more m2 slots for future proofing

and m2 prices are slowly falling and samsung introducing that pm951 is a great move it brings m2 drives to people on a lower budget until prices fall more

its a top end board yet still didnt show my m2 in the beginning but windows saw it fine and installed fine so i didnt worry about it

 

[Rookie_MIB]

asrock oc formula z170 the only board i could find with 3 m2 slots--far as i see it m2 drives are the way forward and will replace sata 2.5 drives eventually so i wanted more m2 slots for future proofing

and m2 prices are slowly falling and samsung introducing that pm951 is a great move it brings m2 drives to people on a lower budget until prices fall more

its a top end board yet still didnt show my m2 in the beginning but windows saw it fine and installed fine so i didnt worry about it

No doubt with the M.2 slot being the way forward, but only for the boot drives. Bulk storage will still be (at the moment) 3.5" SATA drives, and when the NAND finally drops, they'll go to the 2.5" 9 or 13mm drives for multi-TB SSDs. I really can't wait for that - 4TB SSD's would be great for small NAS builds...