[SOLVED] M.2 SATA to PCIe x1 Adapter?

[box o rocks]

Is there such a thing as an adapter to put an M.2 SATA SSD in a PCIe x1 slot? Without the need of using an external SATA cable? In other words... pop the M.2 SATA SSD in the adapter, put the adapter in the PCIe x1 slot, and have the BIOS recognize the SSD for use as a boot drive.

The motherboard is an Asus B85M-E/CSM.

 

[Math Geek]

those older motherboards do not allow for booting off an add-on card like that.

other issue would be that you'd not get the full speed of the drive with one of those anyway. you're better off with a quality sata ssd for such a system. will work easily and will perform better than some add-on adapter card with a lot less problems.

 

[USAFRet]

Can't boot from it in that motherboard.
At best, you'd see the same performance as a 2.5" format SATA III SSD. Might be slower.

There is zero need to try this.

 

[box o rocks]

OK, thanks guys. It wouldn't boot even if I used a SATA M.2 drive in the adapter?

 

[Math Geek]

correct. the system will not know how to boot anything but a normal sata connected drive. you will see no performance increase from the adapter anyway so it is just not worth the time and effort and would only be a waste of money.

 

[SkyNetRising]

PCIE M.2 adapters usually support nvme drives only.
Those, that support sata M.2 drives, just convert m.2 to sata connector and require sata cable.
There's no problem to boot from such drive. It's detected as regular sata drive.

 

[box o rocks]

PCIE M.2 adapters usually support nvme drives only.
Those, that support sata M.2 drives, just convert m.2 to sata connector and require sata cable.
There's no problem to boot from such drive. It's detected as regular sata drive.

Yeah, I get that. But in my post, I said I wanted to go w/o the sata cable. If I'm going to use a sata cable, I might as well go with a regular 2.5" drive.
I'm pretty well satisfied now that it can't be done. But that's why I come here... to get the answers 😉

 

[SkyNetRising]

Those comments about problems for booting from sata m.2 drive in fact are wrong.

That is relevant only for nvme drives in pcie adapter in a system, doesn't support booting from pcie device. And you chose obviously wrong answer as the solution.

 

[USAFRet]

Those comments about problems for booting from sata m.2 drive in fact are wrong.

That is relevant only for nvme drives in pcie adapter in a system, doesn't support booting from pcie device. And you chose obviously wrong answer as a solution.

SATA drive, in a PCIe slot and adapter, connected to the motherboard through a typical SATA data cable...WILL boot up no problem.
The PCIe port is only proving the power.

Booting from a drive coneected only through the PCIe slot and adapter...probably won't work.

 

[box o rocks]

OK. Seems we have conflicting answers here. Math Geek says it won't boot, Skynet Rising and USAFRet says it will. I temporarily removed best answer, but if there is no way for a SATA M.2 drive to be connected thru the PCIe interface (w/o an external cable), the end result will be the same as Math Geek said.

 

[USAFRet]

OK. Seems we have conflicting answers here. Math Geek says it won't boot, Skynet Rising and USAFRet says it will. I temporarily removed best answer, but if there is no way for a SATA M.2 drive to be connected thru the PCIe interface (w/o an external cable), the end result will be the same as Math Geek said.

That motherboard will almost certainly NOT boot up directly through and only through the PCIe slot.

A M.2 SATA drive, in a PCIe adapter, but still connected to the motherboard SATA data port, will boot up.
All the PCIe slot is doing is providing power.
And of course, it is still only a SATA III drive, running at the same speed as a regular 2.5" SATA drive.

An NVMe drive in that PCIe adapter will not serve as the OS drive on that board. The board does not know how to boot from it.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Here - found you PCIE x4 card with sata controller onboard. It supports sata M.2 drives without use of sata cable.
https://www.startech.com/en-us/cards-adapters/pex2m2

Should be able to boot from it even without pcie boot support. Sata controller drivers are necessary though.

 

[Math Geek]

That motherboard will almost certainly NOT boot up directly through and only through the PCIe slot.

A M.2 SATA drive, in a PCIe adapter, but still connected to the motherboard SATA data port, will boot up.
All the PCIe slot is doing is providing power.
And of course, it is still only a SATA III drive, running at the same speed as a regular 2.5" SATA drive.

An NVMe drive in that PCIe adapter will not serve as the OS drive on that board. The board does not know how to boot from it.

exactly. we are all right it's just i answered your question and did not move into the other versions available as you did not ask about them.

the answer to your question is no you can't boot from the pcie slot. the question they answered was, you can if you use an adapter with a sata cable which you specifically said you did not want..

 

[Turtle Rig]

those older motherboards do not allow for booting off an add-on card like that.

other issue would be that you'd not get the full speed of the drive with one of those anyway. you're better off with a quality sata ssd for such a system. will work easily and will perform better than some add-on adapter card with a lot less problems.

I still have a ASUS M.2 Hyper Adapter Card. Worked fine with old X79 Sabertooth 4930k and also worked with a Sandy Bridge 2600k OCed to 4.4Ghz lmao. Slow as heck! 💯😲🤷‍♀️

 

[box o rocks]

OK guys, thanks for all the input. Greatly appreciated. Even if I didn't get the answer I was hoping for, I at least Igot the correct answers... and learned quite a bit these last few days.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Even if I didn't get the answer I was hoping for

Solution from post #12 doesn't work for you?
Ok - it's not pcie x1 but pcie x4, but your motherboard has second x16 slot operating at x4 mode.

 

[box o rocks]

Solution from post #12 doesn't work for you?
Ok - it's not pcie x1 but pcie x4, but your motherboard has second x16 slot operating at x4 mode.

Yes, thank you. But it is a bit more than I was wanting to spend. Quite a bit more. I guess I should have added that I was looking for a "budget" solution.