[SOLVED] M.2 SDD compatibility with motherboard

[jdom2013]

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my storage space, and was looking into getting the SAMSUNG 980 PRO 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 Internal Gaming SSD M.2 (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM).

I have a quite an older mother board, X99A GAMING 7 (MS-7885)

Researching online it shows that the motherboard M.2 compatibility is 1 x 2280 Key M(PCIe Gen3 x4/SATA).

I have read that these SSDs may not produce the maximum output based on the Motherboard, so I am just wondering if it is compatible and the results of it. I am looking to upgrade the motherboard in the future so it is fine if I am using a SSD that is not performing at full potential.

I am no expert on computers, and I am not sure if it will work with a NVMe, so looking for some advise before I make a purchase, thanks.

Here is some more motherboard specs for the X99A GAMING 7

Storage
• Intel X99 Express Chipset
• 10 x SATA 6Gb/s ports (2 x ports compatible with 1 x SATA Express port)*

• SATA1~6 support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10
• SATA7~10 ports only support IDE mode and AHCI mode.
• Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology (Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1)

• 1 x SATA Express port*
• 1 x M.2 port, supports M.2 SATA 6Gb/s module* or M.2 PCIe module up to 32Gb/s speed**

• M.2 port supports 4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length module
• M.2 PCIe module does not support RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10.
• 1 x M.2 Key M Socket supports type 2280/2260/2242 storage devices in both PCIE Gen3 x4 & SATA mode

 

[Koekieezz]

Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my storage space, and was looking into getting the SAMSUNG 980 PRO 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 Internal Gaming SSD M.2 (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM).

I have a quite an older mother board, X99A GAMING 7 (MS-7885)

Researching online it shows that the motherboard M.2 compatibility is 1 x 2280 Key M(PCIe Gen3 x4/SATA).

I have read that these SSDs may not produce the maximum output based on the Motherboard, so I am just wondering if it is compatible and the results of it. I am looking to upgrade the motherboard in the future so it is fine if I am using a SSD that is not performing at full potential.

I am no expert on computers, and I am not sure if it will work with a NVMe, so looking for some advise before I make a purchase, thanks.

Here is some more motherboard specs for the X99A GAMING 7

Storage
• Intel X99 Express Chipset
• 10 x SATA 6Gb/s ports (2 x ports compatible with 1 x SATA Express port)*

• SATA1~6 support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10
• SATA7~10 ports only support IDE mode and AHCI mode.
• Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology (Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1)

• 1 x SATA Express port*
• 1 x M.2 port, supports M.2 SATA 6Gb/s module* or M.2 PCIe module up to 32Gb/s speed**

• M.2 port supports 4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length module
• M.2 PCIe module does not support RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10.
• 1 x M.2 Key M Socket supports type 2280/2260/2242 storage devices in both PCIE Gen3 x4 & SATA mode

It should be possible to make it work as boot device, just like other pcie device, if it doesn't support the latest revision, it'll go to the max supported version. Also update the motherboard bios to the latest before doing so. It would be best to borrow someone nvme ssd that have the same specs as 980 Pro before buying to test if the motherboard is capable of seeing it as a boot drive/storage drive.

*as per motherboard bios, i checked and compared between stock bios and latest bios of Z97 Gaming 3 using MMTool, the latest bios for the motherboard supports NVME as boot drive as it has the driver inside the bios, hence why i'd recommend you to update to the latest bios.

 

[jdom2013]

Thanks Koek appreciate it