M.2 Ultra info and install tips

[Non-Euclidean]

I have been researching M.2 SSDs. I have been reading numerous NewEgg reviews. I am under the assumption that people farm them as resources (frankly a huge host of installation issues can be pre-identified and resolved by going through NewEgg product reviews for information on MB, SSDs or graphics cards.

This thread should now come up on searches if needed. It will also illuminate on what M.2 Ultra is.

Anyways, here is some great info on M.2 Ultra SSDs from:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/SingleProductReview.aspx?reviewid=4505001

This review is from: SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V5P512BW
Pros:

-NVMe storage protocol optimized for NAND Flash Memory
-Breaks the barrier of SATA 6Gb/s
-M.2 (NGFF) form factor
-Draws up to 7watts maximum
- As small as gum stick
-Cheaper than Intel 750
-Dynamic Thermal Throttling (DTT) Technology to slightly lower down temperature while maintaining read/write performance which is much better than its predecessor Samsung SM951 M.2 SSD (OEM)
-Boots faster than Intel 750!
-Quiet
-Afforable
Cons:

-Requires adequate cooling fans and decent chasis to disperse heat away from SSD NAND and controller, otherwise SSD controller will thermal throttle to avoid overheating as well as reducing slight read/write performance
-Requires NVMe driver to install
-Requires PCIe Gen3 X4 Lanes from CPU (Skylake/Haswell-E)
-Requires North Bridge Chipset that supports NVMe protocol (X99/Z170/Z97)
-Refer to User's Manual to know that if M.2 Slot is occupied, then one of PCIe slots would be disabled since it's directly connect to PCH (Platform Controller Hub)
Other Thoughts:

-You must first enable CSM (Compatibility Support Module) for installing operating system. Then, install NVMe driver. Once you're done installing NVMe driver, you can now then disable CSM in UEFI BIOS to boot little bit quicker as well as achieving a bit more read/write performance.
-Boot time varies from system to system in regards to amount of RAM, peripherals, PCI expansion devices, POST delay time, ROM, firmware, OC settings, etc.
-Samsung 950 Pro is much cheaper than Intel 750 NVMe SSD
-Boots ways faster than Intel 750
-Consumes 7watts whereas Intel 750 consumes 22watts, regardless of capacity model
-If you're a gamer or just client user that turns on their PC, boot up, open up web, play games, and watch vidoes that requires low queue depth, then I highly recommend Samsung 950 Pro. However, if you're content creator and/or do heavy workload applications such as web server, file server, multiple 10-bit/12-bit color source, or other applications that require much deeper queue depth, then Intel 750 is recommended.
-1TB model of Samsung 950 Pro will be available in sometimes in the year 2016.
-If M.2 slot is already occupied and wanted to install additional NVMe M.2 SSD, then you'll need PCIe to M.2 Adapter AIC from various vendors such as ASUS, Addonics, Startech, Syba, etc.
-If 950 Pro was available in U.2 SSD, then it would've solved thermal throttling issue but as long as you prepare adequate cooling solution in your chasis, then read/write performance as well as temperature would remain intact.
-Indeed, vast majority of users still use AHCI/SATA SSD and mechanical hard drive since it's cheaper and many motherboards nowadays come with copious amount of SATA Ports which natively supports SATA 6Gb/s which is adequate to most users. But AHCI can only sent 32 commands per queue whereas NVMe can send more than 64k commands per queue which obviously reduces latency. As a result, faster performance.
-Overall, I'm happy with Samsung 950 Pro NVMe SSD and I'm glad that I didn't buy Intel 750.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

I had to go through this this past weekend. I couldnt get the W10 install past a black screen after initial boot. I would just see windows logo, circle graphic then black screen. (ASRock Fatality X99/3.1 USB w/ Samsung 950 Pro M.2 Ultra SSD).

I ended up searching and found this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No-ct8pQcIg

This got me past the hump. The steps were different between the two BIOSes. After the initial boot I didnt have to go back and make any changes (I couldnt exactly do what he said), but everything just worked fine on the rest of the install.

OTOH I have had a problem with the box not (consistently shutting down) after the OS does on a shut down, but I dont necessarily know/think the 2 are related.