[SOLVED] New Build with M2 Memory Cards

[fishman123]

Hi all. Been 8 years since my last build but finally upgrading. Got an ASUS Z390 board and went with two M2 SSD PCIe drives (one 500GB and one 1TB). Couple questions before I get into the build:

1. Have never done the RAID setup thing. Is this a necessary step?
2. Do the drives need to be exactly the same size?
3. Do I need to utilize the Intel RST drivers?

Just want to be sure I am not biting off more than I can chew here. Would've gone with old-school sata SSD drives but trying to learn some newer things too. Any insight is appreciated!!!

 

[USAFRet]

1. Absolutely not, do not do this. It is NOT needed. In fact, can be detrimental.

You've not specified which RAID type you're thinking of.
But with 2 drives, there are only 2 choices - RAID 0 or RAID 1.

RAID 0 is striped data across both drives. In certain use cases, this used to be beneficial with spinning HDD. A potentially significant performance boost.
It is NOT indicated for solid state drives. In some cases, it may even be slower than individual drives.

RAID 1 is data mirrored across 2 drives. Physical redundancy, in the case of physical drive death. It does NOT protect your data against all the other, more common, forms of data loss.
That is what a real backup procedure is for.

In both types, the drives need to be the same size.
512GB + 1TB + RAID 0 = 1TB RAID array
512GB + 1TB + RAID 1 = 512GB RAID array
(but since you're not doing either, don't worry about it)

Put the RAID thing out of your mind.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

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[jojesa]

Hi all. Been 8 years since my last build but finally upgrading. Got an ASUS Z390 board and went with two M2 SSD PCIe drives (one 500GB and one 1TB). Couple questions before I get into the build:

1. Have never done the RAID setup thing. Is this a necessary step?
2. Do the drives need to be exactly the same size?
3. Do I need to utilize the Intel RST drivers?

Just want to be sure I am not biting off more than I can chew here. Would've gone with old-school sata SSD drives but trying to learn some newer things too. Any insight is appreciated!!!

You do not need to setup RAID, and consequently the drives do not need to be the same size and you won't need the RST drivers.
Install only one SSD, the one you are installing Windows.
When you're done with windows installation, setup and updates, then power off and install the 2nd SSD

 

[fishman123]

I truly appreciate you folks both responding so promptly AND not flaming me. Everything I was watching on youtube made it sound like the drives would not be recognized unless you went through this BIOS Raid setup and Rapid Storage Driver install. I am not a gamer....I am just looking for SSDs and newer technology. I will try plugging one in, installing windows from USB, and hoping the board recognizes the M2 ssd without any other intervention. Not sure why all those videos were out there...

 

[USAFRet]

I truly appreciate you folks both responding so promptly AND not flaming me. Everything I was watching on youtube made it sound like the drives would not be recognized unless you went through this BIOS Raid setup and Rapid Storage Driver install. I am not a gamer....I am just looking for SSDs and newer technology. I will try plugging one in, installing windows from USB, and hoping the board recognizes the M2 ssd without any other intervention. Not sure why all those videos were out there...

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

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