[SOLVED] NVME Boot Question

[daniel_542]

Hi,

I have tried to find something accurate on this but keep finding differing views. I have two ways I can see to get the setup I want:

1) If I were to install a PCI-e NVME drive into my motherboard (which does not have NVME boot support in BIOS), along with a SATA SSD, could I persuade Windows to boot from the NVME in UEFI mode by installing the "System" partition on the SATA SSD? If so, would Windows automatically do this as part of the installation or would it require extra intervention from me?

2) I have found multiple people saying that if I boot Windows setup in UEFI mode with just the PCI-e NVME installed and no SATA drives running, it will allow the install and then it should allow the boot regardless of NVME BIOS support. Has anyone had any luck with this?

I am planning on swapping from my gigabyte board to an ASUS one as I found this: https://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=70767 which seems to say that the list of boards shown have had updates that allow PCI-E NVME boot in some form or another - any of you people tried the theory on one of the boards listed?

I am hoping that it IS possible to do one of the above - whether it is via option 1 or option 2.

All theories and experiences welcomed as I am having issues getting an answer and do not want to go ahead and do it unless I have evidence that it will work first - preferably from someone trying it and getting it to work.

Cheers
Kind regards,
Danny

 

[velocityg4]

The problem would be whether the Windows 10 EFI bootloader has the correct drivers. While the installer loads the correct drivers. Those likely aren't loaded until well past the bootloader stage.

I've read about others doing similar with the Clover bootloader on a legacy BIOS with it working. As Clover makes a virtual UEFI environment and contains appropriate NVMe drivers. Then you can boot Windows, Linux or whatever else off the NVMe drive. I've considered doing this. I just can't justify buying an NVMe SSD when my SATA SSD provides all the storage I need and is plenty fast for my uses.

https://www.win-raid.com/t2375f50-G...r-UEFI-BIOS-Clover-EFI-bootloader-method.html

Just to note for anyone. This requires a regular SATA drive still. With the Clover bootloader on the SATA drive's EFI partition. It won't work with only an NVMe installed. It should also work using a USB flash drive as the boot drive. If it has the appropriate EFI partition setup. It just needs a drive the BIOS can access. From there Clover takes over.

 

[daniel_542]

Ok, well, I have made the purchase of a PCI-e x4 to nvme adapter and an nvme SSD. I will try my method for the heck of it and see if it works. If it does, bonus... If not, tough luck, I will have to use clover or something like that. I will try it with just the nvme fresh install first though - on the off chance that the board is capable of booting directly from nvme lol
I will, of course, post my results on here so everyone can benefit from my experiences.
Wish me luck guys n gals 😁😁

 

[albertc30]

Keep us posted mate.

I am curious as I haven't been able to install windows 10 about 5 years ago. If memory serves me well, I think I could see the disk in the bios but when booting the USB windows 10 to install the disk would not show.

Also, I have purchased a new 1TB Firecuda 510 and will be trying again this directly on the motherboards M.2 slot.

Cheers.

 

[daniel_542]

I have ended up buying a motherboard that has an m.2 slot (Asrock A88M-G/3.1) but the PCI-e adapter I have has an NVMe slot and a slot for a SATA SSD on it too (SATA one requires SATA lead to motherboard). Will test this adapter on my current board with a fresh install though to see if my idea works. It'll be a lovely workaround if it does work though 😂🤣
Expect an update soon on my workaround for NVME on boards that don't natively support it though 😁

 

[daniel_542]

Keep us posted mate.

I am curious as I haven't been able to install windows 10 about 5 years ago. If memory serves me well, I think I could see the disk in the bios but when booting the USB windows 10 to install the disk would not show.

Also, I have purchased a new 1TB Firecuda 510 and will be trying again this directly on the motherboards M.2 slot.

Cheers.

As for thid issue with not seeing it during install, it will either be missing pre-install drivers for the drive or wrong settigs for the drive/controller from what I know of

 

[daniel_542]

An additional point:
Given the card I have, I intend on mounting the two SSD's on the card and running a SATA lead for my SATA M.2 SSD from there to motherboard (why waste the space of a 2.5" drive when I don't have to? Lol)
The only question on this is the following:
The new board has 1 PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot a and PCI-e 2.0 x16 slot running at x4.
AMD Radeon R9-280X GPU
Should I sacrifce the GPU bandwidth and run that in the secondary so I can have maximum out of the PCI-e SSD (which is PCI-e 3.0 x4 capable) or is it not worth it? I have seen a lot of stuff surrounding older GPU's not being hugely affected by a drop to PCI-e 2.0 as most applications don't use the full bandwidth anyway but has anyone got any opinions on this question?
Basically, should I mount GPU in PCI-e 2.0 x4 slot and NVMe in PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot (even though it is only 3.0 x4 SSD) or keep GPU as the 3.0 device?

 

[daniel_542]

Well, before swapping my board I tested this and it didn't work. Just thought I'd update everyone