NVMe PCIe on Asus P8Z77-V LK (1155) as boot drive?

[reidthaler]

I have an Asus P8Z77-V LK socket 1155 motherboard. Can I install a WD Black 250GB High-Performance NVMe PCIe with an expansion card and have the computer recognize it as a boot drive?

 

[USAFRet]

I have an Asus P8Z77-V LK socket 1155 motherboard. Can I install a WD Black 250GB High-Performance NVMe PCIe with an expansion card and have the computer recognize it as a boot drive?

No.
And it would be a waste of money if you went down that road.

Z77 boards came out before NVMe drives were a thing. There is no functionality to make it work, especially as a boot drive.

And even if you did, the benefits of NVMe vs SATA III SSD for just the boot drive are very minimal.

 

[reidthaler]

Thanks so much for the quick answer. OK, check that off the list....

 

[Bobtekfun]

Actually, you can. In fact I am writing this reply using my PC with the same mother board and an M.2 SSD in a PCIe slot with NVME adapter card. The catch is I am using a Samsung 950 pro M.2 SSD which for some reason is an exception. I tried another M.2 SSD and it doesn't work. Previously I also used my 950 Pro on an Asrock Z75, which worked fine. I changed to get more PCIe slots for additional M.2 cards.
Bob

 

[Karadjgne]

NVMe is not natively supported on lga1155. However, there are a few brands like Asus and ASRock who do have bios updates on certain boards that include NVMe support. You'll have to look at the bios revision and it's included info to see if that particular revision supports NVMe or not.

Other than that, you can make an NVMe bootable by adding raid drivers and the required NVMe modules to the bios, but it's not recommended for the faint of heart or amatuer user.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/full-nvme-support-possible-for-older-intel-chipsets.2437588/

Considering the benefits of NVMe for most ppl, it's better to stick with a regular Sata III drive as you really will not see any difference in gaming only in large file transfers.

 

[Bobtekfun]

NVMe is not natively supported on lga1155. However, there are a few brands like Asus and ASRock who do have bios updates on certain boards that include NVMe support. You'll have to look at the bios revision and it's included info to see if that particular revision supports NVMe or not.

Other than that, you can make an NVMe bootable by adding raid drivers and the required NVMe modules to the bios, but it's not recommended for the faint of heart or amatuer user.
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/full-nvme-support-possible-for-older-intel-chipsets.2437588/

Considering the benefits of NVMe for most ppl, it's better to stick with a regular Sata III drive as you really will not see any difference in gaming only in large file transfers.

 

[Bobtekfun]

I guess I lucked out, because I haven't done any bios updates. The two boards just worked with the Samsung 950 as they came.
Bob

 

[Karadjgne]

Later run boards might just have had the updated bios already factory installed

 

[Bobtekfun]

The trick with Samsung 950 Pro is it shows up in the UEFI BBS section as a bootable drive, along with USB DVD etc. This seems to be specific to only the Samsung 950 Pro. Even though 1155 MBs do not have NVME, the fact that the 950 shows up in BBS as bootable still lets me boot to a PCIe SSD. I am using my other M.2 SSD as a high speed data drive though a PCIe adapter. Windows sees the second drive just fine. I just can't boot to it, so I am staying with my 950 as the boot drive. Still a lot faster than SATA.
Bob

 

[PCjunkuser]

Hello Everyone,
I am in a similar situation where I don't want to upgrade my mb ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe Gen3 but I also don't want to purchase another SSD III drive in the hopes of upgrading the entire PC at a later date.
However, the Samsung 950 Pro does not seem to be available at a reasonable price anymore. Does anyone know if the same is true with Samsung 960 Pro or Samsung 970 Pro which is available at the corner store today? Thank you

 

[USAFRet]

Hello Everyone,
I am in a similar situation where I don't want to upgrade my mb ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe Gen3 but I also don't want to purchase another SSD III drive in the hopes of upgrading the entire PC at a later date.
However, the Samsung 950 Pro does not seem to be available at a reasonable price anymore. Does anyone know if the same is true with Samsung 960 Pro or Samsung 970 Pro which is available at the corner store today? Thank you

Firstly, this thread is 3 years old.
Please start a new one.

Second...buying an NVMe drive, that will not work, in hopes of future proofing for a new build at some point in the future is false economy.
A 970 will fail to work just like a 950 will.
And even if it did, on that Z68 board, you will see zero difference.
But it won't work anyway.