Question NVME SSD need SATA preinstall?

[breakman42]

Hello,

I am building a new PC and want to make sure I am getting the best speed out of my SSDs. My motherboard(Gigabyte Z690 gaming x ddr5) manual states that if I want to install the OS on an M.2 PCIe SSD then i need to install the Intel RST VMD controller driver first during OS installation. later on it calls it the intel SATA preinstall driver. I have 2 WD SN850 1TB NVME SSDs. Just a couple questions about this.

-Is installing this actually necessary with my drives?

-if I install the driver will it throttle my NVME SSDs down to SATA speeds or will it ignore that and still run the SSDs at NVME speed? (I am concerned because the driver download has SATA in the name)

-If I don't install the driver will it not allow my SSDs to reach nvme speeds?

Thanks so much!

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, it should not be necessary. I've done Windows 10 and 11 installations on like five or six Gigabyte Z690 boards with NVME drives, so far, and to be honest even in the past on previous Intel and AMD generations as well as with this one I've never had to do anything other than install the hardware, set the USB flash drive as the boot device and then install. I would not bother with the Intel RST driver. Just disconnect ALL secondary drives, leaving only the flash drive you are installing from and the NVME drive you are installing to connected, on the exit tab in the BIOS select the flash drive from the boot bypass menu that has your Windows installer on it and proceed with the installation. It should be as simple as that.

After installation you can power off and reconnect your secondary drives. If those drives ever had Windows installed on any of them you will want to make sure you have deleted all the hidden EFI and recovery partitions from those drives so you don't confuse the BIOS with multiple boot partitions connected to the system. You will need to use disk management or a third party partition manager to do so OR if you are very familiar with what you are doing you can use the Windows installer to eliminate unwanted partitions by choosing the "Custom" method during the installation and managing the removal of those partitions on the subsequent "choose where to install Windows" screen.

Basically though, just don't connect those drives until after you've installed Windows on your NVME drive and you should be fine.

 

[breakman42]

Okay I only have the 2 NVME drives so i should not have to disconnect any other drives. If not adding that driver will not slow things down then i will do that and see how it goes. Thanks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, I've never once, in all these years (Well, not the full 35 years of working on systems, but the last fifteen for sure. Prior to that, much different platforms and configurations), I've never had to install any of those preinstall storage drivers for anything, at all.

@USAFRet , have you ever had to on any modern hardware?

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah, I've never once, in all these years (Well, not the full 35 years of working on systems, but the last fifteen for sure. Prior to that, much different platforms and configurations), I've never had to install any of those preinstall storage drivers for anything, at all.

@USAFRet , have you ever had to on any modern hardware?

No.

If you had to, how would you ever build up a brand new system with anew drive and OS?

 

[USAFRet]

Okay I only have the 2 NVME drives so i should not have to disconnect any other drives. If not adding that driver will not slow things down then i will do that and see how it goes. Thanks.

NO.

Have only ONE drive connected, no matter the type.

 

[Darkbreeze]

NO.

Have only ONE drive connected, no matter the type.

Exactly. Otherwise, even with brand new drives, you run the risk of something not ending up where it's supposed to be which might cause problems down the road. Thanks for the chime in man.

 

[breakman42]

Thank you so much. I was just so concerned it would throttle the speed of the NVME connection because it had SATA in the driver name.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I was just so concerned it would throttle the speed of the NVME connection because it had SATA in the driver name.

Make sure sata controller is set to AHCI mode (not Intel RST with Optane), when you install windows.

 

[USAFRet]

Further, this:

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...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[breakman42]

I have done the install and it seems to be good.

Make sure sata controller is set to AHCI mode (not Intel RST with Optane), when you install windows.

How do I do this?

 

[Darkbreeze]

In the BIOS.

 

[breakman42]

I have looked through my BIOS. as far as i can tell the only option related to SATA was to enable or disable Sata Controller(s). If I am only using NVME drives do I even need that controller on? Sorry I am new to building a system from scratch.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't see any AHCI or Optane options in the BIOS for that board. Mine (Z690 Aorus Elite AX DDR4) does not have any AHCI or Optane options in the BIOS either. I would leave the SATA controller enabled.