[SOLVED] Question about adding an NVMe

Beoden

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May 1, 2012
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Right now I have a small ssd which have my OS on it and an hdd on my desktop computer. I have an ASrock Z370 PRO4 Motherboard.

I was looking at purchasing a WD Black SN750 NVMe ssd but I am unfamiliar with how these work. I know my Mboard is compatible but my question is:

Will I be able to just install this as a 3rd drive to just store games on? And still have my other 2 drives and be able to keep my OS on the small SSD. Or would this require some kind of configuration.

Thanks.
 
Solution
Hi Beoden.

Since you don't need to install the OS on the new NVMe SSD the only thing you have to do is install the SSD in the M2_1 or M2_2 on your board. They are both the same. The only difference is that M2_1 will disable any drive connected to SATA_5. So if you have a drive in that you will have to move it to another port. If you use M2_2 SATA_0 will be disabled.

Boot to the BIOS after the install. Make sure your OS SSD is still selected as the boot drive.

You should be able to see the new NVMe in Disk Management in Windows 10 leaving you the task of creating the partition etc.

Info from the website of your board.
- 2 x Ultra M.2 Sockets (M2_1 and M2_2), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2...
Hi Beoden.

Since you don't need to install the OS on the new NVMe SSD the only thing you have to do is install the SSD in the M2_1 or M2_2 on your board. They are both the same. The only difference is that M2_1 will disable any drive connected to SATA_5. So if you have a drive in that you will have to move it to another port. If you use M2_2 SATA_0 will be disabled.

Boot to the BIOS after the install. Make sure your OS SSD is still selected as the boot drive.

You should be able to see the new NVMe in Disk Management in Windows 10 leaving you the task of creating the partition etc.

Info from the website of your board.
- 2 x Ultra M.2 Sockets (M2_1 and M2_2), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

*If M2_1 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA_5 will be disabled.
If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA_0 will be disabled.
 
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Solution

Beoden

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May 1, 2012
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Hi Beoden.

Since you don't need to install the OS on the new NVMe SSD the only thing you have to do is install the SSD in the M2_1 or M2_2 on your board. They are both the same. The only difference is that M2_1 will disable any drive connected to SATA_5. So if you have a drive in that you will have to move it to another port. If you use M2_2 SATA_0 will be disabled.

Boot to the BIOS after the install. Make sure your OS SSD is still selected as the boot drive.

You should be able to see the new NVMe in Disk Management in Windows 10 leaving you the task of creating the partition etc.

Info from the website of your board.
- 2 x Ultra M.2 Sockets (M2_1 and M2_2), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

*If M2_1 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA_5 will be disabled.
If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA_0 will be disabled.



Thank you so much for the help!
 

punkncat

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As an aside...

If your OS drive is a standard SSD you will be leaving a great deal of day to day performance on the table by not utilizing that NVME drive for OS. It will make general tasks much snappier. In a very general sense you get a similar sort of change in performance going NVME from SSD as it felt from SSD/HDD.
 

Beoden

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May 1, 2012
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18,510
As an aside...

If your OS drive is a standard SSD you will be leaving a great deal of day to day performance on the table by not utilizing that NVME drive for OS. It will make general tasks much snappier. In a very general sense you get a similar sort of change in performance going NVME from SSD as it felt from SSD/HDD.


I thought about moving the OS possibly but this computer is really only used for internet trolling, streaming and playing WoW and some steam stuff. The current SSD I have i just too small to keep WoW on it with the upcoming expansion so I was looking at getting a bigger SSD and saw how the prices have dropped and then stumbled upon the NVMe which seemed like a quick easy install.