Question Setting up a Second Internal M.2 SSD Drive - M.2 2TB NVMe PCIe 2280

rozel

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Jun 28, 2009
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Hi all

I have my Windows 10 64-bit Desktop PC built around an Asus Prime Z390-A motherboard /Intel Core i7-9700K processor (3.60GHz) with 32Gb Ram. I've got it working with all my drives (one x small 250GB SATA SSD, 1 x 1.8 TB HDD and a 4 HDD RAID 5 setup) but I now want to migrate my Photos across all my Drives as well as a 500GB server to a 2TB M.2 internal drive. I got a great deal on a suitable drive and wish to insert it, when it arrives, to the M2_1 vacant Socket. My OS 500GB drive uses the M.2_2 Socket. I have a few questions relating to this fitment but please don't advise that I ought to have considered this drive or considered that drive if you possibly can lol!

My MB's User Guide states the following: -

Expansion: -
Intel® Socket 1151 for Intel® Core™ 9000 series, 8th Generation Core™ i7 / i5 / i3, Pentium® and Celeron® processors
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 slots (supports x16, x8/x8, x8/x4+x4, x8+x4+x4/x0)
Intel® Z390 Chipset
3 x PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x1 slots
- PCIEX16_1 slot supports up to 3 Intel® PCIe NVME SSDs via a Hyper M.2 X16 series Card.
- PCIEX16_2 slot supports up to 2 Intel® PCIe NVME SSDs via a Hyper M.2 X16 series Card *
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (max. at x4 mode) **
* Hyper M.2 X16 series card sold separately. Install a Hyper M.2 X16 series card and enable this card under BIOS settings.
** The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with SATA_5 and SATA_6. The PCIe x16_3 is default set at x2 mode.

Storage: -
Intel® CPU support with Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (RAID 0 & RAID 1)
  • PCIEX16_1 slot supports up to 3 Intel® PCIe NVME SSDs via a Hyper M.2 X16 series Card*
  • PCIEX16_2 slot supports up to 2 Intel® PCIe NVME SSDs via a Hyper M.2 X16 series Card*
Intel® Z390 Chipset support with Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10)
  • 1 x M.2_1 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/2280 storage devices support (both SATA & PCIE mode) **
  • 1 x M.2_2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE x4 mode)
  • 6 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports
  • Ready for Intel® Optane Memory
* Hyper M.2 X16 series card sold separately. Install a Hyper M.2 X16 series card and enable this card under BIOS settings.
** The M.2_1 socket shares bandwidth with SATA6G_2 port when using M.2 SATA devices. Adjust BIOS settings to use a SATA device.


Questions: -
1. I know that this MB has been done to death on these forums but I will be installing the new drive in the currently unused M.2_1 socket - can I assume (looking at the final line under Storage above) that if I run it in PCIE mode (which I will be doing) that my SATA6G_2 port will not be affected, nor for that matter none of my other SATA6G ports?

2. The M.2_1 Socket doesn't have a Heatsink. Does an NVMe M.2 drive need a Heatsink? The socket is situated underneath the CPU Fan - am I correct in assuming that drives installed in the M.2_1 Socket take their cooling from this Fan? The MB did come with a Heatsink but that's for the M.2_2 Socket.

3. Will my new 2TB drive benefit from Partitioning? I guess my Photo Collection will not exceed 750GB and so I wonder whether I ought to partition into 2 volumes of 1TB each?

4. Backup - May I ask the opinions of whether in general these NVMe drives are less prone to corruption than either a standard HDD or an internal SATA SSD?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to receiving responses.

Cheers

roz
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
1. Correct.

2. Depends on the specific drive. Some run hotter than others.

3. No. Partitioning serves no real purpose anymore.

4. No more or less reliable than other solid state drives. And SSD's are proving to be more reliable than spinning HDD. Having said that, you ALWAYS need a backup routine. And know how to recover from it.
 

rozel

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Jun 28, 2009
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Brilliant response, thank you so much!

My new drive is a Sabrent Rocket (Gen 3- the same as my MB's Sockets) and I'm guessing that a Heatsink would foul the CPU Cooler - I haven't yet dug down into the inside of my PC Case yet but figure that I can squeeze an M.2 drive underneath the cooler and into the socket, but perhaps not with a Heatsink? This is a very common MB and my Cooler is a Noctua (NH-U12S) 120mm U-Type Tower Cooler, if that helps. Given that I will be doing all my "processing" using Applications installed on my OS NVMe M.2 drive which has a Heatsink maybe I don't need one? Bulk transfers to the new drive will be in the beginning and definately not a constant. Any thoughts?

My Backup Stratedgy will be to copy to Dropbox excluding the folder(s) from syncing, using Smartsync so I don't double up. I use Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe Lightroom Classic and have yet to figure how best I'll achieve this - I have 2TB of space with Dropbox and am also thinking to create my Photo Folders within the Dropbox Folder so that they Sync automatically when I add / remove / amend the photos within them. Perhpas I need to ask on a Lightroom Forum - I'm starting out with Video and Photography in a serious way but haven't explored the best way to setup as yet.

Thanks again
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
I much prefer full drive backups. Far easier to recover, and nothing is lost or "i forgot that one folder".

Macrium Reflect, out to some external drive, NAS, or other storage space.

Then maybe individual folders/files to dropbox or similar.
 

rozel

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Jun 28, 2009
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Update ..............................

I got the NVMe ssd yesterday and had it installed and set up to run within 15 mins. Very cramped because of the cooler, but after I'd temporarily removed a PCIe card and my Graphics card installation was a doddle - didn't have a magnetic screwdriver but blu tac is your best friend :)

Regarding a heatsink - for now I'll run without one (monitoring with some software) but there is room for a "thin" one but I am struggling to learn if these work - I've read several reviews but at best up to 10 degrees cooler at worst, they don't work at all.

Would like a recommendation though - anyone?