[SOLVED] SSD

[championnithish]

Hi all,

I have an MSi A320M Pro VH-Plus motherboard. Currently I have a 1TB SATA HDD and was wondering if my motherboard could accommodate an additional SSD. Any advice regarding the compatibility would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[rgd1101]

sure, you can get a 2.5" ssd

 

[championnithish]

sure, you can get a 2.5" ssd

Should it be a SATA SSD? I assume my board does not have an M.2 slot

 

[rgd1101]

all 2.5" ssd are sata

 

[Zerk2012]

Should it be a SATA SSD? I assume my board does not have an M.2 slot

Right you have no M.2 slot so it must be a SATA SSD 2.5 inch,

 

[championnithish]

all 2.5" ssd are sata

Alright, thank you. Just another clarification. I read that SATA SSDs are comparatively slower, is that true? Is there a workaround to get SATA SSDs with read speeds liks 5GB/s?

 

[TommyTwoTone66]

Alright, thank you. Just another clarification. I read that SATA SSDs are comparatively slower, is that true? Is there a workaround to get SATA SSDs with read speeds liks 5GB/s?

Yes that is true. The M.2 slot is capable of a much higher data rate than a SATA port, so you can get drives that go in there which are much faster than SATA. No there is no workaround, that is a physical limitation.

You can also get M.2 drives which are slower or the same speed as SATA, and just use the M.2 slot for convenience and to keep costs down. Typically these use M-SATA as an interface whereas the blazing fast drives use NVMe, a different protocol on the same slot.

You don’t “need” an NVMe drive though. A 2.5in SATA SSD will be so much faster than your HDD it will blow you away. Something simple and cheap like a Samsung 870 EVO will be so much faster than any HDD and it operates totally silent as a little added bonus. Sequential read speeds on NVMe drives are flashy and the numbers are high, but it’s the instant seek times that really make the difference, and that’s the same on any SSD.

That said, if you did want an NVMe drive, there are options. For example the

SupaGeek M.2 SSD to PCIe Express 3.0 x4 Adapter Card

Is an excellent option for anyone without an M.2 slot and adds NVMe (but not M-SATA) to pretty much any PC with a Z97 chipset or better for just over a tenner.

The machine in my garage boots using one of these and is about 10 years old. Not every BIOS supports it, but everything I’ve tried it on has.

 

[Zerk2012]

Alright, thank you. Just another clarification. I read that SATA SSDs are comparatively slower, is that true? Is there a workaround to get SATA SSDs with read speeds liks 5GB/s?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3AMz-xZ2VM


If your using a video card you don't have a slot to use an adapter for a M.2 and most of the time you can't use it for a boot drive anyhow.

 

[championnithish]

Yes that is true. The M.2 slot is capable of a much higher data rate than a SATA port, so you can get drives that go in there which are much faster than SATA. No there is no workaround, that is a physical limitation.

You can also get M.2 drives which are slower or the same speed as SATA, and just use the M.2 slot for convenience and to keep costs down. Typically these use M-SATA as an interface whereas the blazing fast drives use NVMe, a different protocol on the same slot.

You don’t “need” an NVMe drive though. A 2.5in SATA SSD will be so much faster than your HDD it will blow you away. Something simple and cheap like a Samsung 870 EVO will be so much faster than any HDD and it operates totally silent as a little added bonus. Sequential read speeds on NVMe drives are flashy and the numbers are high, but it’s the instant seek times that really make the difference, and that’s the same on any SSD.

That said, if you did want an NVMe drive, there are options. For example the

SupaGeek M.2 SSD to PCIe Express 3.0 x4 Adapter Card

Is an excellent option for anyone without an M.2 slot and adds NVMe (but not M-SATA) to pretty much any PC with a Z97 chipset or better for just over a tenner.

The machine in my garage boots using one of these and is about 10 years old. Not every BIOS supports it, but everything I’ve tried it on has.

Hi all,

Thank you for helping me out. I will buy a Samsung Evo 2.5" SSD asap. All of your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[TommyTwoTone66]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3AMz-xZ2VM


If your using a video card you don't have a slot to use an adapter for a M.2 and most of the time you can't use it for a boot drive anyhow.

Not quite correct, most boards come with at least one additional 4x slot as well as a 16x slot for graphics.

As for “will it boot?” In my experience if you have a non-oem motherboard, as in a motherboard you bought in a box and added your own cpu and ram, and it has Z97 or later chipset, then generally yes it will. In branded (eg Dell or HP) OEM systems then no it won’t. That goes for Intel boards anyway. AMD boards, YMMV.

 

[Zerk2012]

Not quite correct, most boards come with at least one additional 4x slot as well as a 16x slot for graphics.

As for “will it boot?” In my experience if you have a non-oem motherboard, as in a motherboard you bought in a box and added your own cpu and ram, and it has Z97 or later chipset, then generally yes it will. In branded (eg Dell or HP) OEM systems then no it won’t. That goes for Intel boards anyway. AMD boards, YMMV.

Well no clue how you got best answer since if you look at that board it has only 1 X16 slot and 2 X 1 slots that the adapter you listed will not work in.

So if he is using a video card their no way for it to work.

Edit since he is buying a 2.5 drive it don't matter just glad he didn't listen to you on the adapter.

 

[championnithish]

Well no clue how you got best answer since if you look at that board it has only 1 X16 slot and 2 X 1 slots that the adapter you listed will not work in.

So if he is using a video card their no way for it to work.

Edit since he is buying a 2.5 drive it don't matter just glad he didn't listen to you on the adapter.

Hi,
I'm kind of new to the forum community, so I'm not sure how everything works. I marked best solution based on the kind of explanation I was looking out for. But, I extend my thanks to all of you here who helped.