[SOLVED] Upgrading HDD to SSD on ASUS Sabertooth Z77

[NoobMaster420]

I read on an old thread (last updated in 2017) that my motherboard ASUS Sabertooth Z77 does not support the NVMe communications interface for booting. Cool, good to know. It's 10 years old, so no surprise there.

So I guess my question is What is the best 1tb SSD that my motherboard is compatible with? Has anything changed since that thread from 2017?

I want to:

- Get the best 1TB SSD possible

- Use the fastest data bus on my motherboard (which I believe is SATA III). But does my motherboard support PCIe? I don't think it does. Maybe? I'm not sure. Can I boot from PCIe if it is compatible?

- Boot from the SSD and store on the SSD. I'll probably get rid of the 1TB HDD since it's almost 10 years old now and will likely fail soon.

- Do a clone of my 1tb HDD to the 1tb SSD. Do I need to buy some sort of transfer hardware or can I install the SSD directly to the motherboard and do it internally, then remove the HDD?

- What size (form factor) SSD should I get? It looks like a 2.5 inch is the best option because mSATA and M2 are meant for smaller devices.

Am I missing anything? Comments, questions, concerns?

Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

"best 1TB"
SATA III, 2.5"

Samsung 860 EVO, 2.5" format.
Right next to that, Crucial MX500.

Do NOT fret over NVMe, or lack of it.
In reality, there is not that much actual user facing difference.

Cloning, maybe.

How much space is consumed on your current HDD?
What OS?
Is it currently working as desired?

 

[USAFRet]

And if cloning turns out to be a viable option, we can talk through that process.

 

[NoobMaster420]

I love Tom's Hardware. You guys and gals are awesome.

• I have 414 GB available (but will add 1,000s of RAW data photos after the SSD install)
• Running Win 10
• I guess it works. It's just slow. No actual data corruption I'm aware of.

 

[USAFRet]

Samsung 860 EVO or Crucial MX500.
1TB, 2.5" format.


-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

(ignore this part if using Samsung Data Migration)
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
(End ignore)

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[NoobMaster420]

Wow. Thank you SO MUCH!

1 last question...

Looks like the Z77 mobo does have PCIe. From my research, PCIe bus is much faster than SATA.

Can I install and boot from one of my PCIe slots? It looks like your directions confirm that, but I want to make sure the PCIe slot is not NVMe only (because NVMe is not boot compatible).

 

[USAFRet]

Wow. Thank you SO MUCH!

1 last question...

Looks like the Z77 mobo does have PCIe. From my research, PCIe bus is much faster than SATA.

Can I install and boot from one of my PCIe slots? It looks like your directions confirm that, but I want to make sure the PCIe slot is not NVMe only (because NVMe is not boot compatible).

On that motherboard, no you cannot boot from a drive in a PCIe adapter.
Either NVMe drive or SATA III. The motherboard does not know what to do with it.

 

[NoobMaster420]

Thanks!