[SOLVED] Upgrading SSD for Asrock Z77 Extreme4: NVMe?

[dnbman]

Greetings! Been a while, as I last use this board years ago and am happy to report that two builds I've done since then have been great thanks to the expertise here!

I have an Asrock Z77 Extreme4 paired with an i5-2500K processor and running Win10. Everything is working great.

My only real issue is that I'm running the OS on a 120GB SSD. (I've got plenty of other storage on other mechanical drives) I'd like to upgrade the main SSD to something larger so I have more headroom.

Before I go any further, I do not keep up with SSD tech, so keep that in mind! Very vague idea of what I'm talking about.

I see that the Z77 has a beta BIOS update that adds support for NVMe, which I believe is what I need to utilize new, faster SSDs. Things don't really seem slow now, now but who wouldn't appreciate added pep when adding more storage?

Asrock cautions against upgrading the BIOS if all is working well, so I'm a little nervous about doing so since things are running smoothly. So, here are my questions:

1. Is it worth it to attempt BIOS update and get a NVMe ready SSD or should I just opt for a regular SATA SSD and keep chugging along?
2. If, NVMe, am I going to need to get an additional adapter, or it will have what it needs to connect to the SATA port?
3. If SATA, any other considerations on picking an SSD for my setup?

I don't plan on doing any kind of rebuild for a while, so I'd like to stick with my main components for now since I'm having a good experience with it.

Bonus question: I've got two RipjawsX DDR3-1600MHz 4GB Ram sticks. Thinking about updating to 16GB. Worth it? If so, two more of those sticks or 2 8GB sticks of something else?

 

[USAFRet]

SATA III, in whatever large size meets your budget.
Crucial MX500 is s good choice.

The thing is with older systems...the benefit of a fast NVMe drive are lost in all the other things a slower system is doing.
You'd be putting racing tires on an old Honda Civic.

 

[dnbman]

You'd be putting racing tires on an old Honda Civic.

That's what I was wondering even if I could get it all setup.

Thoughts on adding two more sticks of RAM? Think it will be noticeable?

 

[USAFRet]

That's what I was wondering even if I could get it all setup.

Thoughts on adding two more sticks of RAM? Think it will be noticeable?

Are you currently running out of the 8GB RAM?
If so, then going to 2x 8GB would be indicated.

Don't mix and match.

 

[popatim]

If you add an NVME adapter to the 2nd x16 slot you will drop the GPU in the first slot to x8 mode.
If you put the adapter in an x1 slot, you limit your best speed to just below what a Sata3 port can deliver.

In all, I agree with the above. Your board was not designed to use NVME so as long as there is room in the case, just add more Sata SSD storage.

 

[dnbman]

Are you currently running out of the 8GB RAM?
If so, then going to 2x 8GB would be indicated.

Don't mix and match.

Currently 2x4 with 4 slots. So was thinking about find 2 more of the same stick if not too pricey.

But was wondering if going for 2 8GB sticks would be the way to go.

Or just live with 8.