Question Which M2 SSD is compatible with MSI Z170A Gaming Pro? Confused by specifications

[vojacirjak]

Hello all!

It's been quite some years since I was up to date with PC's and components. My Samsung 850 250GB SATA SSD has just died, and I am looking for a replacement. When I recently looked at the speed difference between my dead Samsung and the cheapest M2 SSD's, I was shocked to learn the huge difference in speed (min. 3x).

From my understanding the MSI Z170A Gaming Pro has a M2 slot, but I am completely dumbfounded about its specifications. I am unable to figure out the speed it supports and whether it's a SATA M2 or NMVe M2.

In the MOBO's manual, it says:
1x M.2 slot*
▶ Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s standards,
4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length M.2 SSD cards
▶ Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe Mini-SAS SSD with TurboU.2 Host Card**

Under "Specification Highlights", it says:
● Turbo M.2 Ready
▶ PCIe 3.0 x4 (32 Gb/s) Support
▶ PCIe / SATA Dual Mode Support
● SATA Express Support
● NVMe / AHCI Driver Support
● U.2 Support (Optional)

Someone on Reddit says that on the Z170 MOBO, the M2 devices are connected to the chipset which shares the CPU uplink, and because of this, the speed is bottleneck.


I will be spending about 55 bucks on the new SSD, but I still don't want to be throwing away money on something I cannot use.

 

[Lutfij]

Turn to page 21 in your motherboard manual, it shows you the diagram for where the lanes are allocated, the M.2 slot is wired to the chipset so it won't be as fast as it would if it were wired to the CPU. I would opt for a SATA based M.2 SSD instead in your instance but you can drop in a PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD if you plan to migrate the drive to something more concurrent(newer gen).

 

[vojacirjak]

Turn to page 21 in your motherboard manual, it shows you the diagram for where the lanes are allocated, the M.2 slot is wired to the chipset so it won't be as fast as it would if it were wired to the CPU. I would opt for a SATA based M.2 SSD instead in your instance but you can drop in a PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD if you plan to migrate the drive to something more concurrent(newer gen).

Makes sense. But just how fast will it be? It cannot be 500mb/s like SATA SSD's are.

I feel like I came across a place on the internet where the speed was specified, but I lost track of it..

Check this out: https://www.guru3d.com/review/msi-z170a-gaming-pro-carbon-review/page-19/

 

[SkyNetRising]

But just how fast will it be? It cannot be 500mb/s like SATA SSD's are.

Sata SSD speeds are limited to ~500MB/s. The same thing applies to M.2 SATA drives.
NVME M.2 (PCIE 3.0 x4) drives are limited to ~3400MB/s.

 

[vojacirjak]

Sata SSD speeds are limited to ~500MB/s. The same thing applies to M.2 SATA drives.
NVME M.2 (PCIE 3.0 x4) drives are limited to ~3400MB/s.

That's what I'm saying. There is no way the speed is limited to 500MB/s just beacuse the M.2 is not directly connected to the CPU. However, I am unable to find anywhere that explicitly states the supported speef for the M.2 slot on the MSI Z170-A Gaming Pro. I also don't understand if it supports NMVe, or if it's only supported for "Mini-SAS SSD with TurboU.2 Host Car"

 

[SkyNetRising]

I am unable to find anywhere that explicitly states the supported speef for the M.2 slot on the MSI Z170-A Gaming Pro.
I also don't understand if it supports NMVe, or if it's only supported for "Mini-SAS SSD with TurboU.2 Host Car"

Yes it does provide all that info.
This line explains it all.

Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s standards,

This means - you can place SATA m.2 drive in M.2 slot - like Crucial MX500 M.2. It will work at appropriate SATA speeds.
And you can also place gen3 M.2 drive in M.2 slot - like Samsung 970 evo M.2. It will work at gen3 x4 speeds.

 

[vojacirjak]

Yes it does provide all that info.
This line explains it all.

This means - you can place SATA m.2 drive in M.2 slot - like Crucial MX500 M.2. It will work at appropriate SATA speeds.
And you can also place gen3 M.2 drive in M.2 slot - like Samsung 970 evo M.2. It will work at gen3 x4 speeds.

That would mean the max. read speed is 3,940MB/s, right?
Does this mean that NMVe is supported?

 

[USAFRet]

That would mean the max. read speed is 3,940MB/s, right?
Does this mean that NMVe is supported?

Yes.
But that does not mean everything happens 5 times faster.

 

[SkyNetRising]

That would mean the max. read speed is 3,940MB/s, right?

No. Max is ~ 3400 - 3500 MB/s.

 

[vojacirjak]

No. Max is ~ 3400 - 3500 MB/s.

Well, perfect, because that is just about the speed of most of these 50 bucks M.2 SSD's.

Now, do you all have any recommendations or guidance as to how to choose the specific model? There are a bunch of models, and most of them share the same speed. How do I narrow down my options to choose the best M.2 PCIe Gen3 4.0x SSD?

 

[USAFRet]

Well, perfect, because that is just about the speed of most of these 50 bucks M.2 SSD's.

Now, do you all have any recommendations or guidance as to how to choose the specific model? There are a bunch of models, and most of them share the same speed. How do I narrow down my options to choose the best M.2 PCIe Gen3 4.0x SSD?

Samsung 970 EVO or EVO Plus.

 

[vojacirjak]

Samsung 970 EVO or EVO Plus.

I can get the Samsung 980 or 970 Evo+ . Is there a significant or notable difference between the two?

 

[USAFRet]

I can get the Samsung 980 or 970 Evo+ . Is there a significant or notable difference between the two?

Get the 970.
The 980 is dramless, and the 970 outperforms it.

 

[vojacirjak]

Get the 970.
The 980 is dramless, and the 970 outperforms it.

Got it, thank you!!

 

[vojacirjak]

And you can also place gen3 M.2 drive in M.2 slot - like Samsung 970 evo M.2. It will work at gen3 x4 speeds.

But in reality it will not work at Gen3 x4.0 speeds because it's not directly wired to the CPU, correct?

 

[SkyNetRising]

But in reality it will not work at Gen3 x4.0 speeds because it's not directly wired to the CPU, correct?

It will work at Gen3 x4.
But performance will be slightly lower than, if it was connected directly to cpu (not via chipset).

 

[vojacirjak]

It will work at Gen3 x4.
But performance will be slightly lower than, if it was connected directly to cpu (not via chipset).

Got it ^^ Well, I will still benefit from a great speed advantage over a SATA SSD.

Thanks all for helping