Will msi motherboard support sata m.2?

[Dushyanth_1]

Hi I'm trying to buy this model of 240GB m.2 sata ssd

https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/system-builder/sm2280s3g2

I am using MSI B350 Tomohawk motherboard and my question is will this ssd support as primary boot drive for my motherboard?

 

[R_1]

yes.
if the motherboard is equipped with the m.2 the BIOS will boot to it.
all good.

however that SSD will run no faster than a regular 2.5 inch SSD.
if you want the full available speed m.2 provides (3-4 times faster than SATA) you want an NVME SSD.
I suggest the BPX by MyDigitalssd
https://www.amazon.com/MyDigitalSSD-80mm-Express-PCIe-480GB/dp/B01MCZ4QTK?th=1
its the same price too

 

[marko55]

Yes, it will work fine.

R_1, gotta be careful. Not all motherboards that have m.2 slots support SATA SSDs, though all that I've seen on new chipsets like AM4 and X299 do. This was big across the X99 lines. Many only supported NVMe SSDs in those slots and not SATA. ASRock was one that always did take SATA in theirs also which is why I used them for my X99 builds. I used SATA m.2 SSDs for two reasons: (1) The OS was windows 7 in many cases. (2) Using that m.2 slot saved space in the case for other 2.5/3.5" drives which was a requirement in my particular builds.

Point is, there's other benefits to using the m.2 slot, even with a SATA SSD, as your boot drive vs using a 2.5" SATA SSD.

The BPX is a decent drive but its cheap for a couple reasons. It does not perform as well as the max specs indicate in some cases (particularly with low queue depths) and they tend to run HOT. I've got one here and its constantly in the 70s (c) even on a PCIe adapter where its got plenty of air, and I'm not alone with this challenge with these SSDs. When put on an on-board m.2 connector its even worse. I have no doubt its throttling its performance due to this as I've seen it in the 80s before. There are m.2 heatsinks out there (EK just released a very nice one in fact) that could be used to help with this if you were so inclined. The WD black NVMe SSDs are a great, low cost alternative to the BPX. The 960 EVOs run WAY cooler in comparison also but cost a few bucks more. The Plextor NVMe m.2 SSDs with the built-on heatsinks run well also and are low cost.

 

[R_1]

true older board when M.2 and NVME were new had issues, the B350Tomohawk in question does not.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Choice of M.2 drive is critical here, several posts have cropped up (same motherboard) where SSD model had to be changed in order for system to boot from the M.2 slot.

 

[Dushyanth_1]

my m.2 only slot is behind the graphic card in my motherboard that's the reason I'm buying sata m.2 ssd, I know current nvme drives will work in my motherboard, but not sure about sata drives
that's why I asked this question