Question Will my motherboard accept a NVMe drive ?

Franicelcha

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Oct 21, 2010
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Hi

I am confused. Very confused as a matter of fact.

I would like to upgrade my PC with a m.2 drive but do not want to buy the wrong one and waste my money.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte H97-D3H. It has a m.2 slot and the manual states that it has a Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA & PCIe SSD support. I note that the term NVME IS NOT present in the description. On Newegg web site, I note that some M.2 drives have the term NVME in the description and some others do not (only show PCIe x 4).

My question is simple:
Can I buy ANY M.2 drive whether the term NVME is present in the description or not as long as it has only one notch ? Wouls a sata m.2 with two notches fit in the same slot ? If the PCIe support is the same for PCIe and NVME (assuming it is), why doesn't my manual shows NVME in the description (it only shows socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA & PCIe SSD support) ?

Can anyone shed some light ? Boy !! Boy !!! Am I ever confused...I want to make sure I do not buy an incompatible drive.

Thank You
 

Aeacus

Titan
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Any M key, type 2242/2260/2280, M.2 NVMe/ACHI SSD can be used with your MoBo.

As far as why there's no "NVMe" listed on MoBo specs, well, no point to list the same thing twice.
M.2 NVMe SSDs use PCI-E protocol to work. You can call them M.2 PCI-E SSD or M.2 NVMe SSD, it doesn't make any difference.
M.2 ACHI SSDs use SATA protocol to work. Same here, doesn't matter if you call it M.2 SATA SSD or M.2 ACHI SSD, it's the same drive.

Speed comparison too; 860 Evo (which also sells as M.2 ACHI SSD) vs 970 Evo (common M.2 NVMe SSD),
link: https://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compa...g-970-Evo-NVMe-PCIe-M2-500GB/m428560vsm493995
 
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