Will My System Run Faster Retrofitted with an M.2 SSD on the PCIe? BIOS Upgrade Problem.

Giants_1

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Jul 3, 2016
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In 2013, I built my own system. Here are the specs:

mobo: ASUS P8Z77-M (NOT the Pro)
CPU: Intel i5-3570
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1333 (system uses 10GB)
OS: Windows 10 Home
SSD: Samsung EVO 840 128GB (15.8GB free space)
graphics: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti SSC Gaming ACX 3.0 4GB
I access the Internet with a cable modem that downloads 66 Mbps

Crystal DiskMark Benchmarking, as of yesterday:
537.6 77.78 231.1 19.82 234.4 77.0 226.9 64.49

I load Chrome, Firefox (sometimes Opera), Excel 2003, Word 2003, Skype, antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-malware

I'd like to retrofit the motherboard with a Samsung 960 EVO 250GB M.2 2880

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-960-EVO-Internal-MZ-V6E250BW/dp/B01LYFKX41/ref=pd_sim_147_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01LYFKX41&pd_rd_r=JNX1J1Q8B5BW15FQYHT5&pd_rd_w=dHzFr&pd_rd_wg=zHZfs&psc=1&refRID=JNX1J1Q8B5BW15FQYHT5&dpID=41VsuUzjcjL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

using a PCIe adapter, like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Crest-M-2-PCIe-3-0-Adapter/dp/B01I5VABFY/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1509859739&sr=1-9&keywords=M.2+PCIe+to+PCIe+3.0+x4+Adapter

My goals are to have the system run faster, especially Window on booting up, installing apps, and opening Word and Excel documents.

A couple of years back, I tried to upgrade the BIOS (no problems, just trying to keep current), but the system refused to upgrade, not booting up, so I had to revert to the version that I was using and am still using, 1708 x 64, 11/9/2012. That was when I ran Windows 7 Home Premium, but I don't recall which BIOS I tried to upgrade with. Now I'm running Windows 10 Home. Any tips for getting BIOS to work?

ASUS BIOS download page:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P8Z77M/HelpDesk_Download/

Questions:
is this likely, or is an acquaintance right that the PCIes don't give much of a speed boost?

Is my Samsung and PCIe adapter the best, most cost-effective way to increase speed?

Is my system likely to boot from the Samsung 960 EVO/PCIe adapter?

If not, are there adapters for the 960 to connect to a SATA-3 port on the mobo?

Thanks!

 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
1. Not all systems of that vintage can boot from a PCI-E connected drive
2. For the boot drive, it would not be significantly faster than your current SATA SSD
3. A newer, larger SATA III drive will be a bit faster than your current 840 EVO. For less money


If you were to be building a new system with native support for an NVMe drive, sure.
For your existing system? Not worth the hassle.
 

samer.forums

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Z97 and X99 and above can boot from NVME SSD

but you can still buy fast AHCI M2 SSD and enjoy the better speed.

like

Kingston HyperX Predator (AHCI)

Read: 1400MB/s
Write: 600MB/s
IOPS 4K read/​Write: 120k/​78k

and

Samsung SSD SM951 (AHCI Version)

Read: 2150MB/s
Write: 1200MB/s
IOPS 4K read/​Write: 90k/​70k

make sure its AHCI and not NVME
 

Giants_1

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Jul 3, 2016
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USAFRet, thank you.


I've been thinking about building a new system. I'm still in the learning stage about M.2s, especially specifications and don't understand the review specs under PCIe x16 (citation below). Would these two motherboards work with the Samsung 960 EVO M.2 2280?

ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4

Gigabyte Z170X-Ultra Gaming

citation:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-motherboards,3984.html

I've been very satisfied with the Samsung EVO 2.5" SSDs. Do you recommend the Samsung 960 EVO M.2 2280 or should I go with a PCIe slot, like this one: Plextor Black Edition, eg M6e PCI Express, 128GB, $146 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JCXXQ0Q/ref=dp_cerb_1

Thanks!

 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


Use the native M.2 slot instead of the PCIe.
But I would not recommend a 128GB drive, no matter the type, for the OS and application drive.
Every single day, we have people here who are running out of space on a 120/128GB OS drive.
 

Giants_1

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Jul 3, 2016
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samer.forums, thank you.

Is there a way to confirm whether my mobo will, in fact, work with an M.2 SSD drive?

For the Kingston ACHI version, do you mean the HHHL version:

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-HyperX-Predator-SHPM2280P2-240G/dp/B00V01C4RK/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1509899999&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Kingston%2BHyperX%2BPredator%2Bachi&th=1

Anyone, there's a 2016 BIOS version for my mobo that I *think* I have not tried. If the computer won't boot with the new BIOS, how do I go back to the old BIOS?

Thanks!