[SOLVED] Will NVME work with an adapter on my old motherboard

[Prestianni]

Hi all, I’ve got a Asrock H97 Pro4 and it doesn’t say anything about NVME support (as it probably wasn’t a thing back when this was new) but I am unsure of whether I can get a pci express adapter for an m.2 ssd. Just wondering if I should do that or get a traditional SATA ssd as pricing is very similar and the m.2 speeds would be great. Thanks guys

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, it WILL support and boot from an NVME drive that is installed in an PCIe expansion card if you have a new enough BIOS version installed.

http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11566&title=h97m-pro4-nvme

 

[Prestianni]

Yeah I think I’ve already updated the bios so I will double check, just making sure that I don’t buy something it can’t support.
Also another question since you responded.
what’s the best way to copy a drive over? I have a 120gb ssd but I want to use the better m.2 through the adapter, I also have a 1tb hdd for all my games but cos their games I can redownload them all if needed it’s not too hard just time consuming.
The ssd will be 1tb btw

 

[Darkbreeze]

You will want, and probably need, to do a clean install. The existing boot manager will not, I do not believe, work with a change to NVME via PCIe adapter, so cloning may not work. You can certainly TRY though, and to do so I'd recommend using Macrium reflect.

Install the SSD via PCIe adapter, then configure the BIOS as necessary to recognize the drive, if needed. You may need to go into Windows drive management and initialize the NVME drive and assign it a drive letter before it is usable.

Then, there are instructions and some discussion regarding using Macrium to clone the OS in the following thread.

[SOLVED] - Windows load error after cloning data from SSD to M.2

I have bought a Intel 660p 1TB M.2 and after formating the drive to be the E drive on Windows 10, I used Intel's Data Migration Software to clone my SSD (Crucial MX300 525GB) to my newly installed M.2. After cloning the drive, I went into BIOS and changed which drive boots first, with the M.2...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Prestianni]

Thanks, I’ll hopefully try use that macronis app otherwise I’ll have to reinstall and re optimise the system haha

 

[Darkbreeze]

What version of Windows are you running?

 

[USAFRet]

"and the m.2 speeds would be great "

Be careful about your expectations on this "speed".
In a LOT of uses, you'll see zero difference between a good SATA III SSD and an NVMe SSD.

Try the cloning thing.
If it fails, don't put a lot of time into "fixing it". Clonig is great when it works. If it fails....just move on with a clean install.

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new drive
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new drive
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive, except those which you do not want to migrate.

If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new drive
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the drive
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[Prestianni]

What version of Windows are you running?

I’m running windows 10 ofc, I just found a driver for my motherboard for NVME support today, it doesn’t have an m.2 slot though so it should be alright, had to dig deep for the driver haha

 

[Darkbreeze]

Windows 10 already has built in PCIe NVME support, so you probably didn't need to find anything special. That's the whole reason why I asked because for people running Windows 7 there may be additional complications because it doesn't have terrific NVME support natively.

 

[hang-the-9]

I’m running windows 10 ofc, I just found a driver for my motherboard for NVME support today, it doesn’t have an m.2 slot though so it should be alright, had to dig deep for the driver haha

If you don't have an M.2 slot on the motherboard, then just get a standard 2.5" SATA SSD. No need to pay extra or deal with the hassle of using PCIe cards and an nvme drive when you can just use an already supported drive, just larger to hold your programs. You won't miss the speed difference at all.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I wouldn't personally bother with trying to get an NVME drive to work in a system that didn't natively come with support for it, but the bottom line is they asked if it could be done/if the board supported it, which it does. Whether that's reasonably viable and cost effective, is another story.