Z170A PC MATE and Samsung 970 EVO M.2 SSD

[jeweettoch]

Hello, I'm currently using an MSI Z170A PC MATE motherboard and I'm thinking of buying a Samsung 970 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD of 500GB (as the title suggests).

I'm pretty sure they are compatible (though, please confirm if true / refute if false).

What I would like to know is whether or not this motherboard will be able to utilize this SSD to it's full potential;
and does using a PCIe adapter card as opposed to the on-board M.2 slot result in a difference in performance?

Here are the specs of the motherboard:
https://www.msi.com//Motherboard/Z170A-PC-MATE/Specification
https://us.hardware.info/product/317163/msi-z170a-pc-mate/specifications

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

1 x M.2 ports, supports PCIe 3.0 x4
According to it's spec page it should operate at full performance from the M2 slot.

 

[OlegxXxRated]

So I have a z170-a Pro but I can't seem to get read speeds to the max.

I will get anywhere between 2500-2700mb/s on the 1GB test for sequential read speeds.

I can't seem to get to the advertised 3400. I am using the 970 evo.

I made sure to have the latest bios.

Also, it is my boot drive for reference.