What Z170 motherboards support two M.2 PCIe Gen3 x4 in RAID0, for Windows 10 boot drive

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HermosaBeach

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Sep 3, 2015
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What Z170 motherboards support two M.2 PCIe Gen3 x4 in RAID 0, where both M.2's operate at full x4 speed, as a Windows 10 boot drive?

MSI Z170A Gaming M7 motherboard has two M.2 slots, but when you insert two M.2 PCIe 3.0 cards, one of them becomes standard SATA.

GIGABYTE Z170X Gaming 7 motherboard supports dual PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 with two PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 connectors onboard. It was somewhat complex to setup two M.2 in RAID 0 configuration, but Window 10 REFUSED to install into this RAID. I had to delete the RAID and then Windows 10 would install into one of the M.2 as normal.
 
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jasonbongreen

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Oct 29, 2015
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@HermosaBeach Did you ever solve this? I'm looking to pick up a couple of Samsung 950 Pros to create a 1TB RAID. I need 1 TB of storage for games and I'd rather have it all be a single system drive. My data is stored on a home server so that's not a concern.
 
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MysticWiz

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Feb 10, 2016
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You can get m.2 SSD raid on most all Z170 type motherboards that have Two m.2 connectors. Doing so you sacrifice SATA connections and have to work the kinks from BIOS. Also obtaining the correct Drivers then setting up the Array. You will find the data rate - speed for Read/Write to be limited or lesser than claimed to be but it will be faster than any SATA HDD. If you don't want to set up for Raid configuration then Install your OS and boot from them. Windows 7 Ultimate x64 will work but need to combined (add) Drivers to the installation using a Flash Drive with Rufus program. With all this craziness there will be a learning curve. I believe using PCIe SSD you can not do Raid. "Kyle_38" said GA-Z170X Gaming G1 only if you want the best and have $500 for that motherboard which should have dropped in price near $330 to be reasonable. You'll find SATAe is going out the window so there is some waste going on with current motherboards. Like video cards .. Top Dog for 3 months to 1 year cost arm and leg plus your 1st born child, then the next Flag Ship comes asking you to bargain with the Devil. Introduction of New Technology you pay the price and then some .. always best to wait 6 months and see what happens if it is a Great Product or a Dud.
 
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