Gigabyte GA-Z97MX Samsung m.2 950 Pro stuck at 2x pcie

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•M.2 for SSDs drives with up to 10 Gb/s data transfer

M.2 PCI-E drives should really be used in a socket that supports the same number of PCI-E lanes as the drive for maximum performance, although any M.2 PCI-E drive will work in either a PCI-E x2 or PCI-E x4 socket provided they have the same key. However, if you install a PCI-E x4 drive into a PCI-E x2 socket it will be limited to PCI-E x2 speeds.

Basically, what it comes down to is that even if a M.2 drive physically fits into a M.2 socket, you also need to make sure that the M.2 socket supports the type of M.2 drive you have.

Old PCIe version 1 was 2.5 Gb/s data transfer max rate.
PCIe version 2 was 5 Gb/s data transfer max rate.
These early M.2 slots have x2 PCIe lanes, that...
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Calvin7

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Feb 19, 2013
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•M.2 for SSDs drives with up to 10 Gb/s data transfer

M.2 PCI-E drives should really be used in a socket that supports the same number of PCI-E lanes as the drive for maximum performance, although any M.2 PCI-E drive will work in either a PCI-E x2 or PCI-E x4 socket provided they have the same key. However, if you install a PCI-E x4 drive into a PCI-E x2 socket it will be limited to PCI-E x2 speeds.

Basically, what it comes down to is that even if a M.2 drive physically fits into a M.2 socket, you also need to make sure that the M.2 socket supports the type of M.2 drive you have.

Old PCIe version 1 was 2.5 Gb/s data transfer max rate.
PCIe version 2 was 5 Gb/s data transfer max rate.
These early M.2 slots have x2 PCIe lanes, that where the up to 10 Gb/s data transfer rate comes from.
 
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Solution
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muniz_ri

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Mar 27, 2016
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The board's built in M.2 connector runs at 2.0 x2. Don't use it. You will need an M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter card (http://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00) in order to run the drive at full speed. I have the same board and the drive runs great with this set-up. Also, if you have a gpu in the first PCIe 3.0 x16 slot it will run at x8 when you insert the drive's adapter card; but it will have zero impact on your gpu's performance.
 
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PlymouthJoseph

PlymouthJoseph

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Okay, I know this is already solved... But my guest PC has this motherboard, along with a Xeon E3 1231 V3 and a GTX 960.

My question is: If I were to buy the 950 Pro, what speeds would I get if I were to use it in the M.2 port? Would it still be faster than a SATA3 SSD (Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB), and explain a little more why the SSD won't run at full speed using the M.2 slot? Just a little lost is all...

Many thanks

- Joe
 
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muniz_ri

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You will get about 700 mb/s Read and Write speeds via the M.2 slots. This is faster than a SATA3 SSD. The reason is the M.2 slot on this board runs at PCIe Generation 2.0 x2. You can read more about PCIe 2.0 vs 3.0 here: http://www.trentonsystems.com/applications/pci-express-interface/
 
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muniz_ri

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The board's spec's make no mention of that so I don't believe that having an SSD connected via the M.2 would impact the GPU on the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot. I will test when I can and let you know if it does or you can contact gigabyte for confirmation.
 
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PlymouthJoseph

PlymouthJoseph

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Is the 700MB/s due to the speed of PCIe 2.0 or because it's 2x? Also, why is it 2x when the motherboard has a 16x and a 8x in Gen3 and the 4x and 1x in Gen2. And since the M.2 port says "10Gb/s, That should equal to 1250MB/s, then why would it run only at 700MB/s?

Also, since if it does truly only run at 700MB/s, would there be anything else I could use the M.2 for? I was thinking WiFi, but I use Ethernet so there is no need for that. Other than SSD and WiFi, I don't know what else M.2 can be used for...

Oh, and would buying a M.2 to PCIe solve this bottleneck? It's just that I don't want to buy one, because I'm planning on adding another GTX 960 in the future and having it run in SLI. Well, either that or sell the 960 and buy a 970 or the latest 10xx GPU I could buy with the money.

The board's spec's make no mention of that so I don't believe that having an SSD connected via the M.2 would impact the GPU on the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot. I will test when I can and let you know if it does or you can contact gigabyte for confirmation.
Click to expand...

Thank you if you test this for me, highly appreciated. Also, would running a M.2 SSD impact performance if I were to use SLI?

--------------------------------

Oh, and in your personal opinion, do you think it'll be worth buying the Samsung 950 Pro? Knowing that it'll only run at 700MB/s?
 
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muniz_ri

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- "Is the 700MB/s due to the speed of PCIe 2.0 or because it's 2x?" Both, see the article.

- "Also, why is it 2x when the motherboard has a 16x and a 8x in Gen3 and the 4x and 1x in Gen2?" Due to manufacturers choice given the chipset's lane limitations.

- "And since the M.2 port says "10Gb/s, That should equal to 1250MB/s, then why would it run only at 700MB/s?" "Theoretical" 10Gb/s. I actually just got about 800mb/s transfer speeds.

- "Also, since if it does truly only run at 700MB/s, would there be anything else I could use the M.2 for?" I don't know on this.

- "Oh, and would buying a M.2 to PCIe solve this bottleneck?" Yes, you will achieve full speed.

- "Thank you if you test this for me, highly appreciated." See pic, no negative impact on PCIe 3.0 x16 slot.

- "Also, would running a M.2 SSD impact performance if I were to use SLI?" Don't know.

- "Oh, and in your personal opinion, do you think it'll be worth buying the Samsung 950 Pro? Knowing that it'll only run at 700MB/s?" No, you are better off then with a sata SSD like the 850 EVO. The speed difference will be minor but the cost difference is significant.

 
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mleczan

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Hi, I have GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 motherboard (latest bios rev F7) and brand new Samsung 960 Evo which should get read speed close to 3200 MB/s. New drive was installed on this extenstion slot: http://allegro.pl/a2-kontroler-pcie-3-0-delock-na-dysk-m-2-ssd-i6678161014.html?snapshot=MjAxNy0wMS0xOVQxOToxNzoyNlo7YnV5ZXI7NWY1YTYzNjU2NWE3NzNjYTU3MWIyZTgxMWEzZmVkY2VkMWMzYTgxZjVjMTIzMGI2MzU0ZTZjNzI3NzU1MjAyOQ== which is supposed to support PCI Express x4, V3.0.
After windows 7 installation, all drivers (including Samsung NVMe) and samsung Magician speed is limited to ~1700 MB/s.
Samsung magician report drive being connected using PCIe Gen 2 x4.
Why only PCIe Gen 2 is used at this case? Does this motherboard suppord NVMe drives at PCI-E Gen 3?
I tried to play around with bios options but none seem to help, even disabling XMP, which was described as solution in one thread.

Edit:
I found the problem - on GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 you have to use mid PCIe slot since bottom is capped to PCIe Gen 2

 
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T

tst8884

Nov 27, 2018
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WoW you really helped him :)
i wonder if you got the same board why not to use the PCiEx X4 slot at the bottom of the Mobo?
Thanks
 
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