M.2 PCIe SSD preventing use of SATA ports on Gigabyte motherboard.

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inersha

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Oct 8, 2016
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I have just fitted a HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe SSD to my Gigabyte GA-970A-UD35P motherboard. However, it seems as though this is preventing me from using the SATA ports.

I'd like to be able to boot from an SSD connected to SATA, and use the M.2 PCIe SSD as storage. Is this possible, or will this motherboard always cut out the use of SATA ports when an M.2 PCIe SSD is inserted?

At the moment it seems my options are as follows:

  • 1. Get a PCIe SSD that is not M.2.
    2. Get a motherboard that does not prevent the use of SATA ports when an M.2 PCIe is fitted.
Anyone have any experience or recommendations?
 
Solution
JohnnyLucky
Try the following:

1. When you start your computer go into the motherboard's system BIOS. There are quite a few settings that can be changed. There might be one drive related feature that would allow you to activate or force a SATA connection.

2. Visit the Gigabyte web site and check for motherboard BIOS updates. One of the updates might improve ssd compatibility and performance.

3. Visit the AMD web site and check for CPU updates as well as Northbridge and Southbridge chipset updates. Again, there might have been an update that improved ssd compatibility and performance.
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JohnnyLucky

JohnnyLucky

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May 30, 2007
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HI!

Please check and verify the model number of your motherboard. I checked the Gigabyte web site. Gigabyte does not seem to have a motherboard with the model number you provided.

There is a Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 but it is an old model that was released in 2011. It does not have an M.2 interface/connection on the motherboard. The UD3 does not have any PCIe 3.0 x 16 slots either.

Must be some sort of misunderstanding.
 
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I

inersha

Commendable
Oct 8, 2016
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Apologies, forgot the P at the end:

GA-970A-UD3P

uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4717&kw=GA-970A-UD3P1.0

Also, the M.2 SSD connects to PCIe x4.
 
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JohnnyLucky

JohnnyLucky

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May 30, 2007
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According to Gigabyte specifications, these are your PCIe expansion slots:

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) (Note 3)
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
3 x PCI Express x1 slots
(All PCI Express slots conform to the PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
2 x PCI slots

Those are for Revision 1.X and Revision 2.X of the motherboard. There are no PCIe 3.0 slots that could properly support the new PCIe 3.0 x 4 ssd's.

There are some PCIe 2.0 x 8, 2.0 x 4, and 2.0 x 2 that should work with your motherboard. The Kingston HyperX Predator you mentioned is a PCIe 2.0 x 4 ssd that should work with your motherboard.

One of the problems with older motherboards is they were never designed to provide a sufficient number of PCIe lanes. Intel limited the number of lanes available to 40. I don't know for certain but I am guessing AMD did something similar with their cpu's. A graphics card which uses 16 lanes and a few other devices quickly use up the 40 lanes. One of the early solutions was to disable some of the interfaces/connections. For example, if a PCIe ssd was installed, then a couple of SATA connections might be disabled or an eSATA connection might be disabled. Some manufacturers added a second SATA controller on the motherboard. Others like ASRock added a PLEX chip. A lot of that has changed. It is not much of a problem with newer Intel boards. I'm not very familiar with AMD boards.

Typically SATA connections labeled SATA_01 and SATA_02 should remain available for use. Are you sure you have lost the use of the first and second SATA connections? Usually the 5th and 6th SATA connections are disabled or the eSATA connection is disabled.
 
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I

inersha

Commendable
Oct 8, 2016
4
0
1,510


Thanks JohnnyLucky, that was an interesting reply.

Typically SATA connections labeled SATA_01 and SATA_02 should remain available for use. Are you sure you have lost the use of the first and second SATA connections? Usually the 5th and 6th SATA connections are disabled or the eSATA connection is disabled.
Click to expand...

Yep, I tried all the SATA connections. I started with SATA_01 and SATA_02 and neither worked. It seems that the PCI card is bypassing all SATA connections.

Would using a simpler graphics card possibly free up some of the SATA connections? I am currently using a Gigabyte Radeon R9 270x, which is currently overkill for my needs anyway.

Failing that, I know you're not familiar with AMD boards, but do you have any recommendations for upgrading my board to something that will allow me to work with PCIe SSDs and SATA connections more freely?
 
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JohnnyLucky

JohnnyLucky

Illustrious
May 30, 2007
10,902
10
42,965
Try the following:

1. When you start your computer go into the motherboard's system BIOS. There are quite a few settings that can be changed. There might be one drive related feature that would allow you to activate or force a SATA connection.

2. Visit the Gigabyte web site and check for motherboard BIOS updates. One of the updates might improve ssd compatibility and performance.

3. Visit the AMD web site and check for CPU updates as well as Northbridge and Southbridge chipset updates. Again, there might have been an update that improved ssd compatibility and performance.
 
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