NVMe m.2 SSD installation issues resolved?

sephorian

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Jan 7, 2012
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Hey guys,

I'm planning on buying a Samsung 960 NVMe m.2 SSD 500gb which I plan to have my OS and games on, but I'm a bit concerned about all the installation issues I've been reading about while researching this relatively new form factor.

It seems like almost everybody is having trouble getting the BIOS to recognize the m.2 SSD without having to do some configuring, and even then still having trouble.

Most of the posts I've read have been from early/mid this year so I'm hopeful these issues have been addressed in BIOS updates.

My plan is to install the new m.2 ssd, get into the bios and set it to boot from my DVD, install my Windows 10 DVD, format my old Crucial MX100 SSD which has my OS and games on it, then proceed to install Windows 10 on the new m.2 drive.

Anyone else encountered these issues I'm referring to or better yet, had no issues at all installing a new m.2 ssd?

My motherboard is an ASUS Z170-AR.

Cheers.
 
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Yes, you should be good as your CPU is unlocked.

As far as going with a 2.5" SSD, you do realize that you can put in a SATA based M.2 drive if you like. It won't be any faster than a 2.5" SATA SSD drive, but you can skip the cables then. I am fond of the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 drive for my family members, since the 500GB M.2 model is actually a little less expensive...

wildfire707

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Hello,

I have installed several different M.2 SSDs and have found that you may need to have a SATA hard drive or SSD drive hooked up originally using ASUS motherboards to convince them to boot before the M.2 drive is formatted (otherwise they will believe that there is no boot device and not start up). After you do the OS installation on the M.2 drive they are fine, though. It is true that you should place the latest BIOS on a USB drive first and update it, of course, but that completes all of the workarounds that I have had to do on them in the past.

Keep in mind that the biggest issue that I have encountered with the Z170-A and Z170-AR motherboards is that they assume that you have a K series processor and may not start up correctly if you do not have one (due to the auto overclock getting stuck to on). I have had several friends return these boards because they bought them and were running standard Intel CPUs and swap them for H170 boards or go further up the line and get one of the Maximus VIII boards.

Good luck!
 

sephorian

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Thanks for the info man.

I do in fact have a 6600k so I should be okay there from what you're saying?

 

sephorian

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Anyone else care to weigh in with some of their experiences/difficulties installing an NVMe m.2 ssd and making it a boot drive?

Still not 100% confident in buying one. I'm thinking it might be easier just to get a 2.5" SSD, the Samsung 850 EVO 500gb looks pretty good.
 

wildfire707

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Yes, you should be good as your CPU is unlocked.

As far as going with a 2.5" SSD, you do realize that you can put in a SATA based M.2 drive if you like. It won't be any faster than a 2.5" SATA SSD drive, but you can skip the cables then. I am fond of the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 drive for my family members, since the 500GB M.2 model is actually a little less expensive than the 2.5" model.

The big minus if you use an M.2 SATA drive is that there is only one slot on your motherboard, so you would need an adapter if you wanted to upgrade to an M.2 NVMe drive in the future and still be able to use the SATA one.

 
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