Adding M.2 drive to old system

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GreenSmurf

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Jan 3, 2017
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Hi,

I have a 5 years old system, running with Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9 motherboard.

All my storage is still non SSD HD and i am thinking on buying a new SSD drive to replace my windows 10 OS drive - hoping to get a better boot and running speeds.

Since, one day (hoping soon) i will replace my system with a new motherboard / CPU / memory , i am thinking maybe i should get a M.2 SSD drive. This way, once i change my motherboard i will not have upgrade my storage again. This is the M.2 drive i was looking into buying:
Samsung 960 PRO Series - 512GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6P512BW)

Since my motherboard is not equipped with the M.2 interface, i am thinking on buying a PCI to M.2 adapter. I saw one on Amazon:
M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD to PCI Express 3.0 x4 Drvie Adapter Card Slot Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242, 2230

Can someone please suggest:
According to the adapter description:
This adapter is only for 'M' key M.2 PCIe SSD such as Samsung XP941 SSD. Not compatible with a 'B' key M.2 PCIe x2 SSD or 'B' key M.2 SATA SSD,and it does't support SATA connection
Click to expand...
Will it support the M.2 device i was looking for?

Also, i will clone my system drive into the new M.2 drive. Will i be able to boot the system from the new M.2 storage?
I booting is possible, should i change anything in the bios? my bios is configure to IDE and not ACHI - will i still be able to boot the new M.2 device ?

Thanks.
 
Solution
USAFRet


For cloning procedure, see this:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the...
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M

Mac75

Commendable
Jan 3, 2017
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I have a Asus and Evga x58 with M2 SSD's but they are not PCIE ssd's.

I can confirm that my solution is working with a card adapter however.

https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1483458737&sr=1-7&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_four_browse-bin%3A6009678011

I would look into this partiuclar card for your solution as you would like to run a modern pcie M2 ssd. This card was known to work with the previous generation Samsung 950's particularly well so I suspect it would work well with the newer 960.
 
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CelicaGT

CelicaGT

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Jul 22, 2013
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This...I have 3 main systems, 2 with NVMe and one with SATA (still M.2). While on paper the NVMe systems have 4 times the transfer rate of the SATA system in practice I don't notice a darned thing. All boot times are within seconds of each other and all are equally responsive. Save the money/headache and grab a good 2.5" SATA drive, you will still be able to carry it up to your new rig.

 
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GreenSmurf

Commendable
Jan 3, 2017
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ok, i'm sold .. almost ;)

I looked into the NVME booting and yep, it seems i will not be able to boot into NVME device.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/solid-state-drives/000005967.html
I dont have uEFI and not sure i have the right Chipset ..

But, what do you think , will i be able to install GRUB on a regular (non SSD) SATA disk,have BIOS boot into GRUB and then use GRUB to boot the OS from a M.2 device connected to PCIe adapter ?
This way i will be able to enjoy the speed of M.2 for my OS.

To save myself some money, i found an old device at home which i would like to test.
Its an "old" drive from an ASUS ultrabook i broke some time ago.
I think its a M.2 device, but i am not sure (i really have zero experience with M.2).
Can you help me? Will it support the device Mac75 suggested ?
https://s29.postimg.org/y01z73g7r/sandisk_Asus.jpg

Thanks.
 
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CelicaGT

CelicaGT

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Jul 22, 2013
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mSATA looks like...not M.2, the specs are confusing to say the least. On the bright side it should be easy to find an adapter as it's just SATA in another form.

 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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That is an mSATA device. Different interface than m.2.
And the same speed as a regular 2.5" SATA SSD.

The MSTA is/was popular in ultrabooks simply due to the smaller size. It is really the exact same as a regular 2.5" drive, just in a different package.

I have a Samsung one just like it.
 
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G

GreenSmurf

Commendable
Jan 3, 2017
4
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1,510
ok, i agree .. Lets go simple.

Just bought my new SSD drive - Samsung 850 EVO 1TB :bounce:

I will clone my OS partition to the new disk tonight and hopefully run it tomorrow.
I hope the new SATA 3 SSD will give me the performance i need without the need to reinstall my 5 years old system.

Until my next system upgrade that will include the new M.2 device.

Thanks for all the help.
Guy
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
171,456
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For cloning procedure, see this:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive
Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe as necessary.
Delete the original boot partitions, here:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/4f1b84ac-b193-40e3-943a-f45d52e23685/cant-delete-extra-healthy-recovery-partitions-and-healthy-efi-system-partition?forum=w8itproinstall
-----------------------------
 
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