should i buy a m.2 and use as a boot drive or for games?

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chris78

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Dec 28, 2013
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current setup

i5 4690k @ 3.5 stock
32 gb lpx corsair 1600mhz ram
msi gtx 1080
samsung ssd 256gb (boot drive)
samsung 1tb second drive
maxtor usb 3.0 2tb expansion drive
xfx 850 watt core edition psu
asus z97 maximus ranger iiv

my question is what m.2 drives are compatable with this motherboard and which one is worth buying, and should i use for a boot drive or put games on it?
 
Solution
zoltan.boese
If the z97 chipset motherboard OP has supports M.2 pci cards on full speed and also as boot drive, and NVME...
s/he can get this one ADATA XPG GAMMIX S10 256GB, M.2 (ASX7000NPC-256GT-C) heat sink included, or a Samsung SSD 960 EVO 250GB, M.2 (MZ-V6E250BW)

Correct me if I am wrong! I also have a 4th gen CPU and I am curious.
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captaincharisma

captaincharisma

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Oct 13, 2004
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game services like steam and Uplay are good for managing games as in moving them from one drive to another so you could put games you are currently playing on the M.2 drive and when you start playing them less you can move them over to the HDD

mind you this will depend on the capacity of the drive you plan to get
 
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chris78

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which is a good one that will work with an asus z97 maximuis ranger iiv and how much please i live in the uk if this helps.
 
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captaincharisma

captaincharisma

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with an old motherboard like that you should check the motherboard Manuel to see if the M.2 slot can be used for storage. The M.2 slot on some older motherboards like that could only be used as cache drives (similar to intel optane tech) so they may only support M.2 drives under 100GB

 
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zoltan.boese

zoltan.boese

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If the z97 chipset motherboard OP has supports M.2 pci cards on full speed and also as boot drive, and NVME...
s/he can get this one ADATA XPG GAMMIX S10 256GB, M.2 (ASX7000NPC-256GT-C) heat sink included, or a Samsung SSD 960 EVO 250GB, M.2 (MZ-V6E250BW)

Correct me if I am wrong! I also have a 4th gen CPU and I am curious.
 
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Solution
zoltan.boese

zoltan.boese

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So is the 10Gb/s bus speed a limiting factor for the nvme SSDs I linked? Do they run at full speed without a pci adapter or limited to 1250 MB/s? Does the BIOS support them as boot drive?
I might want to grab one 960 evo myself!
 
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rgd1101

rgd1101

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http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/960evo/
INTERFACE
PCIe 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.2


https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_RANGER/
m.2 pciex x2
 
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zoltan.boese

zoltan.boese

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I know it is frustrating. Sorry. I read the specs, I am just too stupid to understand them. Will the SSD plugged into the M.2 slot (without a pci adapter) be limited to 1250 MB/s?
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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m.2 is a size spec, not a performance spec.
You can get m.2 drives in either sata or pcie variants.
I think you are asking about the pcie version like the Samsung 960 evo.
It is a good device, and not much more expensive than an equivalent capacity sata ssd.

Yes, you can use one in your motherboard.
The chief advantage is the faster sequential speeds allowed by the pcie interface. some 4x faster.
But... that is not as great as it sounds. The random performance is no different from your other drives,
and that is what windows does most.
In theory, level loads for games should go faster, but I don't know if you will really notice the difference.

Worth, of course is something only YOU can determine.
My take is to use one large ssd for windows and put all you can on it.

 
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rgd1101

rgd1101

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figure that new m.2 x4 is 32Gb/s, old x2 is 10Gb/s
/3 on the ssd spec.
 
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zoltan.boese

zoltan.boese

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Yes, I got so far and 10giga bit equals to 1.25 giga byte... That is why I asked, if it is worth buying nvme or does a better M.2 PCI module deliver the same speed.
 
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