M.2 SSD on a Z97M-PLUS MOBO

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mutangfx

Jan 12, 2019
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I want to buy an M.2 SSD, but I'm not sure what to buy.

1.To my understanding my mobo only accepts PCI-e 2.0 (or 3.0? I don't know) x2 SSD. If that's right, any suggestions on what to buy?

2. It would be better to buy a better SSD (PCI-e 2.0/3.0 x4) thinking about future upgrade of the mobo, or it won't work? If it will work, without making the GPU run on x8, what should I buy?

3. Also, I know nothing about raid or how to install a fresh OS on the SSD, anything that could help me on that is welcome too.

User's manual:
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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An NVMe drive in that m.2 port will be severely restricted in performance. About 1/3 or 1/2 of what a PCIe 3.0 x4 port can provide.

Yes, it will be "faster" than a regular SATA III SSD.
But not faster enough to warrant the extra price.


Z97 boards (I have one) came out on the cusp of NVMe M.2 drives appearing. As such, they do not provide the full experience.
 
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mutangfx

Jan 12, 2019
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I live in Brazil, and it's all expensive here, but I will buy it off Newegg and a friend will send it to me.
I'm thinking about spending < 100 usd, could you link me something from there?
Also, even if it is severely restricted in performance, will it affect the GPU? I read something thing about that here, that using a PCIe 3.0 x4 on the mobo now will cut the GPU to x8 (I have no idead what I'm talking about).
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Under $100 USD at newegg leaves you with a 250GB drive, that will be severely restricted in performance.

A much better choice, and cheaper, would be a regular 2.5" SATA III SSD.
$68 gets you a regular 500GB drive, with performance that will be undetectable from an NVMe drive you could put in there.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820156173


Don't go all gaga over the theoretical speed increase of an NVMe drive, especially in older systems like what you have. You'll not see that benefit in actual use.
 
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mutangfx

Jan 12, 2019
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What if I want to upgrade the mobo to something that won't restrict the ssd later?
 
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mutangfx

Jan 12, 2019
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Thing is I don't want to upgrade my whole system. I got an i7 4790k + 1050 ti. My goal is to get a 1070 or 1160. Both I guess are great picks for the 4790k. The only thing that's bothering me is the storage speed. That's why I want to buy the best I can right now so I don't have to buy it again in 3 months.
The thing that I still don't have an answer for, if I buy a PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD will it use lanes from my GPU and make it worse?
 
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Calvin7

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Feb 19, 2013
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PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD offers speeds up to 32 Gb/sec.
Z97M-PLUS motherboard M.2 offers speeds up to 10 Gb/sec as it is PCie 2.0 x 2.
You can use a PCIe slot x4 adapter for an M.2 card and double that to PCIe 2.0 x 4 which would allow speeds up to 20 Gb/sec.
SATA 3 allows speeds up to 6 Gb/sec.
 
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mutangfx

Jan 12, 2019
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Ok that's interesting. Could you elaborate?

I need to buy that:
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And put where in the board? My GPU is in the slot #1
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mutangfx

Jan 12, 2019
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I just read that running the GPU on x8 won't affect too much on the FPS, could it affect the NVENC? (I use it for streaming and recording sometimes).

If that's the case, how can I make use of the PCIe 3.0 lanes there were of the GPU to put a good PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD?
 
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