M.2 NVMe vs disabled sata ports - expansion possible?

[Trine]

Hello, I decided to make un upgrade to an M.2 nvme SSD, specifically Intel SSD 600p 256GB. To my surprsie, even though it is not a SATA M.2, it still disabled my two ports. Nevertheless, I believe my motherboard is to blame (MSI Z170A PC MATE).

 

My question is, is the PCI slot beside it disabled as well? Or can I buy a normal SATA expansion card to get back my lost SATA ports? I really need those ports, man.

 

Couldn't google this one out, so I hope I can get some help here. Thanks in advance :).

[dizmo]

It says pretty plainly that it disables ports 3-4 when you use an NVME drive.

You have loads of other PCI slots, why do you have to use that one in particular?

[Tabs]

I downloaded the motherboard manual from here and based on what it says, you will always lose 2 sata ports when that m.2 slot is in use - port 1 and 2 if it's an m.2 sata drive, or port 3 and 4 if it's m.2 NVME. Most likely, the pcie lanes used are shared, making this unavoidable.

 

However, the pcie x1 port next to it should work at all times. Page 14 in the manual lists the sata/m.2 limitations, and page 11 lists the PCIE limitations. so long as you're not running Crossfire you should be alright.

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, Tabs said:

I downloaded the motherboard manual from here and based on what it says, you will always lose 2 sata ports when that m.2 slot is in use - port 1 and 2 if it's an m.2 sata drive, or port 3 and 4 if it's m.2 NVME. Most likely, the pcie lanes used are shared, making this unavoidable.

 

However, the pcie x1 port next to it should work at all times. Page 14 in the manual lists the sata/m.2 limitations, and page 11 lists the PCIE limitations. so long as you're not running Crossfire you should be alright.

The PCIe lanes should come from the chipset, not the CPU.

[Tabs]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

The PCIe lanes should come from the chipset, not the CPU.

It doesn't matter where they come from mate, only that they are shared on the board. I posted the link to the motherboard manual, so as long as you aren't running crossfire your x1 port won't be affected.

 

Edit: Sorry, I thought you were the OP. 

Edited November 6, 2017 by Tabs