Compatibility NVME m.2

[Pm_me_nude_pc_parts]

I have a ROG STRIX Z270H Gaming Motherboard and I don't know if it's compatible with the NVME M.2 SSDs. If I've done my research correctly the fast one is PCIE and the slow one is SATA. So what I'm wondering is if I'll get top speeds with this motherboard if I for example install Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2 SSD V-NAND. And does the slot matter because I have two M.2 slots.

 

[Firewrath9]

the slot doesn't matter, but you should use the top slow (M.2_1), and it will run at full speed.

[makinbacon21]

43 minutes ago, Pm_me_nude_pc_parts said:

I have a ROG STRIX Z270H Gaming Motherboard and I don't know if it's compatible with the NVME M.2 SSDs. If I've done my research correctly the fast one is PCIE and the slow one is SATA. So what I'm wondering is if I'll get top speeds with this motherboard if I for example install Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2 SSD V-NAND. And does the slot matter because I have two M.2 slots.

 

 

38 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

the slot doesn't matter, but you should use the top slow (M.2_1), and it will run at full speed.

Idk what @Firewrath9 is saying, but that's an NVMe SSD and in order to take full advantage of the NVMe capabilities, you need to use the PCIe slot. Also, a lot of the SATA ones only work with certain keys (B vs. M), which can cause compatibility issues. My MB (MSI GAMING Z270 M3) has two slots, both capable of PCIe and SATA interfaces, but which of those you use can affect which SATA ports and PCIe slots you can use for other devices like SATA HDDs and graphics cards. 

 

To be clear, the speeds are comparable, and sometimes the OS or what you have running in the background limits the speed more, so it doesn't really matter.

[Pm_me_nude_pc_parts]

35 minutes ago, tmakin said:

 

Idk what @Firewrath9 is saying, but that's an NVMe SSD and in order to take full advantage of the NVMe capabilities, you need to use the PCIe slot. Also, a lot of the SATA ones only work with certain keys (B vs. M), which can cause compatibility issues. My MB (MSI GAMING Z270 M3) has two slots, both capable of PCIe and SATA interfaces, but which of those you use can affect which SATA ports and PCIe slots you can use for other devices like SATA HDDs and graphics cards. 

 

To be clear, the speeds are comparable, and sometimes the OS or what you have running in the background limits the speed more, so it doesn't really matter.

This makes it a little fuzzy for me. Will my M.2 slot make use of the PCIe slot to make the SSD NVME run at maximum capacity or will it go through the SATA connection and bottleneck? This is like my problem atm I don't know how to know if my Motherboard is compatible to reach those speeds.

[Firewrath9]

1 hour ago, tmakin said:

 

Idk what @Firewrath9 is saying, but that's an NVMe SSD and in order to take full advantage of the NVMe capabilities, you need to use the PCIe slot. Also, a lot of the SATA ones only work with certain keys (B vs. M), which can cause compatibility issues. My MB (MSI GAMING Z270 M3) has two slots, both capable of PCIe and SATA interfaces, but which of those you use can affect which SATA ports and PCIe slots you can use for other devices like SATA HDDs and graphics cards. 

 

To be clear, the speeds are comparable, and sometimes the OS or what you have running in the background limits the speed more, so it doesn't really matter.

both slots work with NVMe ssds?

they share bandwidth with sata ports.

[makinbacon21]

6 hours ago, Firewrath9 said:

both slots work with NVMe ssds?

they share bandwidth with sata ports.

M.2 slots can either draw from SATA or from PCIe--basically acting as either a SATA port or a PCIe 4x slot. M.2 SATA SSDs, like https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-500GB-SSD-WDS500G2B0B/dp/B073SBX6TY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1550455975&sr=8-3&keywords=SATA+m.2, use the SATA interface, while others, like 970 Evo mentioned by @Pm_me_nude_pc_parts, use PCIe interface, and therefore PCIe bandwidth INSTEAD of SATA bandwidth. Some slots use either one or the other (like he has), while some (like mine) can be used as either depending on the SSD being used. PCIe has a much higher bandwidth and maximum speed than SATA, so I recommend using the PCIe port instead. Unless, however, you have an SLI config or something that requires a lot of PCIe bandwidth, maybe SATA is a better option--sacrifice a small bit of storage performance for more graphical processing power or network speed or whatever your case may be.

 

My suggestion is use the PCIe one so it doesn't bottleneck any more than it has to (other parts, OS, etc.).

[Firewrath9]

13 hours ago, tmakin said:

M.2 slots can either draw from SATA or from PCIe--basically acting as either a SATA port or a PCIe 4x slot. M.2 SATA SSDs, like https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-500GB-SSD-WDS500G2B0B/dp/B073SBX6TY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1550455975&sr=8-3&keywords=SATA+m.2, use the SATA interface, while others, like 970 Evo mentioned by @Pm_me_nude_pc_parts, use PCIe interface, and therefore PCIe bandwidth INSTEAD of SATA bandwidth. Some slots use either one or the other (like he has), while some (like mine) can be used as either depending on the SSD being used. PCIe has a much higher bandwidth and maximum speed than SATA, so I recommend using the PCIe port instead. Unless, however, you have an SLI config or something that requires a lot of PCIe bandwidth, maybe SATA is a better option--sacrifice a small bit of storage performance for more graphical processing power or network speed or whatever your case may be.

 

My suggestion is use the PCIe one so it doesn't bottleneck any more than it has to (other parts, OS, etc.).

I mean they share bandwidth with sata as in if you use a PCIe x4 M.2 port, you can't use one or two of the regular sata ports.

BOTH SLOTS WORK WITH PCIe running at full bandwidth (x4), its just that they remove the amount of usable sata ports (and PCIe x1 ports)

[Pm_me_nude_pc_parts]

19 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

I mean they share bandwidth with sata as in if you use a PCIe x4 M.2 port, you can't use one or two of the regular sata ports.

BOTH SLOTS WORK WITH PCIe running at full bandwidth (x4), its just that they remove the amount of usable sata ports (and PCIe x1 ports)

I read this spec sheet about my Motherboard (https://www.quietpc.com/asus-z270h-strix-gaming)

 

It says that only the second slot is for PCIe or SATA so I should always be golden if I just use my first slot since it can't interfer with any SATA ports or did I read this incorrectly?

[Firewrath9]

2 minutes ago, Pm_me_nude_pc_parts said:

I read this spec sheet about my Motherboard (https://www.quietpc.com/asus-z270h-strix-gaming)

 

It says that only the second slot is for PCIe or SATA so I should always be golden if I just use my first slot since it can't interfer with any SATA ports or did I read this incorrectly?

just use the first slot, it should be fine.

[Pm_me_nude_pc_parts]

2 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

just use the first slot, it should be fine.

I just ordered it, thanks for all the help

[makinbacon21]

On 2/18/2019 at 11:51 AM, Pm_me_nude_pc_parts said:

I just ordered it, thanks for all the help

Ik this topic is probably closed but just fyi, here's what my motherboard manual has to say:

Your MB may vary--there's probably a similar page in your manual. Basically PCIe SSDs (like the one you have) should only interfere with PCIe slots--SATA should be fine. It runs over a different interface and takes up different bandwidth (PCIe lanes instead of SATA). I have a crappy MB--mine trashes an x8 slot if I use an M.2 drive (ig because each uses x4, but that's still annoying for just using one). You should be fine with whatever slot as long as your MB manual denotes that that slot is compatible with PCIe SSDs (because SATA ones use a slightly different key which is physically different). Sorry for the confusion, but basically from what I can tell you'll be fine with that top slot as mentioned above.