Adding NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD into PCI-E X1 Slot

[mealto]

I am wondering if it's easy as plug and play for adding a 500GB Crucial NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD using some sort of nvme pcie m2 ssd adapter.

 

My MB says it has 4 of these: PCI-E X1

 

1. Can someone recommend an adapter that would work?

2. Goal is to add more storage but all SATA ports are used up. Thought to go this route and assume MB has enough power to do this through the PCI-E X1 slot?

 

Actually, noticed my MB also has 2 PCI-E 16 slots. I am using one for the graphics card. Can I use the second slot for the storage adapter?

 

Any thoughts and recommendation would be appreciated!

 

 

[dDave64]

What model is your motherboard?

 

Unfortunately, if all you have are PCIe x1 slots then you may be out of luck. 

 

I didn’t do a huge amount of research but from what I’ve seen I’m pretty sure you need at least PCIe x4 to do any kind of storage add on card for m.2, especially for NVMe which needs higher speeds.

 

In what I did look at I saw a few x1 cards that would allow you to connect additional SATA devices. May be worth a look.

[mealto]

1 minute ago, dDave64 said:

What model is your motherboard?

 

Unfortunately, if all you have are PCIe x1 slots then you may be out of luck. 

 

I didn’t do a huge amount of research but from what I’ve seen I’m pretty sure you need at least PCIe x4 to do any kind of storage add on card for m.2, especially for NVMe which needs higher speeds.

 

In what I did look at I saw a few x1 cards that would allow you to connect additional SATA devices. May be worth a look.

I have this MSI Z270 board: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z270-A-PRO

 

Any thoughts on whether I should look into these adapters?

 

Or look at SATA adapters that plug into these x1 slots and just run regular SSDs?

[krakkpott]

11 minutes ago, mealto said:

I have this MSI Z270 board: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z270-A-PRO

 

Any thoughts on whether I should look into these adapters?

 

Or look at SATA adapters that plug into these x1 slots and just run regular SSDs?

Your motherboard has a M.2 M-key connector that supports NVMe drives. You don't need any adapters.

[191x7]

M.2 to PCI-E usually requires PCI-E x4 so it wouldn't work off a PCI-E x1. It would work flawlessly in a PCI-E x8 or x16 slot.

 

My question would be, why do you look at such an adapter when your board already has an m.2 slot? Is it because you need the SATA1 port?

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

23 minutes ago, mealto said:

Actually, noticed my MB also has 2 PCI-E 16 slots. I am using one for the graphics card. Can I use the second slot for the storage adapter?

yes we can put a x1 / x4 into x16 slot , any adaptors shall work

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

5 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

not saying OP should do this anyway because 1/4 the speeds is pretty wasted on an NVMe stick ._.

hard to say, eg 3000r/w nvme x4 on a x1 slot will be maxed out ~700mb which is faster than sata max speed (just on paper)

[mealto]

So the issue is, if I use the m.2 slot, SATA 1 is disabled and I am using all 6 SATA ports for drives. If the x1 slot is not good enough for nvme, then I guess I can pray that I have 1 more power port left on the power supply and get an x1 adapter to add a regular SATA port? Or will this cripple the SSD speed as well in the x1 port?

[krakkpott]

1 minute ago, mealto said:

So the issue is, if I use the m.2 slot, SATA 1 is disabled and I am using all 6 SATA ports for drives. If the x1 slot is not good enough for nvme, then I guess I can pray that I have 1 more power port left on the power supply and get an x1 adapter to add a regular SATA port? Or will this cripple the SSD speed as well in the x1 port?

I think it will be easier for you to get a PCIe SATA add-in card.

[mealto]

6 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

that's only if you insert a SATA M.2 stick in that socket. you should be fine if it's an NVMe stick.

(just to check, it's the Crucial P1, right?)

Hey, I am clueless when it comes to M.2 /  NVMe. No idea what the differences are. What is the Crucial P1 then?

 

the MB manual quotes this: "The SATA1 port will become unavailable when M.2 SATA SSD has been installed in M.2 slot."

 

Here is the PDF from MSI: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z270-A-PRO#down-manual

[mealto]

7 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

 

 

the reason why your motherboard says that it'll disable one of the SATA ports when a SATA M.2 stick is connected is because your motherboard electrically reroutes a SATA port to address the SATA M.2 stick.

it doesn't need to do that if the stick is an NVMe M.2 stick since it's... not SATA

So we can start from here. I have not purchased any storage yet. So if I purchase the right stick, then I can add 1 more drive on to the M2 slot and still use all 6 sata ports? If so, how do I make sure I get the right stick?

[mealto]

Just to be absolutely clear, I am reading conflicting info online about MSI boards. Here is the manual:

 

• Intel® Z270 Chipset
• 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports*
• 1x M.2 slot (Key M)
• Support up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s
• Support PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe U.2 SSD with Turbo U.2 Host Card**
• Supports 2242/ 2260 /2280/ 22110 storage devices
• The SATA1 port will become unavailable when M.2 SATA SSD has been installed in M.2 slot

I am using all 6 SATA ports. I am good to go to get the drives you listed?

[mealto]

I see. Thank you @VegetableStu.

 

Now the million dollar question. Can I clone my OS drive (MX300 50oGB) to a 1TB Cucial P1 and use the P1 as my OS drive?

[Mira Yurizaki]

7 hours ago, mealto said:

Now the million dollar question. Can I clone my OS drive (MX300 50oGB) to a 1TB Cucial P1 and use the P1 as my OS drive?

You can do data migration. Crucial has instructions on how to do it: https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/storage-ssd-getting-started

[mealto]

Hey, can I check if both the Crucial P1 and Intel 660p fits into the M.2 slot and none of my SATA ports will be disabled? MB is MSI Z270-A Pro.

[kidroc666]

so does your m.2 slot support both sata and nvme drives? if so you shuold not lose a sata port if your using an nvme drive!!!

[mealto]

11 hours ago, VegetableStu said:

Crucial P1 https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/storage-ssd-p1

Intel 660p https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/series/149409/intel-ssd-660p-series.html

 

you should do fine

Besides the size difference of going from 500 GB SATA to 1TB NVMe, do you think I will feel a difference in daily use? Windows boot up time, apps opening etc... It's already acceptably fast compared to mechanical drives.