NVMe PCI adapter card

[iKatoz]

I want to add an NVMe SSD to my old computer, I plan to upgrade everything but I don’t have the money to do it all at once so I want to start to the most critical part. In a couple of months I will buy a new motherboard and CPU, it seems a “waste” to buy a regular SSD now. Maybe I will not get the performance and convenience of the m.2 now but unfortunately the SSD is old and it’s abandoning me so it’s the first thing I need to change.

 

Is there something particular that I should look for when I’m buying the PCI adapter card or are they all the same? Should I buy a 4x or a 16x card?

Thanks

[WhitetailAni]

PCI or PCIe?
If it's PCI, you have either PCI or PCI-X.

PCI-X is the longer one, PCI is the shorter one.

If PCIe, an x16 card is overkill as NVMe can only use up to 4 PCIe lanes. So unless your card has 4 M.2 slots, each capable of x4 speeds, just get an x4 card.

[kokosnh]

well, you have to have empty PCIe at least x4 speed slot in your motherboard for full speed (but even x1 will do).

The max lanes for M.2 key M SSD are 4, and that's what you are looking for for one SSD.

3-4 $ on aliexpress. 

 

The older motherboards can't boot OS directly on NVMe SSD, but you can just use it as secondary drive, if your OS have NVMe drivers. (np Windows 10)

There are M.2 NVMe SSD out there that have secondary legacy boot ROM, but i know of only 3 of those, and they are old.

 

What motherboard is it, and with what CPU in it, and what PCI-e slot you have free, and not cover by other things.

[iKatoz]

2 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

PCI or PCIe?

Sorry, it's PCIe

[WhitetailAni]

Ah.

Then an x4 card unless you plan to put in 4 NVMe SSDs.

Unless...

Is it PCIe 2.0?
It might be worth getting an x16 card then for faster speed.

[SPARTAN VI]

I presume you meant "PCI-Express" and not "PCI" in the OP.

 

If so, there are add-in-card (AIC) NVMe SSDs that slot directly into a PCIe port, no adapter required. These AIC NVMe SSDs tend to be a bit pricier than m.2 NVMe SSDs of the same capacity. For example: 

 

 

 

 

If you're looking to take a m.2 NVMe SSD and slot it into a PCIe port, then you're looking for an adapter like this: 

 

I used to use this exact adapter with a Crucial P1 for a few years on my old Z77 Ivy bridge rig.

[kokosnh]

6 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

It might be worth getting an x16 card then for faster speed.

That's only possible with PCIe to M.2 raid controllers, or PCI-e Switch, that are not cheap (well I have one). And well PCI-e 2.0 is still good on x4, just let him say what mobo and what CPU, He have. Remember that he will be upgrading mobo in the future. The 3-4$ adapter is probably all he needs

[jaslion]

24 minutes ago, iKatoz said:

I want to add an NVMe SSD to my old computer, I plan to upgrade everything but I don’t have the money to do it all at once so I want to start to the most critical part. In a couple of months I will buy a new motherboard and CPU, it seems a “waste” to buy a regular SSD now. Maybe I will not get the performance and convenience of the m.2 now but unfortunately the SSD is old and it’s abandoning me so it’s the first thing I need to change.

 

Is there something particular that I should look for when I’m buying the PCI adapter card or are they all the same? Should I buy a 4x or a 16x card?

Thanks

Anything you'd need the speed of a m.2 for. Keep in mind you cannot boot from these in older computers when it's in a pcie slot.

 

If it's for general use, gaming,... then there is no difference what so ever to very very very very little between a decent sata ssd and the fastest nvme drive available.

[iKatoz]

10 minutes ago, kokosnh said:

The older motherboards can't boot OS directly on NVMe SSD, but you can just use it as secondary drive, if your OS have NVMe drivers. (np Windows 10)

There are M.2 NVMe SSD out there that have secondary legacy boot ROM, but i know of only 3 of those, and they are old.

 

What motherboard is it, and with what CPU in it, and what PCI-e slot you have free, and not cover by other things.

I have an Asus Maximus VI HERO whit an Intel i7-4770k, some time ago I saw a tutorial on how to modify the BIOS to enable boot from the NVMe drive but at the moment I can't find it.

 

I have 2 16x slots free and away from the GPU but on Amazon I only saw a 4x card that I like, there are also some 16x cards but they don't have the rear support bracket and I don't trust them

 

11 minutes ago, SPARTAN VI said:

If so, there are add-in-card (AIC) NVMe SSDs that slot directly into a PCIe port, no adapter required. For example: 

I want the SSD and the adaper card so when I buy the new motherbord I can get rid of the adapter and use the SSD directly on the motherboard 

[Electronics Wizardy]

9 minutes ago, iKatoz said:

I have an Asus Maximus VI HERO whit an Intel i7-4770k, some time ago I saw a tutorial on how to modify the BIOS to enable boot from the NVMe drive but at the moment I can't find it.

 

I have 2 16x slots free and away from the GPU but on Amazon I only saw a 4x card that I like, there are also some 16x cards but they don't have the rear support bracket and I don't trust them

 

I want the SSD and the adaper card so when I buy the new motherbord I can get rid of the adapter and use the SSD directly on the motherboard 

Do you have a ssd already? I woudln't upgrade to a nvme drive if you have a ssd already, its a small difference and not worth it.

 

Id just wait till you do a motherboard upgrade.

[kokosnh]

If you have one of the red PCIe x16 slots free, than use those (those are PCI-e 3.0 x8 speed, if you use them both). I assume you have a GPU, that don't cover it.

 

You only need https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32990124953.html 5$ with shipping

[SupaKomputa]

If you have old computer,  you probably cannot use the nvme for boot so it defeat the purpose.

Nvme for a second drive is such a waste.

[kokosnh]

He can always boot to it indirectly, like Clover EFI bootloader, or just mod the UEFI. 

 

and he can always use it as secondary drive.

[SPARTAN VI]

3 hours ago, iKatoz said:

I want the SSD and the adaper card so when I buy the new motherbord I can get rid of the adapter and use the SSD directly on the motherboard 

Cool, that's exactly what I did. I used that adapter I linked with a Crucial P1 m.2 NVMe SSD on my old Z77 Extreme 4 ATX board. Then upgraded to a Z170 ITX board, popped it out of the adapter and directly into the m.2 slot on the new motherboard. These ITX boards only have the one PCIe x16 slot, so there's no option for an AIC SSD for my use case.