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M.2 Confusion, Help!

Inspirational
By Inspirational
in Storage Devices
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Hello, I want to upgrade the storage capacity on my custom built PC. 
The MOBO is: ASUS Z170-AR, and I currently have 2 SSDs and 2 HDDs connected via the SATA cables. TLDR: Can I add any M.2s onto it without any issues?

Longer version:
I believe that this MOBO can support up to 6 SATA connections.

My MOBO also has an M.2 slot, so I was about to purchase an M.2 when I realised that there are two versions of the M.2: SATA and NVMe. Along with that, I spoke to a friend of mine who claimed that some M.2s disable SATA connections. Attached below I added an image of the MOBO (in blue) writing: "SATA6G_56." So, does inserting an M.2 disable SATA connections 5 and 6? Does it completely disable all of the SATA connections? What's going on?
In my BIOS, I also have the option to swap between "SATA Express" and "M.2." It's currently set on SATA Express. The booklet also talks a little about it shown below. 
I am new to all this M.2 stuff so I have no idea what's going on... Please help!

PS:
From what I understood: NVMe is a faster version of M.2 that may not be compatible with some MOBOs. Can mine support it? If it can, will the SATA interface cap it to SATA speeds (6Gb\s)?
 

20211029_231554.thumb.jpg.44627d6909257723dad9f1fc82061930.jpg

20211029_233455.thumb.jpg.3daa2de92f499dfdaf9a8ab4fdb2fcf9.jpg

This is the current build I am working on:

>>>> The $2500 ($1900 US) Desktop <<<<

>>> Old Build <<<

LAST UPDATED: 30-September-16 / 05:38PM (Sydney Time) 

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4 minutes ago, FakeKGB said:

Installing an M.2 SATA SSD in that slot will disable SATA ports 5 and 6, yes.

You cannot use an M.2 NVMe SSD in there, it will not work.

Hello! Thanks for the response!
One last clarification: What's that BIOS thing about with the option to change between "SATA EXPRESS" and "M.2", along with the booklet suggesting that I change something before installation?

This is the current build I am working on:

>>>> The $2500 ($1900 US) Desktop <<<<

>>> Old Build <<<

LAST UPDATED: 30-September-16 / 05:38PM (Sydney Time) 

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Well I don't know if this goes for your mobo but mine have the limitation where SATA 5+6 is disabled if M.2_1 is occupied. However my BIOS allows me to enable those ports if I take the M.2 down from PCIe 4x to 2x. So half the bandwith. Like yours mine is also Asus so check your BIOS you may have that setting too if you want all those ports.

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Regarding Crucials Upgrade your System Website it should be able to use NVME... Crucial sells NVME 2280 SSDs for that specific board. *shrugs*

Main System:

Anghammarad : Asrock Taichi x570, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X @4900 MHz. 32 GB DDR4 3600, some NVME SSDs, Gainward Phoenix RTX 3070TI

 

System 2 "Igluna" AsRock Fatal1ty Z77 Pro, Core I5 3570k @4300, 16 GB Ram DDR3 2133, some SSD, and a 2 TB HDD each, Gainward Phantom 760GTX.

System 3 "Inskah" AsRock Fatal1ty Z77 Pro, Core I5 3570k @4300, 16 GB Ram DDR3 2133, some SSD, and a 2 TB HDD each, Gainward Phantom 760GTX.

 

On the Road: Acer Aspire 5 Model A515-51G-54FD, Intel Core i5 7200U, 8 GB DDR4 Ram, 120 GB SSD, 1 TB SSD, Intel CPU GFX and Nvidia MX 150, Full HD IPS display

 

Media System "Vio": Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5700X, 64 GB Ram DDR4 3200 Mushkin, 1 275 GB Crucial MX SSD, 1 tb Crucial MX500 SSD. IBM 5015 Megaraid, 4 Seagate Ironwolf 4TB HDD in raid 5, 4 WD RED 4 tb in another Raid 5, Gainward Phoenix GTX 1060

 

(Abit Fatal1ty FP9 IN SLI, C2Duo E8400, 6 GB Ram DDR2 800, far too less diskspace, Gainward Phantom 560 GTX broken need fixing)

 

Nostalgia: Amiga 1200, Tower Build, CPU/FPU/MMU 68EC020, 68030, 68882 @50 Mhz, 10 MByte ram (2 MB Chip, 8 MB Fast), Fast SCSI II, 2 CDRoms, 2 1 GB SCSI II IBM Harddrives, 512 MB Quantum Lightning HDD, self soldered Sync changer to attach VGA displays, WLAN

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1 minute ago, Inspirational said:

Hello! Thanks for the response!
One last clarification: What's that BIOS thing about with the option to change between "SATA EXPRESS" and "M.2", along with the booklet suggesting that I change something before installation?

SATA Express was an attempted revision to SATA III that never took off.

I'm not sure exactly what it does, so I'd say install the M.2 SATA drive and if it doesn't show up flip the setting from SATA Express to M.2,

elephants

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17 minutes ago, Anghammarad said:

Regarding Crucials Upgrade your System Website it should be able to use NVME... Crucial sells NVME 2280 SSDs for that specific board. *shrugs*

Hmm, I don't see the point in getting an NVMe if it wont be able to run at its potential. Might as well get a high performing SATA since it will be the same or very close 

This is the current build I am working on:

>>>> The $2500 ($1900 US) Desktop <<<<

>>> Old Build <<<

LAST UPDATED: 30-September-16 / 05:38PM (Sydney Time) 

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The m.2 slot does support NVMe and mentions no limitation for it.

 

image.png.e0510f64e9a429e4fe3e00f00d66c869.png

F@H
Desktop: i9-13900K, ASUS Z790-E, 64GB DDR5-6000 CL36, RTX3080, 2TB MP600 Pro XT, 2TB SX8200Pro, 2x16TB Ironwolf RAID0, Corsair HX1200, Antec Vortex 360 AIO, Thermaltake Versa H25 TG, Samsung 4K curved 49" TV, 23" secondary, Mountain Everest Max

Mobile SFF rig: i9-9900K, Noctua NH-L9i, Asrock Z390 Phantom ITX-AC, 32GB, GTX1070, 2x1TB SX8200Pro RAID0, 2x5TB 2.5" HDD RAID0, Athena 500W Flex (Noctua fan), Custom 4.7l 3D printed case

 

Asus Zenbook UM325UA, Ryzen 7 5700u, 16GB, 1TB, OLED

 

GPD Win 2

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