Have a few questions for upgrading OS Drive

[SuperVegitoFAN]

I want to upgrade my OS drive, but i have a few questions to prepare.

 

Mainly because the drive i intend to upgrade to is an m.2 nvme ssd. Im upgrading from a, id say 7 year old 120gb kingston SSD.

 

But i have zero experience with m.2, and i just want to make sure im understanding everything correctly. That and ive never upgraded a system drive before, either, this is my first desktop, and said drive is the only thing thats not yet been upgraded.

 

Motherboard is an Asus TUF Gaming X570 plus, with wi-fi.

 

So 

 

1: This motherboard has 2, m.2 slots. One above the GPU slot, but that doesnt have a cover (which google tells me is a heatsink), and one right above the PSU, which does have a cover. Which one should i use? According to the manual both of them says "socket supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode and SATA mode M Key design and type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices"  The top one appears to only support that with a 3rd gen ryzen (which i do have, a 3700x to be specific). Does it matter which one i use? Should i play it safe and just use the lower one, which has a cover, and isnt sandwiched between the gpu and cpu? Lower one would also be easier to install, not sure i can install the top one without removing atleast the gpu. According to the manual, installing the m.2 drive involves removing the cover, and place it on top of the drive once done, which doesnt make me any less confused

 

2: Are these the standoffs you need to use for the drive? There are 2 standoffs and 2 screws, which fit with the fact there are 2 m.2 slots on this board.

 

3: Are there any m.2 drives i should absolutely not get? anything i need to watch out for (i know i have to pay attention to the 22XX numbers, and the M key thing but anything else?), would this drive work for example?

https://www.komplett.dk/product/1153863/hardware/lagring/harddiskssd/ssd-m2/corsair-force-series-mp510-960gb-m2-nvme-ssd-960gb

Main usage is operating system, and more permanent installation files. Maybe a small handfull of games that could benefit from the drive speed (vs the 5 tb 7200 rpm drive i use for everything else), and that im not gonna uninstall often, if at all.

 

4: How would i go about initializing the ssd? I recall when i installed the aforementioned 5 tb drive i had to go through diskmanager to partition it to begin with, but i dont recall specifics. Do you need to do something similar with m.2? And if so, how?

 

5: I think this is the last one. How do i install windows on the new drive? When i originally got this desktop, windows 7 was installed on it, but i later upgraded to windows 10 via the free upgrade period. I still have the windows 7 disc, and cd key. And when i upgraded my motherboard i used said key to reactivate windows, so it should still work. But how do i go about installing windows to begin with? I would prefer starting from a clean install, and not cloning the drive. Im not opposed to reading/watching existing guides, but im not sure what to search for.

[C2dan88]

35 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

1: This motherboard has 2, m.2 slots
...
According to the manual, installing the m.2 drive involves removing the cover, and place it on top of the drive once done,

First slot is preferred, however you can use the 2nd slot if you wish. When using second slot check your motherboards manual as it may disable some sata and/or pci ports.

A heatsink is preferred to help keep the drive cool, inadequate cooling can result in reduced read/write speeds.

 

35 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

2: Are these the standoffs you need to use for the drive? There are 2 standoffs and 2 screws, which fit with the fact there are 2 m.2 slots on this board

Yes, those look like the screws for securing the drive.

 

35 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

5: I think this is the last one. How do i install windows on the new drive?

Use windows media creation tool to create the usb installation media on a flash drive (8gb capacity or more)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

When you have created the installation media turn your pc off. 

Install your new m.2 drive.

Once done turn pc back on and boot to bios (should be either Del, F1 or F2). Change to the boot menu and select your usb flash drive as first boot device. Press F10. Your pc should restart into the windows installer. On the "Where to install windows" screen select your new drive and click Next rest should be self explaintory (plenty of guides on the web for how to install widows)

[SuperVegitoFAN]

1 minute ago, C2dan88 said:

First slot is preferred, however you can use the 2nd slot if you wish.

A heatsink is preferred to help keep the controller on the ssd cool, inadequate cooling can result in reduced read/write speeds.

Those 2 are a bit in conflict...

 

Can i move the heatsink from slot 2 to slot 1?

 

2 minutes ago, C2dan88 said:

Use windows media creation tool to create the usb installation media on a flash drive (8gb capacity or more)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

When you have created the installation media turn your pc off. 

Install your new m.2 drive.

Once done turn pc back on and boot to bios (should be either Del, F1 or F2). Change to the boot menu and select your usb flash drive as first boot device. Press F10. Your pc should restart into the windows installer. On the "Where to install windows" screen select your new drive and click Next rest should be self explaintory (plenty of guides on the web for how to install widows)

Should i partition the m.2 drive first? Or does the windows installer do so for me?

[An0maly_76]

@SuperVegitoFAN

 

I'm not aware of any M.2s that are just terrible drives, they all work okay, but what you should consider is mainly price vs speed. Over 3,500 mbps, most consumers won't really notice an increase in speed, and there's no point in paying for performance you don't notice. Most people go nuts for the Samsung Evo 8x0 and 9x0 drives, and I'm not saying they're junk, but they're overpriced for what you're getting.

 

I myself was about to put a WD Black SN850 in my 5900X build in March when I found out that not only do the faster M.2s like the SN850 and Evo 8x0 / 9x0 not really seem much faster, they can hit 90C-100C on sustained writing. Some say this isn't a big deal, but a lot of people told me QVL lists are BS, and I found out different with the RAM in my system (random start failures that went away when I installed RAM from the QVL). And why introduce more unnecessary heat into your system if you don't really benefit from the extra speed from it?

 

As it happens, I have an Asus TUF B550-PLUS with a similar arrangement. I have a WD Blue SN570 in the first slot without the heat sink, and it not only runs fine without issue, it flat-out screams. Even with the previous RAM kit that was making it unstable, it still scored better than expected on CInbench R23 and some other stress tests. Also keep in mind, if the X570 is like my B550, SATA 1/2 are disabled when using slot 1, SATA 5/6 are disabled when using slot 2. And with some boards, slot 2 shares bandwidth with your PCIex16 slot, meaning your GPU or any other x16 device may slow down somewhat when using slot 2.

 

So the takeaway here is, don't get roped into paying more for more speed that you're not going to benefit from. The WD Black SN750 / SN770 might be worth it if you absolutely must have PCIe4 speed (and I can't imagine any use where it's absolutely imperative), but a PCIe3 is more than sufficiently fast for probably 90% of people out there. Beyond 3,500 mbps, you're pretty much wasting money, as PCIe4 and even DDR5 RAM speeds aren't really necessary yet.

Edited August 24, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised

[C2dan88]

5 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

Can i move the heatsink from slot 2 to slot 1?

Your mobo only has the heatsink for slot2. Does not look like it can be moved to slot1.

 

6 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

Should i partition the m.2 drive first? Or does the windows installer do so for me?

Installer will format the drive for you.

[SuperVegitoFAN]

4 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

And with some boards, slot 2 shares bandwidth with your PCIex16 slot, meaning your GPU or any other x16 device may slow down somewhat when using slot 2.

AFAIK no gpu is currently exceeding gen 4 bandwidth.

 

Also im probably a bit behind as i have an rtx 2070 and im not even stressing it to full performance, mainly because it makes weird sounds if i press it too much (fits the definition of coil whine)

 

4 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Also keep in mind, if the X570 is like my B550, SATA 1/2 are disabled when using slot 1, SATA 5/6 are disabled when using slot 2

Is that in the manual, if so where, because it didnt say anything on the m.2 page. It only listed compatible cards and compatible speeds.

EDIT: Im talking about disabling lanes, i didnt see that in the manual anywhere.

[SuperVegitoFAN]

3 minutes ago, C2dan88 said:

Your mobo only has the heatsink for slot2. Does not look like it can be moved to slot1.

 

Installer will format the drive for you.

Thanks, seems im going slot 2 then. That one i should be able to install in without removing the gpu... and maybe even cpu cooler. Something id rather not have to deal with on an AMD Motherboard. It was enough of a pain to install to begin with.

[An0maly_76]

17 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

AFAIK no gpu is currently exceeding gen 4 bandwidth.

It's not about bandwidth in terms of mbps, it's bout reducing x16 speeds to x8. Most people probably won't even notice, but it is a thing. And yes, it was in the manual for my B550, I'd have to look it up again, but while it might not be a thing on your X570, I don't see why it wouldn't be.

17 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

Also im probably a bit behind as i have an rtx 2070 and im not even stressing it to full performance, mainly because it makes weird sounds if i press it too much (fits the definition of coil whine)

As I said, this about x16 being reduced to x8 speeds, which may or may not make a difference for you.

17 minutes ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

Is that in the manual, if so where, because it didnt say anything on the m.2 page. It only listed compatible cards and compatible speeds.

Was in the specifications summary, page 1-11 in my manual (bottom line -- they just gotta get you with that fine print). I misremembered, slot 1 apparently doesn't affect SATA, but slot 2 does disable SATA ports 5/6. I think on some boards slot 1 does share PCIe lanes and disable certain SATA ports, mine apparently only does this for slot 2.

 

ADDED: Also, further up is the mention that the second x16 slot runs at x1 when any x16 slot is occupied.

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[SuperVegitoFAN]

3 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

As I said, this about x16 being reduced to x8 speeds, which may or may not make a difference for you.

I thought x8 4.0 was the same as x16 3.0 or something like that, hence why i didnt think it would matter at 4.0, atleast not yet. It was on a video i saw some years ago, but i admit i dont really recall anything from it, so i could be completely off the track entirely.

Anyways, mine doesnt say anything about that, so i dont think i have to worry?

I do recall my previous motherboard manual having notices like that about something... but god forbid me remember what that even was. I dont even remember the name of the motherboard (it supported Haswell Intel CPUs, as i got it with a 4160 and upgraded to a 4790), might be in the previous topic i made here back in 2019.

 

 

it does atleast confirm that slot 2 is attached to the chipset, but aside from any SATA issues as yours have, i dont even know what that means.

[An0maly_76]

3 hours ago, SuperVegitoFAN said:

I thought x8 4.0 was the same as x16 3.0 or something like that, hence why i didnt think it would matter at 4.0, atleast not yet. It was on a video i saw some years ago, but i admit i dont really recall anything from it, so i could be completely off the track entirely.

Anyways, mine doesnt say anything about that, so i dont think i have to worry?

I do recall my previous motherboard manual having notices like that about something... but god forbid me remember what that even was. I dont even remember the name of the motherboard (it supported Haswell Intel CPUs, as i got it with a 4160 and upgraded to a 4790), might be in the previous topic i made here back in 2019.

 

 

it does atleast confirm that slot 2 is attached to the chipset, but aside from any SATA issues as yours have, i dont even know what that means.

I would read that section in its entirety. May not be an issue for the X570. But mine put that SATA disclaimer way at the bottom, and it may even be on the next page, or even on another page in another section entirely.

[SuperVegitoFAN]

1 minute ago, An0maly_76 said:

I would read that section in its entirety. May not be an issue for the X570. But mine put that SATA disclaimer way at the bottom, and it may even be on the next page.

I did. The only part in that section (4 pages total) that had any * notes where the cpu, and that was just a generic "Cpu Cores vary by CPU" and another which i think is about how you look up supported CPUs.

[An0maly_76]

Just now, SuperVegitoFAN said:

I did. The only part in that section (4 pages total) that had any * notes where the cpu, and that was just a generic "Cpu Cores vary by CPU" and another which i think is about how you look up supported CPUs.

Just edited my post to further say it could even be in another section. Some of these clarifications are mentioned elsewhere also. It might also be prudent to call Asus Tech Support and ask them if this is even a thing with the X570, because while I don't see where it would be, it could well be different. The chipsets, are, after all, different for various reasons.

[An0maly_76]

Also, someone said previously the heatsink cannot be moved from Slot 1 to Slot 2, and I think it actually can, as shown below. I can do it with my B550, I just chose not to. But I can see where it might interfere with the neighboring x16 slot latch.

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[Weezy]

Even if you can't move the heatsink that comes with the MOBO, there are plenty of heatsinks you can buy online for NVME SSD's. Just be sure it will fit in all directions and won't interfere with the GPU