ssd Using two m.2 nvme ssds on motherboard with one slot.

[Ntdi]

Hello! I've recently upgraded my build with a new m.2 nvme ssd. This new one replaced my old one which had less capacity, but it still good and new. Currently, I'm using MSI's "MPG X570 GAMING PLUS" and that only has one m.2 slot. Is there any adapter/pcie controller that I can use to allow my old drive to be used on my motherboard?

[wONKEyeYEs]

7 minutes ago, Ntdi said:

Hello! I've recently upgraded my build with a new m.2 nvme ssd. This new one replaced my old one which had less capacity, but it still good and new. Currently, I'm using MSI's "MPG X570 GAMING PLUS" and that only has one m.2 slot. Is there any adapter/pcie controller that I can use to allow my old drive to be used on my motherboard?

m.2 pcie card

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=m.2+pcie+card&i=electronics&crid=1KUV4SSIYGJQO&sprefix=m+2+pcie+card%2Celectronics%2C112&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

[johnt]

I bought an external "enclosure" but it lets me hot swap, essentially. It even has a power button, so I eject a drive, turn it off, swap drives, turn it on, and I am good to go. Obviously you need a USB C port, but it looks like your motherboard has one on the back.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084ZKLQR8

[Ntdi]

48 minutes ago, wONKEyeYEs said:

m.2 pcie card

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=m.2+pcie+card&i=electronics&crid=1KUV4SSIYGJQO&sprefix=m+2+pcie+card%2Celectronics%2C112&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

What are the speeds on these like? Is it negligible or?

 

Edit: Another question, Do these need their own heat solution or no?

[Ntdi]

15 minutes ago, johnt said:

I bought an external "enclosure" but it lets me hot swap, essentially. It even has a power button, so I eject a drive, turn it off, swap drives, turn it on, and I am good to go. Obviously you need a USB C port, but it looks like your motherboard has one on the back.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084ZKLQR8

This sounds promising, are there speed losses with this method?

[johnt]

2 minutes ago, Ntdi said:

This sounds promising, are there speed losses with this method?

There are always speed losses with USB C, but I mean the speeds are so fast that I just don't think it matters that much. It's consistent and reliable, which is saying a lot for a USB C device. It will fully saturate a 10 Gbps connection during transfers. But if you need full NVME bandwidth, get an internal card as @wONKEyeYEs linked. You need PCIE lanes for full bandwidth with NVME.

 

Just depends if you need a built in unit that you are rarely going to replace or if you need to hot swap/access infrequently. I use my enclosure for data back up and backing up my RAW images after I edit a photo shoot. It's also especially useful when I am going to format a computer. It's very handy for that.

 

I would not use this external enclosure for 24/7 daily use. Get an internal expansion card for that.

[Zagna]

I count 2 NVMe slots?

[Ntdi]

28 minutes ago, johnt said:

There are always speed losses with USB C, but I mean the speeds are so fast that I just don't think it matters that much. It's consistent and reliable, which is saying a lot for a USB C device. It will fully saturate a 10 Gbps connection during transfers. But if you need full NVME bandwidth, get an internal card as @wONKEyeYEs linked. You need PCIE lanes for full bandwidth with NVME.

 

Just depends if you need a built in unit that you are rarely going to replace or if you need to hot swap/access infrequently. I use my enclosure for data back up and backing up my RAW images after I edit a photo shoot. It's also especially useful when I am going to format a computer. It's very handy for that.

 

I would not use this external enclosure for 24/7 daily use. Get an internal expansion card for that.

Alright, i’ll look into pcie expansion slots as this would be for 24/7 use

[Ntdi]

14 minutes ago, Zagna said:

I count 2 NVMe slots?

Hmm.. I don’t see the top most slot on my board, i’ll double check.

[Zagna]

8 minutes ago, Ntdi said:

Hmm.. I don’t see the top most slot on my board, i’ll double check.

It's behind the M.2 heatsink that you can see in the bottom left corner of the image.

[Net3]

11 hours ago, Ntdi said:

Hello! I've recently upgraded my build with a new m.2 nvme ssd. This new one replaced my old one which had less capacity, but it still good and new. Currently, I'm using MSI's "MPG X570 GAMING PLUS" and that only has one m.2 slot. Is there any adapter/pcie controller that I can use to allow my old drive to be used on my motherboard?

i see 2 slots, look better

[Net3]

10 hours ago, Ntdi said:

This sounds promising, are there speed losses with this method?

 

10 hours ago, johnt said:

I bought an external "enclosure" but it lets me hot swap, essentially. It even has a power button, so I eject a drive, turn it off, swap drives, turn it on, and I am good to go. Obviously you need a USB C port, but it looks like your motherboard has one on the back.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084ZKLQR8

why would you buy this instead of NVMe expansion card slot? 

[johnt]

straight from MSI’s specs for this board

[johnt]

9 hours ago, Net3 said:

 

why would you buy this instead of NVMe expansion card slot? 

Because it’s external and I can swap the drives or connect to multiple computers very quickly. I don’t have to unplug everything and remove the side panel and unscrew the board every time. Plus I have a mini itx case for my main. I could not use an expansion card if I wanted to. 

[Ntdi]

It has two slots! The second slot was covered by my gpu, Thanks to everyone for their advice.

[hader]

If you have one NMVe slot on your motherboard you can buy a separate NMVe PCIe board which can hold 1 NMVe slot with a 4x PCIe slot. 2 NMVe's or 4. Needs a 16x slot. (Nice if you need more NMVe's in the future.)  But be aware. Speed is everything. NMVe's comes (today) into 2 tastes; PCI 3.0 or 4.0 speeds. If you want 4.0 speeds each step must be compatible with the standard. 1st; The motherboard . (Chipset) 2nd; The NMVe card itself. (some are 3.0, the newer ones 4.0) And 3rd; The controller of the separate NMVe PCIe card itself. If one works at 3.0 then you will end up with that speed. If your PCIe x16 card can house 4 NMVe's there is a 4th issue; The BIOS must be able to set the setting "bitfurication" setting to ON.

 

There are some 4 x M.2 PCIe 4.0/3.0 X16-adapter you can buy. Promise everything but look first at their review's first. You need to have a modern chipset that also support 4.0 speeds; Chipsets support PCIe Bifurcatie: Intel Platform X299, C422, C621, Z390, Z370, Z490, Z590, Z690, X99; AMD Platform: TRX40, X399, X570, X470, B550, B450, Z59, Z59, 0, enz.

 

One thing is not very clear; one says to set your PCIe settings to 4x4x4x4x. I have a PCIe 5.0 graphics card. That means in theory that I am throttling down my 5.0 GPU to 4.0 speeds. 5.0 is the new standard that is emerging just like DDR5 and 6. I bought a ASUS Prime Z690 motherboard which can house 4 NMVe's at PCI 4.0 speeds. (This will be the new standard from now on. No more SATA HDD's and SSD's anymore) I know that I have 2 NMVe's that are 3.0 and 2 that are 4.0. (The NMVe's are on the rise again just as we saw with SATA HDD's and SSD's. More speed and capacity) Can't tell if my 4.0 NMVe's are working at 4.0 speeds. Takes time to settle the dust I guess... 

 

Tests are also a subject of debate. Tests showed that my new 5.0 GPU card would work in a 3.0 motherboard. (backwards compatible) It didn't (for me). Windows 11 and strange blue screens. Motherboard was 7 years old. To old it seems..... Bought a new 12th gen i7 CPU (i9 is to expensive. Budget. You must have one!), Z690  (Z790? Budget) motherboard and 32Gb DDR5 to renew my machine. That new RTX3060TI (Budget) resulted into more costs than I expected. But it is very speedy indeed for not a top dollar price. Can use it for the next 10 years. One plus; absolute no sound. Was also the case with my old motherboard with a 4th gen i7 CPU, 32Gb DDR4 and a GTX1080. Motherboard had 2 NMVe 3.0 slots back then. Added 1 more by using a 3.0 separate PCIe card. unfortunately we see also an other trend; Lesser PCIe slots. 2 16x slots and 1 1x and 4x slots. 1x and 4x slots will disappear also in the end. Firewire and USB3.2 are here.... Even 4.0 NMVe's external cabinets..... With the speeds comes also the heat. DDR5,6 and NMVe 4.0 need coolers to cool things down. Get used to it. On my motherboard sits 3 heat spreaders for the 3 NMVe 4.0 devices. On the 4th one? None. Had to use a separate cooler to reduce it's 4.0 heat. These device with a cooler will be more common than now. They already have a cooler fitted on the device. Separate? Don't pull off the sticker. It's aluminum based and will void your warranty if you pull it off. Heat will reach the cooler anyways. Sticker is not an insulator. Thought about it. Future external coolers. If it it fitted by the manufacture then the cooler is placed directly onto the chips and the sticker on the outside. No need there to pull it off. There is a lot to know about NMVe's. To get the most out of them; you need knowledge about the subject. Not what the manufacture promise. They will do anything to sell there products. Those 4 rules are a real nutbuster even for the informed ones. Will go away in time for sure! But transitions are hard to understand.

 

"We have a 8K television you can buy..." More resolution, better etc. As long as the cable sends you HD or 4K quality... It's useless. Al they can do to look likes it's a higher definition As long as the source isn't it is just make-believe. Rules also apply to computers. You want one thing (speed) but..... There are conditions attached to it.

 

Just babbling as a Nerd on a nerdplatform......