can Z77 support NVME drives with pcie-e cards?

[tryhard techy1169]

i was goofing around and testing all my drive speeds today and of course day dreamed of what an nvme drive could do to my system. that led to me asking the next logical question, can NVME drives such as the Samsung 960 evo/pro be used with a pci-e card in a Z77 system? i'm fairly certain the answer is no due to how old the Z77 platform is. even if it could be added with a bios update no manufacturer is going to release a new bios for a outdated architecture.

 

if you all could confirm or deny if this is possible that would be great. as always, thanks for reading.

[zMeul]

support it, yes

boot from it, doubtful / no

[ARikozuM]

It will work, but not for booting. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

NVME is a communication protocol. If your operating system supports it, it should boot from it.

 

I mean, the PCIe lanes on an M.2 slot aren't any different from regular PCIe slots on the motherboard.

[tryhard techy1169]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

NVME is a communication protocol. If your operating system supports it, it should boot from it.

 

I mean, the PCIe lanes on an M.2 slot aren't any different from regular PCIe slots on the motherboard.

i'm on windows 7 pro. so now with this and the conflicting statement from the others i effectivley have no idea. lol

[ARikozuM]

Just now, tryhard techy1169 said:

i'm on windows 7 pro. so now with this and the conflicting statement from the others i effectivley have no idea. lol

You know what helps? Reading the manual...

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, tryhard techy1169 said:

i'm on windows 7 pro. so now with this and the conflicting statement from the others i effectivley have no idea. lol

Windows 7 doesn't support NVMe out of the box.

 

Here's a doc though that could help you figure out what you can and can't do: http://download.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/nvme_boot_guide_332098001us.pdf. It provides examples of various motherboard configurations. It'll likely not have your board, but you should be able to get something out of it.

[tryhard techy1169]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

You know what helps? Reading the manual...

that's a bit too much effort for a theoretical question. if i was dead set on trying it i would for sure look it up.

[zMeul]

15 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

NVME is a communication protocol. If your operating system supports it, it should boot from it.

that's not how it works

the BIOS needs to be capable of recognizing the PCIe device as boot able

why do you think Z97, and I think some Z77, boards got NVMe BIOS updates - to be able to boot from them

 

the OS recognizing the disk is the 2nd problem, not the 1st - you can add NVMe support to W7, but you can't add NVMe support to BIOS unless it's from the manufacturer or it's modded 

[Mira Yurizaki]

3 minutes ago, zMeul said:

that's not how it works

the BIOS needs to be capable of recognizing the PCIe device as boot able

why do you think Z97, and I think some Z77, boards got NVMe BIOS updates - to be able to boot from them

 

the OS recognizing the disk is the 2nd problem, not the 1st - you can add NVMe support to W7, but you can't add NVMe support to BIOS unless it's from the manufacturer or it's modded 

Okay, fair enough.

[WereCat]

Hardware support is there but you have to manually modify the BIOS. There are guides on how to do that.

[ARikozuM]

8 minutes ago, zMeul said:

that's not how it works

the BIOS needs to be capable of recognizing the PCIe device as boot able

why do you think Z97, and I think some Z77, boards got NVMe BIOS updates - to be able to boot from them

Z97 could boot from the start. Z87 (some boards) and Z77 needed updates.

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

Z97 could boot from the start. Z87 (some boards) and Z77 needed updates.

nop

you're confusing Z97 with X99; Z97 needs BIOS updates too  example: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty Z97 Professional/index.us.asp?cat=Download&os=BIOS