Does my motherboard support M.2?

[Andrewf]

I'd really like to upgrade from a sata ssd to a PCIe/M.2, preferably NVMe, but I read around other forums and they never found any conclusive results.

 

Asus Maximus VI Hero.

 

It doesn't show anything about native support on the website or anything but I figured since it's just PCIe it should work right?

 

If not, what is the best way to add the fastest storage possible for this motherboard? Perhaps a regular PCIe to NVMe adapter?

[Gungpae]

The only reason you would get a m.2/nvme drive is to have 1) Faster Boot Times, 2) Faster Transfer Speeds (of Large Files), 3) Faster Trasnfer Speeds (of MANY Files).

 

Your motherboard does not have a m.2 slot. 

This will be what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38

[agent_x007]

@Gungpae OR no place for another drive/cables and SSD RAID0 already

[Carfax83]

7 minutes ago, Andrewf said:

If not, what is the best way to add the fastest storage possible for this motherboard? Perhaps a regular PCIe to NVMe adapter?

PCIe is the interface, and NVMe is the protocol.  They aren't the same thing.  

 

Also, while it could work as a storage drive, I don't think the drive would be bootable because it doesn't support NVMe.  So you should consider what you're going to do with the drive, ie will you install Windows on it?  Because if that's what you want to do, it's probably not going to work.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Even if you installed an NVMe drive via a PCI Express slot, your motherboard likely won't support booting from it.

[Andrewf]

32 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Even if you installed an NVMe drive via a PCI Express slot, your motherboard likely won't support booting from it.

 

42 minutes ago, Carfax83 said:

Also, while it could work as a storage drive, I don't think the drive would be bootable because it doesn't support NVMe.  So you should consider what you're going to do with the drive, ie will you install Windows on it?  Because if that's what you want to do, it's probably not going to work.

 

47 minutes ago, Gungpae said:

Your motherboard does not have a m.2 slot. 

This will be what you need.

https://www.amazon.com/Lycom-DT-120-PCIe-Adapter-Support/dp/B00MYCQP38

Okay, there's no need for me to boot from it, I should've specified what I'm using it for. General editing and ingesting of large video files for an upcoming project where the bitrate will be tremendous and will require a fast drive, and currently all my SSDs are basically full anyway.

 

So with that PCIe adapter, can I still use an M.2 NVMe drive as a regular storage device and get the same advertised speeds of up to 1,900MB/s on an Evo 960?

[Andrewf]

48 minutes ago, agent_x007 said:

@Gungpae OR no place for another drive/cables and SSD RAID0 already

Also no, all of my Sata ports are basically full, along with all my HDDs and SSDs, built in Card Reader and USB hub(one USB 3 port on my case broke so I need this), along with a blu-ray burner, I even have a regular DVD burner that's unplugged from Sata, it's just there for show.

[Carfax83]

4 minutes ago, Andrewf said:

So with that PCIe adapter, can I still use an M.2 NVMe drive as a regular storage device and get the same advertised speeds of up to 1,900MB/s on an Evo 960?

The only way that's going to happen is if your motherboard supports NVMe protocol.  So what you need to do is make sure the latest UEFI is installed, and probably contact Asus to get verification as to whether your motherboard actually supports NVMe.  It might, but most likely not.

[agent_x007]

20 hours ago, Carfax83 said:

The only way that's going to happen is if your motherboard supports NVMe protocol.  So what you need to do is make sure the latest UEFI is installed, and probably contact Asus to get verification as to whether your motherboard actually supports NVMe.  It might, but most likely not.

You don't need UEFI board to support NVMe booting (only a legacy bootable drive/device is required).

Proof (video) : LINK

[Andrewf]

1 hour ago, agent_x007 said:

You don't need UEFI board to support NVMe booting (only a legacy bootable drive/device is required).

Proof (video) : LINK

Goodness that is impressive! I'm still too worried about something going wrong, because I expect a "just my luck" scenario for something to no work. I'll probably contact asus, or just wait for the next gen of CPUs to come out.

 

I have an i7-4790k and it's been great for me even for editing and rendering. I think even getting the next gen is a bit early. I'll do more research on what you're up to and see if what I can do, thanks so much! Is that your video?

[agent_x007]

Quote

Is that your video?

Indeed