M.2 Adapter for Mobo?

[cookie rager]

So i want to invest into m.2 storage but my motherboard (MSI B150A Gaming Pro) doesn't have an m.2 slot however on some BIOS updates it says " Improved NVME device compatibility" does that mean i can use an m.2 adapter and which one would be the best to use?

[Josh83089]

If it's the same as the B150A as the current revision listed on MSI's website, it has an M.2 slot directly above the top PCIE x16 slot.

[Josh83089]

1 minute ago, Josh83089 said:

If it's the same as the B150A as the current revision listed on MSI's website, it has an M.2 slot directly above the top PCIE x16 slot.

Interestingly enough, they show 2 stock photos on their page, 1 with an M.2 slot, and one without, so you may in fact have a different version, or they're using improper photos.

[Crunchy Dragon]

You can get a PCIe to M.2 adapter

[mariushm]

That nvme compatibility bit may be about being able to boot from pci express ssd drives - you could then probably buy a pci-e adapter card with one or several m.2 connectors and it should work and boot from SSD.

 

Note however that not all M.2 SSD drives are using pci express to communicate with the PC, in fact a lot of the cheaper SSD drives simply use the plain old SATA 3 which is also included in some m.2 connectors.

So before spending more money to get pci-e based m.2 slots (or connectors. whatever) make sure you actually have a pci-e m.2 ssd.

 

for pci-e to m.3 i figure something like this would be enough, if nvme is supported in bios : https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124167

this one is a bit more fancy and also has a m.2 slot which routes the sata part of the m.2 slot into a sata connector (so you could use a sata cable between this card and the sata port on the motherboard) : https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815256014&cm_re=m.2_pci-e_adapter-_-15-256-014-_-Product