Can an M.2 slot ONLY support NVME and NOT support SATA?

[TheLostSwede]

Only for the motherboard headers if they're cryptic. Otherwise they're untouched.

It depends what you're trying to figure out, no? Also, motherboards is one thing, there are a lot of other things that come with manuals...
Get something obscure enough and you might just need it.

 

[Flaky]

I agree that the M.2 connector/socket keying is mess - but usb-c seems to be a worthy competitor in regard to confusing general audience


At least when it comes to M.2 SSDs, keys can, and should be completely ignored.
The only thing important here is what interface the SSD uses, and which interfaces are supported in the M.2 socket.
If there is a match, it will physically fit anyway.

 

[hat]

When all else fails:

R.T.F.M..

'nuff said............

Yeah... I looked at the specs and saw something like "up to PCI-E gen 3" so I figured SATA must also work... I didn't realize you could have slots that were exclusively PCI-E until now. In the future I'll know to look out for SATA only slots, PCI-E only slots, and slots that do both.

 

[agent_x007]

Yes. There are both SATA only M.2 ports, and PCI-e only M.2 ports.

Here's a pretty good summary :

Both SATA version and PCI-e version depend on Motherboard/chipset/port used as well as drive itself.
You can't have a M.2 drive with B + M keys, that will work in both PCI-e only, and SATA only ports.

 

[hat]

Figured I'd follow up. The adapter is installed and working. The system picked it up just fine.

 

[dj2018]

hi all,
I've just been reading all the comments in here and I have a very similar problem?
I have upgraded my mobo to the asus 970 pro gaming aura which indeed has the M.2 slot, however problem is that the M.2 is working as I have windows installed on it but only showing up as sata and not in PCI-E mode. Could it be on how I installed windows? not in UEFI but normal installation ,and as for speed performance I don't really see much of a speed increase for the money I spent? any help would be appreciated. Merry Christmas all and await for any help. Thanks

 

[Flaky]

@dj2018
Your board's M.2 slot supports only PCIe storage.
Tell us the SSD model.
"...but only showing up as sata and not in PCI-E mode" - what do you use to get such information?
"and as for speed performance I don't really see much of a speed increase " - what did you expect exactly? 4x higher linear speeds do not mean that everything will be 4x faster.

 

[dj2018]

Hi,

thanks for the reply,
I have the Kingston A2000 m.2 ssd and I checked that information out using windows devices. but anyway what I should of put was is it possible to get it to boot in the NVMe mode? or have I got to install some kind of program to get this?

Just to add... my motherboard has the latest bios update too

 

[Flaky]

This is an NVMe drive. There is no such thing as "non-NVMe" mode for it, at most it can be indirect when using RST (but it's specific for intel platforms).
Please provide screenshot of the information you mention - I don't recall any place in windows itself that would in simple, correct and reliable way distinguish SATA and PCIe storage.

 

[dj2018]

hi
thanks for your reply as you will see from the screenshot added that I also am only using Microsoft drivers, but I should be able to install to correct drivers

 

[Flaky]

...so where did you see it

showing up as sata and not in PCI-E mode

?

There's nothing wrong with microsoft NVMe driver.
You seem to be searching for problem even though there is none.

 

[dj2018]

oh so everything is running and detected my M.2 ssd as it should be then?

 

[EarthDog]

oh so everything is running and detected my M.2 ssd as it should be then?

From what little you showed us, yes.

Run a benchmark like atto and see if you are getting nvme speeds or sata.

 

[dj2018]

Hi Earthdog,
thank you for your reply. I have done what you requested and my results are below.. according to kingstons website the speed of the drive is this?
NVMe PCIe performance at a fraction of the cost


A2000 is an affordable solution with impressive read/write speeds up to 2,200/2,000MB.

my results from atto are below In the screenshot.

 

[Flaky]

This is way too low. Even though your motherboard supports only PCIe gen 2, it may limit the speed to somewhere around ~1.4GB/s, not SATA speeds.
Are you sure you selected the drive letter of the NVMe drive?
Can you show the screenshot from Crystal Disk Info?

 

[TheLostSwede]

I agree that the M.2 connector/socket keying is mess - but usb-c seems to be a worthy competitor in regard to confusing general audience


At least when it comes to M.2 SSDs, keys can, and should be completely ignored.
The only thing important here is what interface the SSD uses, and which interfaces are supported in the M.2 socket.
If there is a match, it will physically fit anyway.

Apparently not, as in this case the slot can take an B+M keyed SSD, i.e. a SATA drive, but it won't function, as the board only does PCIe on the M.2 slot. Sorry, but your conclusion is wrong.

Hi Earthdog,
thank you for your reply. I have done what you requested and my results are below.. according to kingstons website the speed of the drive is this?
NVMe PCIe performance at a fraction of the cost


A2000 is an affordable solution with impressive read/write speeds up to 2,200/2,000MB.

my results from atto are below In the screenshot.

Quick question, did you install Windows using MBR or GPT? If it's MBR, you're going to have to reinstall Windows using GPT to get NVMe performance.

 

[Flaky]

How many A+E SSDs are there, anyway?

i.e. a SATA drive, but it won't function, as the board only does PCIe on the M.2 slot. Sorry, but your conclusion is wrong.

See the "if there is a match" fragment in what you just quoted.
I mean, the only important thing is the interfaces supported. If you have a mismatch, it won't work.

 

[dj2018]

Apparently not, as in this case the slot can take an A+E keyed SSD, i.e. a SATA drive, but it won't function, as the board only does PCIe on the M.2 slot. Sorry, but your conclusion is wrong.


Quick question, did you install Windows using MBR or GPT? If it's MBR, you're going to have to reinstall Windows using GPT to get NVMe performance.

hi,

I installed windows normal I think MBR, as I use a usb stick to boot windows from. how can I install using GPT? and thank you for your help

 

[agent_x007]

Quick question, did you install Windows using MBR or GPT? If it's MBR, you're going to have to reinstall Windows using GPT to get NVMe performance.

Say what now ?
How does that work ?

@dj2018 If you own 256GB model you should get up to 2000/1100 MB/s on Read/Write.
Since you are getting ~500MB/s on both - it's PCIe lanes and/or PCIe version limit.

 

[Flaky]

Do not reinstall. MBR/GPT does not affect the speed. Swede had to confuse this with something else.
Please provide mentioned Crystal disk info shot.

 

[dj2018]

hi,
here is the crystal disk info.. it is showing my M.2 SSD as a drive letter G when in fact it is in my computer interface as drive letter C.

 

[EarthDog]

How about a shot of this computer, plz... ")

 

[dj2018]

How about a shot of this computer, plz... ")

hi,

here is a screenshot of my pc and as you see all my HDD's and optical drives

 

[Flaky]

Crystal and windows do not lie - Kingston NVMe has an empty, formatted volume G. Whoever named it "samsung" got it wrong.
Your windows is on the other drive.

 

[dj2018]

the Samsung drive is my other SSD drive I have in my system, I also have a Samsung spin point 1TB HDD as well as the Kingston A2000 M.2 SSD drive which I am currently using as my windows drive

enclosed are two screenshots, and as you will see what for HDD's I have in my system and what are online