Drive for operating system and main software.

[cookiemonster]

Hi am hoping to install my operating system and main software onto a drive and separate them from my games, is this suitable for my motherboard and is it big enough.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ...sr=8-1&keywords=Samsung+250GB+960+Evo+M.2+SSD

 

[Kursah]

250GB should be good for OS + some programs and even some select games. I run an 850EVO 250GB with Win 10 Pro x64, tons of programs, default storage (downloads, documents, pictures), Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen and still have around 80GB free.

 

[cookiemonster]

Is it suitable for my motherboard.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Is it suitable for my motherboard.

What mobo? I dont see system spec. I think it's glitched on mobile again because I can't see anyone system specs never mind

 

[newtekie1]

Maybe I missed it, but I don't think the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming GT has a M.2 port, so you can't use that drive.

 

[cookiemonster]

This is my motherboard as stated in my system specs.

http://uk.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-GT-rev-10#ov

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Your motherboard doesnt have an m.2 slot on it for that drive you selected to work. So you would need to get a 2.5" ssd that you could fit into a drive cage. Or you could purchase a pcie card that has an m.2 slot on it and use the drive you selected. That should work, however, I am not sure if Windows setup would recognize it when you install the OS.

Edit: You would need something like this for your current motherboard to support the m.2 ssd.

 

[eidairaman1]

Your motherboard doesnt have an m.2 slot on it for that drive you selected to work. So you would need to get a 2.5" ssd that you could fit into a drive cage. Or you could purchase a pcie card that has an m.2 slot on it and use the drive you selected. That should work, however, I am not sure if Windows setup would recognize it when you install the OS.

Edit: You would need something like this for your current motherboard to support the m.2 ssd.

850 pro 256 at that point, my 840 pro is still smoking quick.

 

[cookiemonster]

So if I got one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/HYPER-M-2-...=UTF8&qid=1513966921&sr=1-3&keywords=pcie+m.2
I could get one of these,

Samsung (MZ-V6E250BW) 250GB EVO PCI Express 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive

 

[eidairaman1]

So if I got one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/HYPER-M-2-...=UTF8&qid=1513966921&sr=1-3&keywords=pcie+m.2
I could get one of these,

Samsung (MZ-V6E250BW) 250GB EVO PCI Express 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive

Yes its plausible, just to give a headsup you won't notice a major performance advantage on a PCIE vs a SATA SSD especially going from 850 Pro. Only in benchmarks. If the 850 Pro is considerably less I'd go for that drive

 

[cookiemonster]

thanks for your advice I understand what you mean eidairaman1 maybe I will just keep the money and put it towards a bigger upgrade ie new motherboard and processor.

 

[jboydgolfer]

thanks for your advice I understand what you mean eidairaman1 maybe I will just keep the money and put it towards a bigger upgrade ie new motherboard and processor.

Very smart decision. It's almost like it makes no sense for anyone to purchase a PCI-e solid-state drive seeing as how the performance gains are nonexistent over a standard Sata solid-state drive (outside of bench environment & possibly some specialized programs/scenarios ).

Wait for it........

 

[rtwjunkie]

Wait for it.......

It will come, I have no doubt.

 

[biffzinker]

Looks like Gigabyte ran out of room for a two lane PCIe v2.0 M.2 slot. Your not missing out on much for sequential bandwidth bump over a SATA SSD, but maybe on random Read/Write there's a difference? Considered making use of the M.2 slot on my ASUS Z97 board but instead went with a SanDisk Ultra II 480 GB secondary drive.
Edit:
Didn't see anything that suggests your Gigabyte boards supports the NVMe protocol in the uEFI or via a firmware update from Gigabyte. Samsung was including support in the firmware for earlier M.2 drives that allowed booting on older boards. I think it was @Tomgang that used a PCIe board with a M.2 socket on a X58 board?

 

[lexluthermiester]

This is my motherboard as stated in my system specs. http://uk.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-GT-rev-10#ov

That board doesn't seem to have an M2 slot. At least the one in the link you provided doesn't. SATA based SSD is your best bet. Of course, Hybrid HDD's are a great option if you need generous storage. They combine speed of SSD buffering with the mass storage of spinning disks. Up to you though. For $99 you can get a 2TB drive or $69 for 1TB. The 2TB drive is the much better deal. I've used these drives. They're a great balance of speed and capacity.
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FireCuda-Gaming-Solid-Hybrid/dp/B01IEKG2HM

 

[cookiemonster]

Hi as you said it will come , I have been looking at this motherboard and processor and I quite fancy them next year,

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/gig...a3-triple-m2-2-way-sli-3-way-crossfire-dual-g

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/int...-37ghz-47ghz-turbo-12mb-cache-1200mhz-gpu-95w

what would be the best ram for these.

 

[64K]

With Steam you can install the software and games on your HDD but it's a little different with Origin. You have to put the software on your C: drive but you can change the settings within Origin to install your games on the HDD. If not it will default to installing your games on the C: drive which could quickly use up that 250 GB SSD.

 

[John Naylor]

Board doesn't support M.2 but a SATA 250 / 256 GB Samsung Evo / pro will do just fine. As long as you ignore defaults and install software to where you want it to go, the 250 GB size won't be an issue. Thats the way we have done installed since eraly 90s.