NVMe SSD Install on Windows 7

[Pudgie]

Hey MADe,

Here is a snippet of this Samsung 950 Pro 512Gb NVMe PCI-E SSD running over PCI-E 2.0 x2 spec lanes:



Let me know what you think........................ ...........

 

PS--Running a test......................

Attaching the same......................

[MADe]

I would say you are getting beat bad by using the x2 m.2 port. Not that I'm an expert, just comparison of the 2 atto reports.
Mine was from 4, 30GB Vertex SSD's, RAID 0 array, SATA 2. These are old SSD's. I'm close in read/writes.????????

Is w7 optimized to play with....................
OS partition was placed properly?

[Pudgie]

I would say you are getting beat bad by using the x2 m.2 port. Not that I'm an expert, just comparison of the 2 atto reports.
Mine was from 4, 30GB Vertex SSD's, RAID 0 array, SATA 2. These are old SSD's. I'm close in read/writes.????????

Is w7 optimized to play with....................
OS partition was placed properly?

The big problem is the M.2 slot thru the Intel X99 chipset PCI-E 2.0 x2 lane specs w\ the 2nd problem being how well does the Samsung NVMe controller chip on the Samsung 950 Pro handle the PCI-E spec down step. NVMe controller cut the link speed in half (4Gbps instead of 8Gbps) since the link width (PCI-E lane count) is cut in half (x2 instead of x4) so the total bandwidth of the 950 Pro 512Gb NVMe PCI-E SSD thru it's NVMe controller (and across the PCI-E 2.0 x2 lanes of the M.2 slot\X99 chipset) is cut to 1\4 capacity (8Gbps instead of 32Gbps) so it complies w\ the Intel X99 PCI-E 2.0 x2 specs that the NVMe controller read from the chipset. This process was confirmed by the Samsung support tech when I called them on this this afternoon after work....the only thing the tech couldn't confirm was the extent of reduction the NVMe controller would set itself to properly align to the chipset PCI-E rev and lane specs used.....dependent on the mobo manufacturer's build specs, vers of PCI-E specs used in chipset and vers of UEFI BIOS used along w\ the specific settings written into it to gain compatibility w\ NVMe. The tech also advised me that it wasn't good to try to use a PCI-E-to-M.2 adapter card w\ their 950 Pro NVMe PCI-E SSD due to compatibility issues\concerns that could make the SSD function worse\brick it and to just stay w\ the M.2 slot on the mobo due to the standards most mobo manufacturers adhere to pretty much ensure that the SSD will work.........may not work to rated performance levels but the SSD will work.

This sheds some light on why this Samsung 950 Pro 512Gb NVMe M.2 PCI-E SSD is listed on the Gigabyte M.2 Compatibility List for my Gigabyte mobo as compatible................... ......

As far as the rest, all is properly set up in Win 7 HP 64x SP1 OS (NVMe support hotfix applied (driver), Win 7 configured for UEFI bootloaders (during prior initial OS install) and Samsung NVMe driver installed) and in Gigabyte F22 UEFI BIOS (boot order setup, CSM enabled\disabled, Storage Option\PCI-E Storage set UEFI first\only) so Windows 7 itself isn't the issue.

I also found this .pdf on Intel's web site that I thought is a very handy reference to have onboard to assist users to successfully set up various mobos and OS install media to successfully boot Windows 7, 8 & 8.1 OS's off of a NVMe PCI-E SSD (of course they reference the Intel 750 NVMe SSD's......) so I have saved a copy for myself.

 

[MADe]

nice on the boot guide, made a copy myself. Shows how to at least navigate the bios to get things active/recognized.
Considering going w10/64. I will have to get a license either way, so........

U cannot use the SATAe port with an adapter? This should give you x4????

Also a pcie x4 expansion slot, does that board have one?
What someone needs to make is an adapter that fits the x16 slot, but not 16 lanes. x16 or x1 seems the only existing pci slots now. Sadly NVMe is not backward compatible. Use of it means latest chipsets.

I think its only the m.2 port that's not 32GB/s capable with your particular board. You also could upgrade the mobo??? migrate all the existing stuff to it.

I'll bet it still runs nice tho. Do you get go response from w7?

I made my build choices. Waiting for stocks to be replenished. Seems others think like moi.
 

[Chalenge]

Amazon has the U.2 adapters that support x4 for M.2 cards. Some have mounting solutions (drive shells like) while others do not. I thought the ASUS X99 Strix board is supposed to give straight up M.2 x4 speeds, but I will have to double check to be sure.

I don't think it is really 32GB/s but 32Gb/s? Yeah, bit and not Byte.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessories/HYPER_M2_X4_MINI_CARD/

[Pudgie]

nice on the boot guide, made a copy myself. Shows how to at least navigate the bios to get things active/recognized.
Considering going w10/64. I will have to get a license either way, so........

U cannot use the SATAe port with an adapter? This should give you x4????

Also a pcie x4 expansion slot, does that board have one?
What someone needs to make is an adapter that fits the x16 slot, but not 16 lanes. x16 or x1 seems the only existing pci slots now. Sadly NVMe is not backward compatible. Use of it means latest chipsets.

I think its only the m.2 port that's not 32GB/s capable with your particular board. You also could upgrade the mobo??? migrate all the existing stuff to it.

I'll bet it still runs nice tho. Do you get go response from w7?

I made my build choices. Waiting for stocks to be replenished. Seems others think like moi.
 

The SATAe port cannot be used due to the switch that Gigabyte installed on these 2 lanes ahead of the X99 chipset (switch will enable only 1 device at a time on these 2 dedicated PCI-E 2.0 lanes...if M.2 slot is populated you lose the rest, SATAe port is populated you lose the rest, either SATA4 or SATA5 or both SATA4,5 are populated you lose the rest). Look at the Gigabyte mobo block diagram for my mobo and you'll see this..............

This mobo is a microATX design.....only 3 PCI-E 3.0 x16 CPU-dedicated and 1 PCI-E 2.0 x1 X99 dedicated slot so no PCI-E 3.0 x4 physical slot onboard.

I can still get this Samsung 950 Pro 512Gb NVMe PCI-E SSD up to rated speeds but I will have to put it on a PCI-E-to-M.2 NVMe-compliant adapter card and run it on my spare 2nd PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot (got a PCI-E-to-USB 3.1 adapter card installed in the 3rd PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot and Sapphire R9 Fury X vid card in 1st PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot). These 3 PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots by-pass the X99 chipset, run direct to the Intel LGA 2011v.3 socket and are set by the on CPU-die DMA\PCI-E\mem access controller which IS PCI-E 3.0 spec compliant and WILL set the full 32Gbps bandwidth thru it for the NVMe SSD and since the OS was installed on a UEFI partitioned drive w\ Windows EFI Bootloader and the UEFI BIOS EFI bootloader will also find the NVMe SSD regardless of whether it is mounted so no issue.

It is these dedicated lanes that can allow a NVMe SSD to run on older mobos.......as long as the mobo has PCI-E 3.0 spec tracing (8GT\s), an Intel Ivy-Bridge CPU (these CPU's have full PCI-E 3.0 spec DMA\PCI-E\mem access controllers on die), an available PCI-E 3.0 x4, x8 or x16 dedicated slot that goes direct to the CPU socket and a UEFI BIOS upgrade available that supports NVME.

At 1 time Asus put out a petition to users to see which older platform (Asus X79 or Z87 mobos which both were built w\ PCI-E 3.0 spec 8GT\s lane tracing) users wanted Asus to provide an upgrade UEFI BIOS to bring NVMe SSD support to (I participated in it) and the X79 platform was the runaway winner in the survey but it was taking Asus too long to develop it for my mobo (and I also had broke the locking clip off on the 1st PCI-E x16 slot that secured the back end of my vid card in the slot....all still worked w\o it but this bothered me and I couldn't find ANY replacement Genes for less that $400.00 regardless of condition) so I moved on to this Gigabyte X99M Gaming 5 mobo to fix the slot clip issue, get NVMe M.2 support along w\ a pedestrian CPU upgrade and DDR4 mem....otherwise I would've still been on my ole trusty Asus Rampage IV X79 Gene ROC mobo\Intel I7 4820K IB-E CPU platform as it was still far more than powerful enough to handle games w\ ease and running a NVMe AIC PCI-E SSD.............

I bought this particular Gigabyte X99 mobo as Gigabyte was the ONLY manuf that made a X99 mobo in microATX factor....Asus stopped after the X79....................

Yes it does and yes sir, Win 7 performs very fine now.........................
 


Nice build list.............you'll be in heaven once all together.

 

Amazon has the U.2 adapters that support x4 for M.2 cards. Some have mounting solutions (drive shells like) while others do not. I thought the ASUS X99 Strix board is supposed to give straight up M.2 x4 speeds, but I will have to double check to be sure.

I don't think it is really 32GB/s but 32Gb/s? Yeah, bit and not Byte.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboard-Accessories/HYPER_M2_X4_MINI_CARD/

Thanks for the link, Chalenge!

I'm definitely gonna go there.........but that new Plextor M8Pe AIC NVMe 512Gb PCI-E SSD is trying.....to.......seduce me.......must resist.............

    

 

[MADe]

so your saying that there is a PCIe x16 adapter can can be used for your Sammy Sung?
Link please.

Yeah I'm bumming, 2/3 of my newegg cart went away to out of stock. No one has a X99 Taichi mobo to sell. My ram choice as well..................

[Pudgie]

so your saying that there is a PCIe x16 adapter can can be used for your Sammy Sung?
Link please.

Yeah I'm bumming, 2/3 of my newegg cart went away to out of stock. No one has a X99 Taichi mobo to sell. My ram choice as well..................

I'm gonna get the 1 that Chalenge gave a link to in his post as I do trust Asus to make quality stuff and they'll hold to the latest NVMe ver 1.2 std, as a true mobo manuf that builds their mobos M.2 slots to be compatible w\ this popular Sammy NVMe PCI-E SSD I'll be very confident that their PCI-E-to-M.2 NVMe adapter card will work just fine and allow this Sammy to shine.....................

 

[MADe]

I'm gonna get the 1 that Chalenge gave a link to in his post as I do trust Asus to make quality stuff and they'll hold to the latest NVMe ver 1.2 std, as a true mobo manuf that builds their mobos M.2 slots to be compatible w\ this popular Sammy NVMe PCI-E SSD I'll be very confident that their PCI-E-to-M.2 NVMe adapter card will work just fine and allow this Sammy to shine.....................

 

your board does not have a x4 pcie expansion slot?????
Unless you can drop that into a x16 slot........can you use a male x4 key config in a female x16 slot? no puns intended.

if you a returning and reaquiring, you should get the SATAe version. Your board has it, give you full bandwidth........

I saw a test result of another working NMVe drive, crystal mark. 600+/- writes, 2200 +/- reads. It appears you are getting the proper write speeds for the drive. Your losing out on the potential read speed. Makes me wonder if lanes are dedicated in/out.....
oops
http://www.thessdreview.com/daily-news/latest-buzz/understanding-m2-3xraid0-nvme-boot-performance/2/

good read
http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1236&title=how-to-install-windows-on-a-pcie-ssd

skylake users read this.
On Intel chipset mother boards other than the new 100 series for Skylake processors, the Ultra M.2/PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 ports share the PCIe 3.0 lanes with the PCIe slots used by video cards.


 

[Chalenge]

That's not exactly a red flag.

[MADe]

It would be if you bought hardware with an expectation, then you are denied.
With the right info, you make better choices.

ie: pudgie's mistake

[flyndung]

i have a PM951 that got but was gonna setup IRST with it but then realized my P67A doesn't support IRST

[Pudgie]

http://esupport.gigabyte.com/#id:275638

Got reply from Gigabyte Support basically confirming what I thought I would have to do..............

FYI....................

The dedicated PCI-E lanes that route direct to the CPU are your best friend on Intel mobos w\ IvyBridge and forward CPU's to get PCI-E 3.0 specs..................

I suspect that Intel Z170 chipset is PCI-E 3.0 spec'd but have to check up to confirm.
All Intel chipsets older than Z170 are PCI-E 2.0 spec'd or older.

 

PS--Have to keep my Gigabyte account open for the link to work for y'all to see the reply......................

Read the attachment instead....made a snippet of the web page.......................

 

[Pudgie]

Here is a copy of the Gigabyte M.2 compatibllity list for my mobo.......................

Look in the NVMe M.2 section & tell me what you see there...................

Yes, Gigabyte needs to get their act together..................... ......

 

[MADe]

ja that seems sketchy. whats strange is that every X99 board they have displayed at website is crippled with 10Gb/s m.2, except the ultra gaming model, which is there latest offering. They do have z170 boards how ever......

the comment I still need to explore is the skylake cpu being the only cpu that does not ask video and m.2 drive to share pcie lanes. that would seem pointless with a 40 lane cpu and only 1 vid card. I need to understand this 1 last thing before purchase.