It is still available
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/microsoft-windows-10-free-upgrade-offer-assistive-features/
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/microsoft-windows-10-free-upgrade-offer-assistive-features/
SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x 4 NVMe
- Thread starter _Jimlad_
- Start date
I wouldn't recommend trying to install Win 7 on an M.2. drive as a boot device. It isn't natively supported and can be a right pain to get installed and booting correctly.
If you can still get the free upgrade to 10, then do that - see Jimlad's post above.
If you can still get the free upgrade to 10, then do that - see Jimlad's post above.
Soldato
Not quite sure where you have read that! Because it's wrong. The only Samsung nvme driver available for the sm951, is the one for the 950 pro and that installs just fine for the sm951 (certainly works fine for me... See a previous earlier post in this thread by me). Just don't expect a life changing experience. These test programs life CDM etc. that folks love to run, only give you the bare numbers for performance and don't really give much of an idea of how the drives will work in a real world environment. You only need to look at any of the reputable test sites (eg. Tom's hardware etc.) To see how much effort they have to put in to "really" test an ssd.
Bottom line is... If you are already running a half decent sata based ssd... You are not going to have a wow moment upgrading to one of these. Only really buy if you have the money to spare and just fancy the best out there.
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Associate
I'm coming from a Plextor PCie-based ssd: reads at 750 writes at 650 so the M.2 is a worthy upgrade.
OK I misunderstood. I will try the Samsung one. Did you notice any speed up on boot times ?
Soldato
No... to see any difference, you would need to run a real test suite like pcmark8. And yes, here you can see the improvements running the Samsung nvme driver over the stock Microsoft one. Now whether this difference is noticeable in real world day to day use, is open to debate. If interested, have a look at the comments at the end of the legit review of the sm951 that I linked to earlier.
If you are having boot issues, then you maybe need to look a bit deeper than what nvme driver you are running.
Pretty much any half decent ssd (sata or pcie) should be capable of decent boot times. There are so many (as I'm sure you are aware) variables that can effect boot times. Things like "hybrid shutdown" and "fast boot" can potentially make a much bigger difference to boot times, rather than what particular make/model of ssd you have your OS on.
Not like I tend to get hung up myself on the boot time issue.
Don't get me wrong. These are great little drives. Just that in my personal opinion, anyone coming from a half decent sata based ssd, is going to struggle to really see much difference in day to day use. Fair enough if you are coming from an older ssd. Especially one that's seen a hard life. As even with the likes of decent garbage collection etc. Ssd's performance tends to degrade over time and the only real way to restore the performance back to factory fresh out of the box state.... Is to secure erase the drive. And here comes one of the problems with a true OEM drive like this... There is no way to secure erase them. Samsung don't provide a tool and none of the third party ones work (I know... Because I've tried most of them). Combine this with no way to flash the firmware (should Samsung even supply any updates of course) and there is a good argument for buying the proper retail version of this drive (ie. The 950 pro). But here I am rambling on while my lunch is getting cold.
Useful comments mate. It's all new to me so happy to read up on your post.
so whats the best way to install the samsung driver can you just run the exe or do i need to extract it ?
Soldato
Just extract the executable and then run it. Job done.
You can always revert back to the stock MS one at any time, should you wish.
PS. But as I said previously, don't expect to see big gains with apps like CDM etc. You need to look a little deeper. I've been running this since it came out and my system has performed fine. This is in fact the nvme driver that you will almost certainly find has been installed by professional OEM system builders that have used this drive (or so I've read).
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Soldato
There's a bios update I think you have to hunt down for NVMe boot capability. I know when I was considering the adapter card+NVMe drive for mine (eventually said bugger it and bought a bigger, regular SSD) I had a look into it and there was a bios update available for my Z77 board that allowed it to boot NVMe.
Now, what other stars need to align for it to work, I couldn't tell you. That might be a useful part of the puzzle to check though
Edit: oooo your board has the slot... it SHOULD just work then. I dunno, it might be a useful pointer/idea regardless.
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Guys is there a set way I should install windows 10 on these drives. I am only getting a 22 second cold boot time on my rig which is all brand new and high end. Tried all the bios settings. And other thread are leading me to reinstall windows.
Soldato
Full spec for your PC?
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Satin Black
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-GAMING 7
Intel I7 6700K Skylake @ 4.5
Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz
GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition
Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCI-e NVMe SSD
Western Digital Caviar Black 3TB
Corsair RMi Series RM850i ATX Power Supply
Corsair Hydro Series H110i
Tried all the bios settings for fast boot. Tried unplugging all usb devices. So wondering if I installed windows incorrectly or because I had the mechanical drive attached it may have placed files on there.
Basically with fast boot on I get a 10 second black screen on power up. Then see the windows 10 logo. Which takes around 10 seconds to get into windows (total 20 + seconds )
So my isaue is that initial black screen 10 seconds.
With slow / normal boot on I get that 10 seconds of black screen. Then the bios screen then windows. Which takes 30 seconds.
In startup task manager windows states load time is between 7 and 9 seconds.
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Soldato
Emmm.... not usually a good idea to have any other drive connected when installing the OS (but I think you know that anyway).
I'm assuming you have installed in UEFI mode (IE. GPT etc.)?
If it was me... I'd try installing the OS again, with only the pcie drive in the system. Obviously no way to Secure Erase these drives. So just let windows install do a quick format.
Unless anyone else has any suggestions???
PS. Pain up the backside I know. But hey... if installing from a USB3 pen drive, it doesn't take that much time anyway.
I'm assuming you have installed in UEFI mode (IE. GPT etc.)?
If it was me... I'd try installing the OS again, with only the pcie drive in the system. Obviously no way to Secure Erase these drives. So just let windows install do a quick format.
Unless anyone else has any suggestions???
PS. Pain up the backside I know. But hey... if installing from a USB3 pen drive, it doesn't take that much time anyway.
Yeah that was an error that had bugged me when I did install as I mentioned before it can deploy files on the secondary drive however unlikey
Now the part I am not certain on is installing in uefi mode. And could be where I made a mistake
The drive is definitely in GPT as I have checked and also has the 4 partitions when installing which is common to GPT
But is there anything else I should be doing? as I just stuck a usb stick in that had an image of windows 10 and installed from that.
Soldato
Jimlad... I'm almost out of suggestions. Sounds from what you have said, that you did things correctly.
Once booted. Does the system seem to run ok? Nothing major in windows event viewer etc. ?
Always worth running the windows system file checker, if only to eliminate one possible source of problem/s. Doubt if it will find anything ... But nothing to loose.
Have you tried disconnecting your mechanic hard drive and then trying to boot? That should soon highlight whether the windows install has stuck any critical files on the mech drive.
Have you had a look on the dedicated gigabyte forums to see if anyone else has had boot issues with this board!?
Once booted. Does the system seem to run ok? Nothing major in windows event viewer etc. ?
Always worth running the windows system file checker, if only to eliminate one possible source of problem/s. Doubt if it will find anything ... But nothing to loose.
Have you tried disconnecting your mechanic hard drive and then trying to boot? That should soon highlight whether the windows install has stuck any critical files on the mech drive.
Have you had a look on the dedicated gigabyte forums to see if anyone else has had boot issues with this board!?
Yeah I will give a reinstall a try next week when back from holiday and make sure no other devices are present. It's no bother to do that.
Can just see what happens and if it makes any difference.
So no issues with how I installed before then ?
Also back on topic what is the difference between this drive and the 950 evo ?
Soldato
The SM951 is true OEM (Samsung don't really like retailers selling them to the general public, they are really aimed at professional system builders), while the 950 pro is really the retail version of this.
950 has different NAND I believe and I think a tweaked controller, longer warranty and full support from Samsung.
While the SM951 has zero support (at least for the likes of us) from Samsung. Just you try raising an RMA against Samsung for one (I know... because I tried it). Warranty would have to be honored by the seller (EG. OCuk).
The only thing I'm not too keen on, is no way to Secure Erase them (again because they are OEM). Samsung's Magician software (or anything else come to that) don't support them (though you can see vestigial SMART data... but that's about it).
Nice little drives though and I've (touch wood) had zero issues with mine (and I've had it almost 12 months now).
Personally I'm waiting for the retail version of the SM961 to appear. Then I may pick one of these up.
PS. This is the second that I've had. The first failed after only a couple of days (just bad luck I suppose). But the 2nd one I bought, has been just fine.
PPS. Just noticed that you said "950 evo". I'm assuming you meant "950 pro".
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