M.2 NVMe on Z97?

Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

Spec-Chum

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I'm thinking about losing my RAID0 MX100 array (2 x 256Gb) and going M.2 NVMe instead.

Has anyone used one of the NVMe drives on Z97? I know it works, there's even an update in a BIOS adding support but the M.2 on Z97 is 2 x PCI-E 2.0 lanes whereas the NVMe SSDs are engineered for 4 x PCI-E 3.0 lanes.

Not sure how much of a bottleneck that would cause?
 
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lycom-dt-120-m.2-pci-e-ssd-to-pci-e-adapter-card-hd-000-lm.html

That will allow it to run at full speed on Z97, i know that as i'm running one. :D

m_2.png
 
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If you're coming from a normal SATA SSD then the Windows load time isn't much different at all. It's very noticeable when running games though.
 
I've raided two 256 MX100 SSDs on an older z77 mobo and it's benchmarks at 850 MB/s read 550 MB/s write but regardless of what it is in reality it maxes the SATA 3 bus and any mechanical drives. More noticeably though is any operation such as extracting large files to itself still maintains a 200-300 MB/s speed and I can do downloads, file moves all at the same time and it maintains a high speed.

Game loading is obviously greatly benefited too. The benchmark figures don't currently transfer to real world performance quite so well unless you are using a scenario that requires 100,000 IOPs on the system bus from what I've seen. I guess loading to RAM as mentioned above is probably the biggest benefit.

That won't stop me experimenting with a PCIe x4 HBA (Host Bus Adapter) and an M.2 device such as the Samsung 951 drives. Though I assume NVMe will never happen on my old board.
 
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