MSI® PRO Z690-A motherboard

RussD · 20 Jun 2023 at 19:37

Hi All, not been in for a while...My Pro Z690-A motherboard is doing well, though I did get my very first Crash 3 days ago. Can't find what caused it..

What I need to know is this--If I buy another NVME 1TB ssd Gen 4 which slot should I put it in M2-3 or M2-4. Will any of those slots stop a sata drive from working.?? I got 4 hard drives in the Sata slots besides a WD black SN7505E ssd M:2 in slot one. I want to CLONE my PC to this other NVME then take it out for safe keeping. I did NOT have a Book with the PC so I can't find out for myself. Thanks.

Tetras · 20 Jun 2023 at 21:16

RussD said:
If I buy another NVME 1TB ssd Gen 4 which slot should I put it in M2-3 or M2-4. Will any of those slots stop a sata drive from working.??

I can't see any restrictions in the manual, I think you're good.

RussD said:
I did NOT have a Book with the PC so I can't find out for myself. Thanks.

I downloaded the manual from the MSI website.

mickyflinn · 20 Jun 2023 at 21:54

Hi @RussD glad your well.

Mite be worth getting an M2 usb enclosure so you can back up anytime you want and update your backup easily.

Macriun Reflect is a free software for cloning ,etc.

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RussD · 20 Jun 2023 at 23:14

Hi tetras--That pdf manual does not give you or tell you much about anything. It's about as useless as a Fa**. lol

Hi mickyflinn--Hope all is well with you. Funnily enough I was looking at those enclosures today but I got a bit confused with the difference of the NVME that fits in them. I hesitated in buying just in case the NVME I buy will not fit and work..I was thinking of buying either the Samsung 970 EVO plus 1tb Gen4 Or the WD black SN770 M2 Gen 4 but not sure which enclosure to buy so it fits in...I got Macrium Reflect, I used it to Clone two SSDs on my older PC as stand bys.

Tetras · 20 Jun 2023 at 23:27

RussD said:
Hi tetras--That pdf manual does not give you or tell you much about anything. It's about as useless as a Fa**. lol

True, but usually when there are restrictions (or lane/port sharing) the manual will have at least a note, but often a configuration table, so their absence implies that there are no restrictions.

My assumption would be that's very possible, because the Z690 chipset (if you look at an Intel diagram) does theoretically have enough lanes and SATA ports to support 4 M.2 drives without needing to steal lanes.

RussD · 21 Jun 2023 at 00:00

Thanks for the Explanation Tetras---Alas, I can build a PC but when it comes to the intricacies of parts I don't know much about and what they do leaves me Flummoxed & Despondent. The New BIOS is just Gobble De Gook to me and my Alzhiemers Brain. But Thankfully I got ALL you Lovely people to Help me out.
Thanks. Appreciated. So far this MSI machine is doing Good except for one Blue Screen of Death the other day of which has Baffled me. I was wondering if it was a power outage but my other PC (this one) stayed on.