Can ANY M.2 run on an Oldish motherboard?

[flashheart85]

Im sorry if this is a stupid question.

I don't have much experience of M.2 and im tryin to upgrade a friends P.C. They have an M.2 slot in the Mobo (GA-Z170XP-SLI) and wanted an SSD/M.2 drive.
On the gigabte website it gives a small-ish handful of compatible M.2 drives. Most of which are obviously no longer made or extremely expensive on Ebay.
I was just wondering can ANY m.2 go into this slot?
If not ill just go with a standard Sata SSD. Thanks for any help


What it says in the manual:

1. 1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA & PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support)

M2A_32G (M.2 Socket 3 Connector)
The M.2 connectors support M.2 SATA SSDs and M.2 PCIe SSDs and support RAID configuration throughthe Intel® Chipset.

 

[mickyflinn]

Hi.

If you look on the motherboards main page overview and scroll down to fast onboard storage with 32gbs m2.

It says in yellow pcie3 x 4 M2 so any pcie3 nvme M2 drive should work to my understanding.

Follow link

GA-Z170XP-SLI (rev. 1.0) Overview | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

 

[Firegod]

Yep PCIE spec is backwards (and forwards) compatible. So even a PCIE5 nvme M.2 will work in a PCIE3 M.2. It'll just not run at full speed. And the type values 2242/2260/2280 just refer to the length. The higher number being the longest and therefore the longer the M.2 the greater the storage capactity.

 

[flashheart85]

Yep PCIE spec is backwards (and forwards) compatible. So even a PCIE5 nvme M.2 will work in a PCIE3 M.2. It'll just not run at full speed. And the type values 2242/2260/2280 just refer to the length. The higher number being the longest and therefore the longer the M.2 the greater the storage capactity.

So say if i was to get this

WD Black SN770 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0E)

Order WD Black SN770 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0E) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

It would 100% work but maybe at a slower speed?

 

[Minstadave]

So say if i was to get this

WD Black SN770 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0E)

Order WD Black SN770 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0E) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

It would 100% work but maybe at a slower speed?

Yes. You've got a Gen 3 NVME slot so it'll top out about 3.5GB/s which is plenty fast.

 

[Tetras]

So say if i was to get this

WD Black SN770 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0E)

Order WD Black SN770 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0E) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

It would 100% work but maybe at a slower speed?

If you google the datasheet of that drive it says at the bottom in the small print that it is backwards compatible with gen 3 (note 4).

I'd also check the M.2 screw is on the board, or in the box (if they have it).