Replacing existing 1 TB SSD with Samsung 990 Pro 4 TB... help, plse...

[Jake-from-State]

We have a custom gaming PC since 2018, and our 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO NVMe2.0 SSD is just about full. Also have a slow external WD Elements drive for backup.

Motherboard:  Asus Maximus Hero XI (WiFi)  

Graphics: EVGA nVidia 2080ti  (FTW3)

CPU: Intel i9-9900k

OS: Win 10 Pro

Can this Asus MB run the Samsung 990 Pro 4 TB SSD? And is it possible to easily transfer over all data and programs from my current 1 TB  C:/ drive to the new  990 Pro 4 TB?

[achugh]

Hi @Jake-from-State first I would recommend that you edit your post and remove the serial number. It is not recommended to share serial number or any sensitive information on this forum in posts. This type of information is typically shared via private message to ASUS Support team, if needed by them.

Next, the support for large drives is typically with the version of Windows you will be using. To my knowledge, both Windows 10 and Windows 11 will support 4 TB drives depending on how this drive is formatted. Basically, you would want to partition this drive as GPT as MBR will be limited to 2 TB. So as long as you are not trying to use this drive as your boot drive (basically using it as an additional data drive) you should be able to use this drive.

Now your board supports PCIe GEN3 as the maximum speed so your new Samsung 990 Pro will not run at its maximum speed i.e. GEN 4.

I believe you can get other drives which are PCIe GEN 3 rated and save some money but it is totally up to you on what you get. Make sure you make the right decision in terms of buying the drive with or without heatsink. Basically, your M.2 slots have a heatsink so get the drive without any heatsink on it otherwise it will not fit.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/990-pro-pcie-4-0-nvme-ssd-4tb... will work as it does not have a heatsink

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/990-pro-w-heatsink-pcie-4-0-n... will NOT work as it has a heatsink.

NOTE: I assumed you are NOT using your M.2 drives in a Intel RAID setup but simply as a regular drive.

I hope this information helps you proceed forward. Good luck!