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Samsung 960 Evo M.2 Compatibility with M6G

Denna
Level 11
Are there any issues with installing a Samsung 960 Evo M.2 on a PCI-E adapter as a boot drive with a Maximus VI Gene motherboard ?
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9 REPLIES 9

JustinThyme
Level 13
Z97 chipset does not natively support NVMe. Some have modified the BIOS to get it to function but that doesn't mean it will work.
Regardless if you get it to even be recognized PCIe Gen 2 would cripple it. Then add insult to injury you can boot from an NVMe in a PCIe slot.



“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, I'm not sure about the former” ~ Albert Einstein

The Maximus VI Gene uses a Z87 chipset and has (2) PCI-E 3.0 16x slots.

Denna wrote:
The Maximus VI Gene uses a Z87 chipset and has (2) PCI-E 3.0 16x slots.

Sorry, I was looking at a newer board that's only two generations old but the song remains the same.
The two PCIe 3.0 slots are not downstream of the PCH controller and will not boot from that location regardless of what board you are using, even the Z270. With the newer boards you can run them there as storage but cant boot.
The only place you have any shot with a modded bios is the single X4 gen 2 slot at the bottom that is the only one downstream of the PCH controller. Same with newer boards. To boot it has to be downstream of the PCH controller.

Good luck.:cool:



“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, I'm not sure about the former” ~ Albert Einstein

JustinThyme,

Thanks for the detailed answer.

In order to upgrade to newer SSD, all you have to do is upgrade to a new motherboard, CPU, memory (around $700) and probably rewire cables from the power supply. Easy !

How would you go about modifying the BIOS ?

Denna
Level 11
Ok, now I'm not sure. I don't want to make an expensive mistake.

This is from Asus technical support.

-------------------------------------------

I understand that you would like to know if the Maximus VI Gene supports booting from an NVME SSD on a PCI-E slot. I am more than happy to assist you with your query.

I have checked the specifications and it confirms that you will be able to boot from the NVME SDD connected to the PCI-E slot.



We do value your business, thank you for being a part of the ASUS family.

If you have any further questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to let us know, we will be more than happy to assist you.



Best Regards,
Jovine B.

ASUS Technical Support
http://www.asus.com/us/support/

And to muddy the waters even more, here's another message from Asus technical support.

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is Daldin C. and I understand that you inquiring about the SSD if it would be bootable

For now we could visit the iste https://pcdiy.asus.com/2013/07/z87-pro-comprehensive-feature-overview/ every now and then for future updates

For the MAXIMUS VI GENE it will detect the SSD, but it will not boot from it.

Refer to ASUS Service No=N170502431

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us again for assistance.

Best Regards,
Daldin C.

ASUS Technical Support
http://www.asus.com/us/support/



Why does Asus technical support have two opposing answers ?

chevell65
Level 12
NVMe support was added to the Z97 bios back in 2015. Z87 hmm not so sure but Nate's link looks promising with links to bios mods for those boards.
MAXIMUS VII HERO BIOS 2601
1. Implement 5th-Generation Intel Core Processors code
*Full support of the new CPU requires necessary driver updates.
2. Support ASUS USB 3.1 PCIE add-on card
3. Support NVMe

One important thing is that Hyper M.2x4 mini card needs to be in the PCIE16_2 slot so that the drive will actually operate at full speed which should be PCIe 3.0 x4 (up to 2300-2500 Mb/s (Megabit/s)*sequential read).

Denna
Level 11
If the GPU is in slot PCIE_X16/X8_1 and the adapter is in slot PCIE_X4_1, the speed of the GPU shouldn't be affected, correct ?

And the adapter / SSD will run at full speed, correct ?