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Rampage V Extreme M.2 Setup And Windows Installation FAQ

Chino
Level 15
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Installing Windows isn’t exactly rocket science. Most of us have probably gone through this process more than once in our lifetime. But M.2 is a relatively new technology after all so it’s normal that some questions will arise. If you’re planning to use this new form factor, I’ve put together a list of the most commonly asked questions.

Just a quick note. The tests in this FAQ were done on the Plextor M6e PX-AG256M6e 256GB which comes with its own OPROM. There are a few drives out there that lack an OPROM so you might need to modify additional settings to make it bootable. Unfortunately, I do not own one of those drives so I can’t tell you what to change. But if I happened to get my hands on one later on, I’ll update this post.


What types of M.2 SSD does the ASUS Rampage V Extreme support?
The ASUS Rampage V Extreme only supports M.2 PCI-Express SSDs. Before you go out and make your purchase, you should first verify that the SSD that you are considering is PCIe based.


What settings do I need to change in the BIOS?
There is only one setting that needs changing. If you were previously fiddling with other settings in the Boot tab, press F5 to load the optimized defaults. Then navigate to the Advanced tab and look under the Onboard Devices Configuration. Change the PCIEx8_4 and M.2 Configuration from Auto to M.2.
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Should I install Windows from an USB flash drive or a DVD?
It’s up to you. Personally, I prefer to do my installations from an USB flash drive because it’s quicker. Windows 8.1 PRO took just 7 minutes to install.


Should I install Windows in UEFI mode or legacy mode?
For Plextor M6e owners, you can go with either install. Nevertheless a UEFI installation would be ideal since you get faster boot up times, better integration with hardware and a few extra features.

For Samsung XP941 owners, you're stucked with UEFI. Since the UEFI driver is embedded into the firmware itself, you will have no problems installing in this mode. The problem arises when you want to do a legacy installation because it requires a driver to be loaded during the installation process. With the XP941 being an OEM product, there are no drivers available to install in legacy mode.


How do I install Windows in UEFI mode?
As soon as the ASUS logo pops up during post, spam the F8 key. You will then be presented with a window to choose your boot device. Select your installation media that has the UEFI prefix.
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Do I need any additional drivers during the Windows installation process?
No, you do not. I’ve installed the 64 Bit versions of Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows 7 Ultimate onto the Plextor M6e 256GB without the need to introduce any additional drivers during the installation process.


What kind of performance should I be expecting?
Here's a few benchmarks I ran with the Plextor M6e on a fresh Windows 8.1 PRO install.
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If active in the section of the M2 with my ssd m2 samsung 950 pro does not start the windows
I'm stuck in Ad
Case:NOX RED DIABLO/Motherboard:Asus Maximus V Gene Bios: 1903/CPU:Intel Core I5 3570K@4.2 MHz/Cooler:Corsair H70 WC /GPU:Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Vapor-X GHZ Edition3G/RAM:G Skill ARES F3-1600C9-4GAO (XMP)/PSU:Aerocool Temple Imperator 1150W






Hi,

Did anyone have issues with M.2 on Rampage V extreme not showing in BIOS at all? I am little frustrated. Paying $500 for a board and it's not recognizing any M.2 device. I have latest BIOS and tried 3 different M.2 drives same issue. I am starting to think my board is defected. I opened a thread and folowed this FAQ nothing shows in BIOS about my M.2. Also could it be also fact that I have Xonar STX card? I have a i7-6850K and I believe I have more then enough PCIe lanes to support two cards and M.2

VeparS wrote:
Hi,

Did anyone have issues with M.2 on Rampage V extreme not showing in BIOS at all? I am little frustrated. Paying $500 for a board and it's not recognizing any M.2 device. I have latest BIOS and tried 3 different M.2 drives same issue. I am starting to think my board is defected. I opened a thread and folowed this FAQ nothing shows in BIOS about my M.2. Also could it be also fact that I have Xonar STX card? I have a i7-6850K and I believe I have more then enough PCIe lanes to support two cards and M.2


Yeah, my RVE has a totally non-functional M.2 slot. My 960 EVO works just fine in a PCIE adapter card, but neither Device Manager, nor Windows installer, nor BIOS has ever recognized the same drive when it's plugged into the M.2 slot. I have a 40-lane CPU, one 16x GPU, and nothing else eating up lanes, so...yeah.

Hi all,

firstly thanks for the great advice as it has helped me to get my new system running. Unfortunately I am experiencing slow Windows 10 boot times still.
Up around the 40 to 60 seconds to load Windows.

My configuration is,

Asus ROG Strix X99
Intel Broadwell-E Core i7 6800K
G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-3200C16D-16GTZR, 32GB
ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX1070 8gb
Samsung EVO 960 m.2 SSD
Seagate BarraCuda, 2TB 3.5 inch 7200RPM
Cooler Master Seidon 240P Watercooling
Corsair Carbide 270R Mid-Tower ATX
Cooler Master V-series 650S GOLD 650W
Windows 10 Pro 64bit
Hauppauge WinTV-quadHD PCI-e

I have disabled CSM in Bios and set secure boot to Windows UEFI. I have also updated the Bios to the latest 1701 version which then removed the M.2/U.2 configuration setting??

I will attempt to load some screen shots of the Bios settings tonight but firstly wanted to see if anyone out there had installed Windows 10 Pro onto a Samsung EVO 960 SSD on the ROG Strix X99 motherboard and achieved fast boot times?

Thanks in advance

Chris

Ive bought a Samsung 970 EVO and used it but i cant see and find its screws to fasten.Nom im using it without fastened but that is a risk,its position is a bit higher than usual.I dont think i throw the screws for M2 coz ive lots of different screws in the mobo package.Someone can show me the parts i need to fasten,i looked these posts and i see a post at the 10th page but my mobo is similar but not the same so its not an option for me to work.

https://prnt.sc/jll2xi
https://prnt.sc/jll20f


from my steam profile
Motherboard- Asus RAMPAGE V EXTREME/U3.1
Processor - Intel I7 5930k with COOLER MASTER TPC-812 V2
RAM - Kingston HyperX Predator 16GB 3000Mhz DDR4
Graphic Cards- MSİ 1080 Tİ FE
Case- COOLER MASTER HAF-935 STACKER FULL TOWER
High Power Astro GD 1200W 80Plus GOLD
Monitor- SAMSUNG 28" U28D590D UHD 4K
Samsung 970 EVO M.2 1000GB
Toshiba 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm 3.5"
2X Seagate 3.5" 2TB Barracuda Sata 3.0 64MB Cache 7200Rpm
Mouse- THERMALTAKE Tt eSPORTS Theron Gaming Mouse
Keyboard- LOGITECH G103 GAMING KEYBOARD
Speaker- LOGITECH Z-150 1+1 SPEAKER (BLACK)
OS- Windows 10 64bit

Thank you for the information, it really helped me a lot to figure out how to install NVME SSD on my Rampage V Extreme Build.
At First, I bought a WD SN850X 2TB (Latest Gen4 Drive) Link to Official Site But It wasn't detected by this board it's possible the drive's firmware didn't support Gen3 or there was some compatibility issue with this motherboard. I tried two of them, just to confirm if the drive I had purchased was not defected. At Last, none of them worked and I returned it and purchased a WD SN770 2TB Link to Official Site and it works fine on this motherboard.

The Two major settings in latest bios version (4101) for Rampage V Extreme.


  • Make Sure you are using BLK 100.0 instead of 102 or your NVME drive will run at Gen2 Speed instead of Gen3 in-case you are overclocking your CPU.
  • Under Advanced->On Board Devices Configurations->PCIEx8_4 and M.2 Configuration->Set M.2


Other than that, no other setting was required for the drive to work on this motherboard.

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To All users who wish to install NVME on Rampage V Extreme Make sure you don't go for a very costly drive, as it may or may not be supported by this board, instead you can go for the one I used. Hope this Information helps Thanks.

Randolla
Level 7
Well, I never had Windows 7 installed on it nor was the XP941 ever installed as a secondary drive. It was brand new from RAM City. Perhaps in my many failed tries it changed it to a MBR.

I don't know why both me and Peter encountered this error but I can tell you that when I went to install it Windows, I had a devil of a time getting it to work. As to deleting the partition and making a new one, I have to go into a command prompt off of the Windows ISO image on a USB drive and CLEAN the partition first and then reapply it as a GPT. (I have these steps if anyone needs them) That is then only thing that worked for me. Not all of us know how to do every action off the top of our heads. Some of us are not full time computer experts and may need things explained to us step by step.

So I reiterate, that if anyone encounters a similar error, I will be happy to help out. Just post here or better yet, send me a PM.

Isn't that what this is all about? Helping each other out?
5930K @4.5
ASUS Rampage 5 Extreme X99
16 Gbs Corsair Dominator 2666Mhz RAM
Two, EVGA Nvidia Titan X's in SLI
Samsung XP941 M2 512 Gb M2 boot drive
EVGA SuperNOVA P1200 PSU
Case Labs Merlin Full Tower
NZXT Kraken X61 AiO CPU cooler with four 140mm Noctura Industrial fans
Overlord Tempest O27X Monitor @ 118 Hz

Randolla wrote:
Perhaps in my many failed tries it changed it to a MBR.

Hello

Exactly. I'll leave these posts here for a bit then move them to a new thread where any user that wishes to can converse with you regarding these type of user errors. This is really beyond the scope of this thread.

Praz wrote:
Hello

Exactly. I'll leave these posts here for a bit then move them to a new thread where any user that wishes to can converse with you regarding these type of user errors. This is really beyond the scope of this thread.


Thank you. I am only trying to help
5930K @4.5
ASUS Rampage 5 Extreme X99
16 Gbs Corsair Dominator 2666Mhz RAM
Two, EVGA Nvidia Titan X's in SLI
Samsung XP941 M2 512 Gb M2 boot drive
EVGA SuperNOVA P1200 PSU
Case Labs Merlin Full Tower
NZXT Kraken X61 AiO CPU cooler with four 140mm Noctura Industrial fans
Overlord Tempest O27X Monitor @ 118 Hz

Counteragent77
Level 7
I'm actualy in the process of doing a new build and was considering this M.2 Drive

Crucial M550 M.2 512GB SSD

Any comments on this one?