Author: parsec
Subject: How To Install Windows On A PCIe SSD
Posted: 19 Sep 2016 at 10:30pm
On your board, a 950 Pro or any PCIe M.2 SSD will operate at PCIe 2.0 x2. Your configuration/use of the SATA III ports is correct.
If we check the specs of the Z97 Fatal1ty Pro, you'll find that the M.2 slot is rated like this:
1 x M.2_SSD (NGFF) Socket 3, supports M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen2 x2 (10 Gb/s)
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z97%20Professional/?cat=Specifications
The M.2 slot is not designed as an Ultra M.2 slot, which is PCIe 3.0 x4, sorry to say. The information you get from the Magician software is correct.
You are not the first person to be surprised by this. It's simply a reality of the board's design and the allocation of the resources available.
Intel "Mainstream and Performance" processors, like those that can be used with your board, provide 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes. Those PCIe 3.0 lanes can be shared with other devices, besides video cards.
On the Z97 chipset platform, the chipset resources are DMI2, which is equal in speed to PCIe 2.0.
A Z97 board can be designed to share the PCIe 3.0 lanes with the M.2 slot, but that will reduce the number of PCIe 3.0 lanes available for video cards. In this case a video card will operate at PCIe 3.0 x8 when the Ultra M.2 slot is in use. An example of this is the Z97 Extreme6 board.
Or a Z97 board can be designed to share the chipset's DMI2 resources with an M.2 slot, leaving all the PCIe 3.0 lanes available for video cards, etc. Your board is an example of this design.
Given the amount of resources available on a processor and chipset system, a compromise must be made in favor of one thing or another. Your board does not share the PCIe 3.0 resources with the M.2 slot, so is more a gaming type board. The Z97 platform was one of the first that could support PCIe M.2 SSDs.
M.2 slots and PCIe SSDs are new things, and we must be careful that we understand how they work and that we can meet their requirements. Intel added DMI3 to the Z170 chipset, which is equal to PCIe 3.0, but that is the first chipset that has that feature.
You could run your 950 Pro on your board at PCIe 3.0 x4, if you get an M.2 to PCIe adapter card, and use one of the PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. In that case your video card would run at PCIe 3.0 x8, and you could not SLI two video cards, or do more than a two card Crossfire. Another example of the compromise of resource usage.
Subject: How To Install Windows On A PCIe SSD
Posted: 19 Sep 2016 at 10:30pm
 MSuomi wrote:Hello! I have been using Samsung 950 Pro for a while. For some strange reason I got my older system transferred, not knowing about anything of all the hassle behind it (though I had to remove one of my HDD's, because there was no more free sata place for it). Anyway, when I check the drive from Magician, it seems to run on x2 link width and max should be 4. So what stops it from being at that 4? My setup is as follows: Asrock Z97 Fatal1ty Pro i7 4970k 2x R9 290 Tri-x on crossfire Samsung 950 Pro on M2 4 HDDs and 1 DVD burner I left Satae1, Sata3_5 and Sata3_4 empty as I understood that they are shared with M2. I think I have something on Sata3_1... Is that the one, that eats one x2 out of 950 Pro's link width? I guess I have to replace my HDD's with bigger models, so that I can get at least one of them out... |
On your board, a 950 Pro or any PCIe M.2 SSD will operate at PCIe 2.0 x2. Your configuration/use of the SATA III ports is correct.
If we check the specs of the Z97 Fatal1ty Pro, you'll find that the M.2 slot is rated like this:
1 x M.2_SSD (NGFF) Socket 3, supports M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen2 x2 (10 Gb/s)
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z97%20Professional/?cat=Specifications
The M.2 slot is not designed as an Ultra M.2 slot, which is PCIe 3.0 x4, sorry to say. The information you get from the Magician software is correct.
You are not the first person to be surprised by this. It's simply a reality of the board's design and the allocation of the resources available.
Intel "Mainstream and Performance" processors, like those that can be used with your board, provide 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes. Those PCIe 3.0 lanes can be shared with other devices, besides video cards.
On the Z97 chipset platform, the chipset resources are DMI2, which is equal in speed to PCIe 2.0.
A Z97 board can be designed to share the PCIe 3.0 lanes with the M.2 slot, but that will reduce the number of PCIe 3.0 lanes available for video cards. In this case a video card will operate at PCIe 3.0 x8 when the Ultra M.2 slot is in use. An example of this is the Z97 Extreme6 board.
Or a Z97 board can be designed to share the chipset's DMI2 resources with an M.2 slot, leaving all the PCIe 3.0 lanes available for video cards, etc. Your board is an example of this design.
Given the amount of resources available on a processor and chipset system, a compromise must be made in favor of one thing or another. Your board does not share the PCIe 3.0 resources with the M.2 slot, so is more a gaming type board. The Z97 platform was one of the first that could support PCIe M.2 SSDs.
M.2 slots and PCIe SSDs are new things, and we must be careful that we understand how they work and that we can meet their requirements. Intel added DMI3 to the Z170 chipset, which is equal to PCIe 3.0, but that is the first chipset that has that feature.
You could run your 950 Pro on your board at PCIe 3.0 x4, if you get an M.2 to PCIe adapter card, and use one of the PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. In that case your video card would run at PCIe 3.0 x8, and you could not SLI two video cards, or do more than a two card Crossfire. Another example of the compromise of resource usage.