Z97x gaming 3 and fast M2 SSDs

[pauleden]

My Samsung 830 SSD is filling up so I'm looking at using the M.2 slot on my motherboard for something bigger and faster.

The 950 Pro is NVMe and not supported, but *might* be persuaded to work using a LyCOM DT-120. Any thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated.

Another option seems to be the SM951, which is already on the compatibility list, but seems to be much older tech and, reports are, rarely runs at full speed.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,
If you didn't start with a m.2 drive on this board, don't bother investing in one now...  yes, old tech and you'll be throwing money away.

NVMe is not supported, correct...  once again, don't bother with an adapter.  You will never attain the full speed potential of the drive. 

Just buy an 850 EVO or Pro. depending on your size requirements and budget.  Simply, easy, fast and very affordable now.  This is the best cost to value ratio for this architecture.   

[pauleden]

Thanks for your advice! Can I ask a couple of follow up questions.

The 850 Evo or Pro aren't really noticably faster than my 830 and I am, if I'm honest, feeling the need for speed.

What kind of speeds can I expect from the 950 Pro using that or a similar adaptor card? I get that they might not go flat out, but would they be faster than my current 830?

Also, I'd be buying the 950 Pro (or whatever we reckon is best for me) as a drive that would work nicely in a future motherboard, presumably one that would support NVMe.

[dmdilks]

Greetings,
If you didn't start with a m.2 drive on this board, don't bother investing in one now...  yes, old tech and you'll be throwing money away.

NVMe is not supported, correct...  once again, don't bother with an adapter.  You will never attain the full speed potential of the drive. 

Just buy an 850 EVO or Pro. depending on your size requirements and budget.  Simply, easy, fast and very affordable now.  This is the best cost to value ratio for this architecture.   

I have to agree with this. I have 2 adapter cards. With the newer drives running on a older board will not work.

SilverStone Technology Dual M2 to PCI-E X4 and SATA 6G Adapter Card (ECM20)

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-PCI-E-Adapter-ECM20/dp/B01798WOJ0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1469544565&sr=8-3&keywords=ssd+m2+adapter

If I put the drive going through the Pci-e it wouldn't even see it. If I put it through the sata port it would see it. The card has two ports on it 1 Pci-e & 1 sata. So if you want to try it use the sata port.

[shadowsports]

Thanks for your advice! Can I ask a couple of follow up questions.

The 850 Evo or Pro aren't really noticably faster than my 830 and I am, if I'm honest, feeling the need for speed.

What kind of speeds can I expect from the 950 Pro using that or a similar adaptor card? I get that they might not go flat out, but would they be faster than my current 830?

Also, I'd be buying the 950 Pro (or whatever we reckon is best for me) as a drive that would work nicely in a future motherboard, presumably one that would support NVMe.

You seem bent on the 950?  I really don't recommend it.  dmdilks who has twice the experience as I is stating the same thing.  I'm only guessing, but if you got it to work, I'd  expect about 600mb/s which is about the same (marginally more) than what you'd see using a supported disk.  If you did get more, it would be a blessing     If you want true NVMe support, I'd move to a new platform.  Just my suggestion.

[pauleden]

Not bent on the 950 as such. I've been drooling over an Intel PCIE SSD too But it's a lot more expensive.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-750-400GB-drives-Express/dp/B0153P9SEK/

[shadowsports]

Very nice.  Write speed is impressive too.