# M.2 SSD on old X58 system with M.2 PCI adaptor. Can it work?



## Tomgang (Mar 17, 2017)

I might have gotten a great idea, but im not sure if it will work out.

The idea is to get a SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 250GB SSD and a Aqua Computer kryo PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter for M.2 NGFF PCIe SSD.

But here comes the questions.

1. This pci adaptor is a stated for PCI express 3 X4 , but i only have PCI express 2. Does any one know if it can work in PCI express 2 (i am off cause aware that if it work, it will run at reduced speed cause of lower speed on PCI 2 contra PCI 3, but PCI 2 at X4 still has a speed of up to 2000 MB/s transfer rate and that is still far better than the onboard sata 2 or sata 3 with the crappy marvel controller that not can give true sata 3 speed. onboard sata 3 maxes out at 400 Mb/s read and 250 MB/s ride, so here will 2000 MB/s be far better).

PCI adaptor:

https://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=3400

2. Is M.2 so fast that it can give a performence over normal sata SSD but at reduced speed cause of crappy sata 3 controller. Se screenshot under here. The screenshot test is with my Crucial MX300 275 GB SSD.







3. spending this amount of money on M.2 is that even a good idea contra performance gain. The M.2 SSD is ment to be used as OS drive and for the most used games i have?


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 17, 2017)

I remember many issues with PCI E based SSDs in combination with OS installations for Z68, dunno if it was 58 too,  but there may likely be complications . Is 2.5 out of the question?

 I've looked into the benefits of them over traditional Sata,  and every time I do I see a lot of posts or reviews using words like "theoretical" and "possible" in regards to the performance gains and a large absence of the term realworld. Personally I haven't ran one in my own system but I would bet that the day-to-day change would be very minimal over traditional Sata... what I tried to do is read as many reviews as I could and weed out the comments from people who already bought them for their own systems and Were trying to convince themselves that it was worth the money by posting just that online from the genuine feedback ...personally I came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth my money at least not now. But if I were you my first step would be looking into the compatibility on the X58 platform


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## Tomgang (Mar 17, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> I remember many issues with PCI E based SSDs in combination with OS installations for Z68, dunno if it was 58 too,  but there may likely be complications . Is 2.5 out of the question?



Sorry but what do you mean by 2.5?


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 17, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> Sorry but what do you mean by 2.5?



Sata 2.5" ssd

Also if it helps what I've read is that X58 will not support boot from and NVME


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## dorsetknob (Mar 17, 2017)

Almost certain it wont boot to O/S unless you can Bootstrap Drivers in conjunction with a Sata SSD Raid Combo and i suspect that may not work/be possable


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 17, 2017)

http://www.overclock.net/t/1599519/boot-from-pci-e-ssd-on-sabertooth-x5

 I can't speak for all nvme ssd's,  but it appears that Samsung models do indeed support older bios'.


 Seems like the 950 pros work 100% on older systems, so I stand corrected .  As a disclaimer I want to add that this is not based on personal experience but rather information gathered from the link I posted above to overclock.net


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## eidairaman1 (Mar 17, 2017)

From what I've seen board makers launched bios updates with nvme support, as of last year mine received it and it is AM3+. LGA 1366 may never get that functionality, let alone not guaranteed to work. You can always refer to the board manufacturer since they code the bios and make the boards to see if it is supported, if it is not and they never plan to support nvme, just buy a 850/860? Pro, or Toshiba, Crucial SSD and call it a day.


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## Tomgang (Mar 17, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> Sata 2.5" ssd
> 
> Also if it helps what I've read is that X58 will not support boot from and NVME



Sure 2,5 SSD are fine, but im a bit of a speed junkie to when it comes to boot and game load.


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## eidairaman1 (Mar 17, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> Sure 2,5 SSD are fine, but im a bit of a speed junkie to when it comes to boot and game load.



See my previous post, also You can always run ssds in RAID for data stripping.


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 17, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> Sure 2,5 SSD are fine, but im a bit of a speed junkie to when it comes to boot and game load.




 If you read above I edited one of my older posts. It seems that the Samsung 950 pros do indeed support X58

Read the thread in the link I posted to overclock.net


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## Tomgang (Mar 17, 2017)

I have been looking in that about NVME and it maybe looks like it can work if the the SSD has a Legacy driver support build in.

I found this that i will take a closer look at. Since my mobo is also a Asus X58 motherboard, i might cut get it to work and my mobo is a second gen board aswell that also might increase the chance.

https://audiocricket.com/2016/12/31/booting-samsung-sm961-on-asus-p6t-se-mainboard/


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 17, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> I have been looking in that about NVME and it maybe looks like it can work



yup, from what i read, Samsung for certain DID indeed built in support for older boards. I personally ONLY run Samsung drives in my personal systems, due to good user experience, and i feel it to be a likely fact that they would include legacy support


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## Tomgang (Mar 17, 2017)

eidairaman1 said:


> See my previous post, also You can always run ssds in RAID for data stripping.



I know, bit only sata 2 on my mobo supports raid, sata 3 port dosent as said before that marvel controller for sata 3 sucks ass and raid 0 with two SSD wil only give the speed of one true sata 3 SSD + the risk with raid 0 if one drive dies, all data is lost and that is not optimal for OS drive with importent files on.



jboydgolfer said:


> http://www.overclock.net/t/1599519/boot-from-pci-e-ssd-on-sabertooth-x5
> 
> I can't speak for all nvme ssd's,  but it appears that Samsung models do indeed support older bios'.
> 
> ...



Yes that is also what i came to after looking around the web.



jboydgolfer said:


> yup, from what i read, Samsung for certain DID indeed built in support for older boards. I personally ONLY run Samsung drives in my personal systems, due to good user experience, and i feel it to be a likely fact that they would include legacy support



Yeah i looks like if i stick to samsung m.2 it shut work just fine.

Edit: You asked about if 2.5 is fine. I already have 3 sata SSD. Samsung EVO 850 250 GB, Crucial MX300 275 GB and a old Crucial M4 64 GB (my old OS drive).


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## eidairaman1 (Mar 18, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> I know, bit only sata 2 on my mobo supports raid, sata 3 port dosent as said before that marvel controller for sata 3 sucks ass and raid 0 with two SSD wil only give the speed of one true sata 3 SSD + the risk with raid 0 if one drive dies, all data is lost and that is not optimal for OS drive with importent files on.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



In the event M2 doesnt work or wont be supported get a better SATA 3 Raid card, disable Raid on the motherboard itself and use it through the card. Also You did say you were a speed junkie hence why I said Data stripping, so alternatively run data stripping and mirroring at the same time.


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## Ferrum Master (Mar 18, 2017)

No. Only few native drives like kingston... maybe Liteon did... and... mother Intel.

It will not work for a generic nvme device. Well... it will not boot... it will work in windows or Linux.


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 18, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> Yes that is also what i came to after looking around the web.



good luck with your Revamp....I hope all goes well.


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## eidairaman1 (Mar 18, 2017)

Ferrum Master said:


> No. Only few native drives like kingston... maybe Liteon did... and... mother Intel.
> 
> 
> 
> It will not work fot a generic nvme device. Well... it will not boot... it will work in windows or Linux.




I suppose a interpreter chip would be needed on the adapter to trick the system into thinking it is SATA first then once windows load screen appears it hands off the operation.


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## Tomgang (Mar 18, 2017)

eidairaman1 said:


> In the event M2 doesnt work or wont be supported get a better SATA 3 Raid card, disable Raid on the motherboard itself and use it through the card. Also You did say you were a speed junkie hence why I said Data stripping, so alternatively run data stripping and mirroring at the same time.



Yeah that might be the solution if my M.2 project turns out to not work. But hope M.2 can do the trick. The safes and fastes solution.


jboydgolfer said:


> good luck with your Revamp....I hope all goes well.



Thanks pal


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## cat1092 (Mar 18, 2017)

Ferrum Master said:


> No. Only few native drives like kingston... maybe Liteon did... and... mother Intel.
> 
> It will not work for a generic nvme device. Well... it will not boot... it will work in windows or Linux.



NVMe SSD's had Linux support *long *before Windows, these were used back in 2012 on Ubuntu 12.04/Linux Mint 13 LTS, both of which are EOL sometime in April 2017. 

I recall this when looking for Samsung 950 PRO support for my 512GB version, wondered if there was Linux support, was amazed to say the least, personally I didn't know that NVMe SSD's existed at the time. It was likely more for corporate/enterprise use at that time. 

Note that the source link below which I relied upon last year has been revised a bit.

https://delightlylinux.wordpress.com/2016/04/20/the-samsung-950-pro-256g-and-linux-does-it-work/

The drive with Linux not only didn't need a NVMe driver, also booted from a Z87 MB set to *legacy* BIOS. Only with Windows are these restrictions in place, I suppose similar to one can install & run Linux OS's fine on a Kaby Lake CPU, although nothing with Windows earlier than somewhere around the Anniversary Edition of Windows 10, if not a bit later, is supported by the CPU.

However, one notable issue, boot speeds are about the same, as these were on my PC, I can accept this, it's once on the desktop when most everything is instant that counts the most.

While Linux doesn't have the market share of Windows, yet due to the Linux powering the financial capital of the World, in New York City, as well as many government agencies all over the World, also handles most all payment processing when we perform transactions, it's no wonder why Linux is the first with their foot in the door. Many folks has the wrong picture of the typical Linux user in mind, only a small fraction of it's users are those who lost their Windows install media & no resources to obtain another or a recovery disc set, LInux is actually an OS of the 1%'ers of this World (or the elite). Wealth isn't typically managed on insecure OS's that often waits weeks for patches for issues, when one is discovered, all of the major Linux forks places their differences to the side long enough to get issues resolved, and patches shipped in 24-72 hours. 

Thank goodness that there's life outside of Windows, and OS's where these type of drives & other hardware can run w/out restriction.

Cat


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## Aenra (Mar 18, 2017)

Yes.

Mine run* at about 1.4k/sec at PcIe 2.0 x4, though it is the 960Pro; don't think it matters here, as the difference (being upwards) would only show on a gen3, so this 1.4ish should be what you're looking at too. Still pretty good, not like anything out there utilizing such speeds anyway 

*The above (running it at that lane, in this rig, is what happen when you buy Asus. If you're wondering at the past tense, it's because i no longer have an Asus board)


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## Tomgang (Mar 18, 2017)

Aenra said:


> Yes.
> 
> Mine run* at about 1.4k/sec at PcIe 2.0 x4, though it is the 960Pro; don't think it matters here, as the difference (being upwards) would only show on a gen3, so this 1.4ish should be what you're looking at too. Still pretty good, not like anything out there utilizing such speeds anyway
> 
> *The above (running it at that lane, in this rig, is what happen when you buy Asus. If you're wondering at the past tense, it's because i no longer have an Asus board)



Thanks. Very usable answer. About 1400 MB/s vs. 400 MB/s read and 250 MB/s whrite is deffently a big step up in performence. Well had hoped for around 1600-1800 MB/s but 1400 MB/s is still way better than the alternative.

I have just putted a strategy together on how i will tackle this. I know by know to get it to work that the SSD needs to have legacy mode Option ROM built into its firmware and that the Samsung 950 Pro M.2 NVMe has, but they are no longer on sale. So i will give samsung a call on monday and ask if the 960 EVO has the legacy mode Option ROM and if not, try to find a used 950 PRO cause then i know it shut work. That is the plan for now.


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## cat1092 (Mar 18, 2017)

Tomgang, please don't give up on the (new) 950 PRO yet, there may be some overstock somewhere, a bit of searching can go a long way.

Newegg & Amazon both were carrying the version before the 950 PRO on their sites for sometime after that release, although just because it's a model behind doesn't necessarily equate a lower price, in fact the opposite happens often. Like when I wanted to get another MSI GTX 960 (2GB) reference card design, the price had tripled over the $200 I paid for mine, no way. Not when I could get a GTX 1080 for the same price that would smash it's fist through both cards.

Not that I needed it anyway, have a system with a GTX 1070 & another with a 1060, just wanted to make the most I could out of a secondary PC, after being bounced around through 4 different computers, the GTX 960 now has a permanent home. Although I do have another idea for that system for a boot drive, since it doesn't pertain to NVMe, will create my own Topic.

Cat


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## Ferrum Master (Mar 18, 2017)

It will work, but not boot. That's the problem mates.


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## Tomgang (Mar 24, 2017)

alright, just returning with an update, but not the final update. I chose to play safe and get a M.2 SSD with Legacy mode support and by that i chose Samsung 950 PRO 256 GB to be the drive to get. And i just got it today and mounted it in my X58 mobo. First steps looks promising for use as a boot drive. bios ses it (but only in AHCI mode) and i can set it as a main boot drive. Next step is to backup my old install and then go nuts on install windows 10 on the m.2 SSD.

I hope that can happen to morrow. so stay tuned. Mean while you can take a look under here of the image of the SSD and PCIe adaptor + bios image.


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## eidairaman1 (Mar 24, 2017)

Go


Tomgang said:


> alright, just returning with an update, but not the final update. I chose to play safe and get a M.2 SSD with Legacy mode support and by that i chose Samsung 950 PRO 256 GB to be the drive to get. And i just got it today and mounted it in my X58 mobo. First steps looks promising for use as a boot drive. bios ses it (but only in AHCI mode) and i can set it as a main boot drive. Next step is to backup my old install and then go nuts on install windows 10 on the m.2 SSD.





Tomgang said:


> I hope that can happen to morrow. so stay tuned. Mean while you can take a look under here of the image of the SSD and PCIe adaptor + bios image.


Good that it is detected, how were the ratings on the adapter you got?


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## Tomgang (Mar 24, 2017)

eidairaman1 said:


> Go
> 
> Good that it is detected, how were the ratings on the adapter you got?



Ratings Arent bad on the adaptor and the heatsink does a good job to. Ilde about 30 C and max load havent seen the SSD exceed 45 C yet. M.2 SSD tends to be hot and throttle down speed, this adaptor prevents that from happening.







Here is some speed comparison. Please note that at the given test mobo where sat to raid mode and not AHCI, that may effect results and as other X58 owners might know, these first gen sata 3 port driven by marvel controller does not have full real sata 3 speed. Max out at about 400 Mb/s read and 250 MB/s ride. Samsung 950 Pro does nok show its full speed cause of speed limitations on PCIe 2. Thats why it max out close to 1700 MB/s and not the rated 2200 MB/s. But the speeds are still better than any sata setup can give even two SSD in raid 0 at full sata 3 speed can not come up at those speeds 950 PRO hits.


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## Ferrum Master (Mar 24, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> Ratings Arent bad Here is some speed comparison. Please note that at the given test mobo where sat to raid mode and not AHCI, that may effect results and as other X58 owners might know, these first gen sata 3 port driven by marvel controller does not have full real sata 3 speed. Max out at about 400 Mb/s read and 250 MB/s ride. Samsung 950 Pro does



Shaite, I will try my 950Pro in rampage II... so far in MSI X58 Pro-E and Intel  DX58SO didn't start... So I concluded it for a platforma as such. Asus left a gift. 

Many excuses for my conclusions before.


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## Tomgang (Mar 25, 2017)

Ferrum Master said:


> Shaite, I will try my 950Pro in rampage II... so far in MSI X58 Pro-E and Intel  DX58SO didn't start... So I concluded it for a platforma as such. Asus left a gift.
> 
> Many excuses for my conclusions before.



I havent installed windows on the samsung 950 PRO yet. But so far so good. Every other thing has worked perfect so far. Tomorrow i will try windows install. Thanks samsung for providing Legacy mode. Its brilliant so far and if i also can boot windows that i will test out tomorrow, what more can i ask for.

If you look at crystal disk mark. Samsung EVO 250 GB is stil C-drive but not for much longer.

No its not asus only feature. I have seen gigabyte being reported aswell to work whit this SSD and to get the SSD to show up in bios, sata must be set to AHCI, Raid dosent work.


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## Tomgang (Mar 25, 2017)

Alright back with a final update: Well lets say all of you that said it cut not be done, you guys where so wrong. Samsung 950 PRO at least work perfect also as a boot drive and it where almost to easy to get to work. No mods/mod bios or other tweaks where needed, only set bios back to AHCI from raid and ssd to boot drive after install and wroom of it goes to windows. Only problem i had where then after installed windows 10 and after first reboot and after done posting when that white marker in the corner of the screen, just blinking and nothing more happened and that happened every time. But after unplug all other SSD/HDD and installed windows again only with the M.2 SSD plug in the motherboard it worked flawless. Booted to windows and restarted perfectly. And it looks like it still works great after plugged all other SSD/HDD in again, it still boots to windows.

So final verdict: Yes M.2 SSD can indeed work and boot on old non NVME/UEFI supported bios. Well at least as long the M.2 SSD has legacy mode build in like the Samsung 950 PRO has. None legacy mode M.2 SSD like the newer samsung 960 EVO/PRO will properly never get to work. But that dosent matter 950 PRO does indeed and i am more than happy with that. And with that said, here is a screenshot of my system where the 950 PRO indeed is C-drive now (se in crystal disk info under drive letter). Oh and the performence from the m.2 SSD also got a bit better after changing from raid to AHCI mode and installed samsungs NVME driver and to compare to before with raid and now with AHCI se image under here and in #26.

So what you guys think of this?


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## dorsetknob (Mar 25, 2017)

just goes to prove
Still life in the old dog and you can teach it new tricks  woof woof


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## Tomgang (Mar 25, 2017)

dorsetknob said:


> just goes to prove
> Still life in the old dog and you can teach it new tricks  woof woof



Yes i can indeed lean this old dog new tricks, but also show that you dont need to have some of the latest hardware to use a M.2 SSD properly. You just need a M.2 SSD with Legacy support and there are unfortunaly not many of then out there with legacy mode support. I have seen Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 SSD also shut work, but they are slower and thats why i chose 950 PRO.

This old and good X58 system just got even better now. You guys can keep your new and shiny X99, Z270 and M4 system, X58 rocks on for me

Or as CAPSLOCKSTUCK would say: Long live LGA 1366/X58...


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## Ferrum Master (Mar 25, 2017)

Yeah. So far I am sorry really.  Nice piece of info.


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## Tomgang (Mar 25, 2017)

Ferrum Master said:


> Yeah. So far I am sorry really.  Nice piece of info.



You are forgiven. I dit also do som digging on google before i took the move and get a M.2 SSD, but after see other had succes with there old systems i took the move and i am glad i dit now.

But you are some what right as m.2 SSD with out legacy mode will not work.

How dit it go with your 950 pro in the rampage II?


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## Tomgang (Mar 26, 2017)

I made a video showing bios and then goes to boot and shutdown. sorry the video is not the bedst but is done with a cheap smartphone so both holding phone and control pc is not so easy.


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## Tomgang (Mar 29, 2017)

Just a quick update. So far no problem with m.2 booting and the old pc also feels more snappy and responsive than running ssd on those crappy onboard sata 3 ports. Boot and shutdown also got a boost.

M.2 rocks  just as x58 does.


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## Tomgang (Apr 8, 2017)

Second and last Update. It still works great and no problems to report. It has now been running for about 2 weeks now, so i think i can confirm that long time use also works now. M.2 SSD ass long it has Legacy mode and mobo support boots from PCIe can safely be used in old computers aswell. But bfore you go bay one i will say you will be in good favor if you google you mobo and M.2 SSD before going all out. Cause if other reports succes with your current mobo its shut work.

It would be a shame to spend money and havent google it before that and it turns out to fail.

I have teste my drives also a ram disk to compare M.2 SSD on X58. Remember that PCIe 2 at X4 limits speed to around 1700 MB/s and that sata 3 on X58 is first gen sata 3 with a crappy marvel controller that dosent give full true sata 3 speed.


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## flappyone (Apr 10, 2017)

Hey, glad to hear your PC is running.
If you wonder why you had no issues, booting from this SSD with an old fashioned system, here is your answer:
The Samsung 950 Pro (and so far, only this drive) has a special legacy option ROM built in. This ROM is exclusive to this SSD, so do not try to upgrade to another =)

http://www.samsung.com/semiconducto.../document/Samsung_SSD_950_PRO_White_paper.pdf


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## dorsetknob (Apr 10, 2017)

flappyone said:


> If you wonder why you had no issues, booting from this SSD with an old fashioned system, here is your answer:
> The Samsung 950 Pro (and so far, only this drive) has a special legacy option ROM built in. This ROM is exclusive to this SSD


OP posted this info earlier and also there is another M2 SATA SSD that works



Tomgang said:


> Yes i can indeed lean this old dog new tricks, but also show that you dont need to have some of the latest hardware to use a M.2 SSD properly. You just need a M.2 SSD with Legacy support and there are unfortunaly not many of then out there with legacy mode support. I have seen Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 SSD also shut work, but they are slower and thats why i chose 950 PRO.
> 
> This old and good X58 system just got even better now. You guys can keep your new and shiny X99, Z270 and M4 system, X58 rocks on for me


Hope you don't mind being Corrected with additional Info 

PS your info and link is also appreciated


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## catbertz (Aug 13, 2017)

Tomgang said:


> Second and last Update. It still works great and no problems to report.



I joined this forum to thank you for putting the pieces together that I was seeking! I will be installing the same m.2 cooler and 256gb 950 PRO in my xeon 5675 equipped Asus p658d.


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## Tomgang (Aug 13, 2017)

catbertz said:


> I joined this forum to thank you for putting the pieces together that I was seeking! I will be installing the same m.2 cooler and 256gb 950 PRO in my xeon 5675 equipped Asus p658d.



You are welcome and great that it helps others as well.

Since this thread is bump back to life, i can also report that after about 4 months, it still works flaw less with this m.2 ssd.

Why havent samsung putted this feature in there 960 series as well or for that matter other producents. Cause this legacy mode is really briliant and makes it get to work on old systems really easy.


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## EarthDog (Aug 14, 2017)

Good to know a couple drives can do it (minority situation). Nueters them a bit, but it is still way better than sata ssd.


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## Aenra (Aug 14, 2017)

Told you it can be done 

Enjoy your nvme ^^

( edit: and actually, we have the exact same Aqua platform, lol..i just refrained from using the aluminum sink, got me some of these istead; they do a much better work, am about 5Cs lower than you: http://www.enzotechnology.com/mos_c1_le.htm )
(( you do have to remove the sticker though, voids warranty ))


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## Tomgang (Aug 14, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Good to know a couple drives can do it (minority situation). Nueters them a bit, but it is still way better than sata ssd.



Yeah its deffently better than sata ssd, even two sata 3 ssd in raid 0 max out at about 1200 mb/s. Thats means to reach the speed of a m.2 ssd, you would need at least 3 sata ssd's just to get to the level i have at about 1700 mb/s in read while whrite is abous 950 mb/s. But i dont complain, m.2 ssd is great. Fast, simple install, small form factor that do not take much space and the bedst parts is no need for power or sata cable. With means a great help for a better cleaner look.

The only major downside of m.2 nvme ssd i can think of is that m.2 is still holding higher price tag compared to sata ssd with same capacity.



Aenra said:


> Told you it can be done
> 
> Enjoy your nvme ^^
> 
> ...



Thanks to the legacy mode inside 950 pro, it works really great.

I am enjoy nvme to its fullest. In fact after dropping gtx 970 sli for one card setup, i am going with the idea of getting another one since i now have one pcie slot free and i know it works for sure and i need more capacity since my two old wd velociraptors gave up on life after over 8 years in service.

About aqua adaptor the stock heatsink works great here and never is temp over 45 c. If i eventually get a nother 950 pro, i will deffenly get a nother aqud adaptor.


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## trunks9us (Aug 15, 2017)

Hi I also have a Asus P6x58-de and I am about to get me a used samsung 950 pro.  I am trying to figure out where you guys where buying your aquacomputer kryom.2 evo?   I know You don't have the evo but I am in the USA and I can't seem to find any retailers here that carry this model.  I am assuming the aquacomputer kryom.2 evo is a better heat sink from the kryom.2.   If someone can link me to a USA website I'd appreciate it thanks.  I am excited to get this done as I am running a intel x25-m 80gb still :\


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## Kissamies (Aug 15, 2017)

Don't know how this behaves with Samsung 950/960 drives, but at least it helped with my Intel 600p. Though I have no idea is this available in USA.

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/-new-products-/20838/alphacool-hdx-m.2-ssd-m01-80mm-schwarz


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## cucker tarlson (Aug 19, 2017)

Hi
Just today I was thinking of the same kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter with 950 Pro 512GB. I have Z97X gaming 5 board, with pci-e 2.0 x4. Do you think it will work well ?


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## Kissamies (Aug 19, 2017)

I think u have no problems.


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## cucker tarlson (Aug 19, 2017)

well you never know until you try, which I'm gonna do. currently selling my old 4790K+16GB DDR3, which will cover the expenses of the drive and adapter. I just remembered I also have the alpenfohn fan bracket with two 80mm slient fans just sitting in the pc junk drawer for years. That'd be pretty cool to install it under the adapter to give it a bit of active cooling.


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## Kissamies (Aug 19, 2017)

Damn. I said it wrong.

I had i7 920 @ 4GHz, 6x4GB of different RAM and a GTX680. That was 2½ years ago but no. Not a single problem.


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## Tomgang (Aug 19, 2017)

cucker tarlson said:


> Hi
> Just today I was thinking of the same kryoM.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter with 950 Pro 512GB. I have Z97X gaming 5 board, with pci-e 2.0 x4. Do you think it will work well ?



If your motherboard support booting from PCIe, there shut be no problem at all. But if your motherboard is this in the image below here, why not just put that samsung 950 PRO in the onboard M.2 slot? dont waste money on a pci adaptor and waste a pcie slot, when you have one onboard the motherboard. Se where the AMD and sli logo is next to it where there is riden 10 GB/s M.2. Thas your onboard M.2 slot. Use that in steed unless you have other plans for that?


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## cucker tarlson (Aug 19, 2017)

1. temperatures will be an issue
2. isn't pci-e 2.0 x4 faster than 10GB/s m.2 ?

turbo m.2 (ultra m.2) is 32GB/s, an it's pci-e 3.0 x4. Pci-e 2.0 x4 would be 16GB/s then. 10GB/s is much slower.

Found an interesting post which seems to confirm that

"Hi, I have *GA-Z97X-Gaming 5* motherboard (latest bios rev F7) and brand new *Samsung 960 Evo* which should get read speed close to 3200 MB/s. New drive was installed on this extenstion slot: http://allegro.pl/a2-kontroler-pcie...kMWMzYTgxZjVjMTIzMGI2MzU0ZTZjNzI3NzU1MjAyOQ== which is supposed to support *PCI Express x4, V3.0.*
After windows 7 installation, all drivers (including Samsung NVMe) and samsung Magician speed is limited to ~*1700 MB/s.*
Samsung magician report drive being connected using *PCIe Gen 2 x4.*
Why only PCIe Gen 2 is used at this case? Does this motherboard suppord NVMe drives at PCI-E Gen 3?
I tried to play around with bios options but none seem to help, even disabling XMP, which was described as solution in one thread."


So pci-e 2.0 x4 should give me about 1700MB/s read,which is neat. Note that SATA 6GB/s tops at 550MB/s. A 10GB/s m.2 could not possibly reach 1700MB/s, so it's certain that pci-e 2.0 x4 is faster than 10GB/s m.2


BTW I just learned there's a driver for 960/950 which is supposed to boost performance

http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools.html


even googling it gives a pretty straightforward answer







pci-e 2.0 x4 should provide 60% more bandwidth than 10Gb/s m.2


----------



## Tomgang (Aug 19, 2017)

hmm yeah i see your point.

And sata 3 is 6 GB/s and around 580 MB/s. so if am on the right side then 10 GB/s will not give you more than around 1000 MB/s in read or write. My point is that if i am correct 1 GB/s is around 100 MB/s. So that means pcie 2 will give you 1600 MB/s more at X4 or less and that is also what i get from PCIe 2 X4 as you can see in my screenshots.

So yeah for max possible speed, PCIe adaptor with X4 it is then.

But i stick to my first comment. If your motherboard support booting from pcie, running Samsung 950 PRO with the same PCIe adaptor i use will work. I mean it work with old X58 that is even older, so why shut it not work on newer teknologi. Go for it. M.2 speed is nice


----------



## cucker tarlson (Aug 19, 2017)

these drives get horribly hot when not cooled and sitting next to a hot gpu. and why exactly would I skimp on a quality adapter if it sees my temperatures drop and performance increase for a fraction of the price of the drive ?


----------



## Aenra (Aug 20, 2017)

cucker tarlson said:


> BTW I just learned there's a driver which is supposed to boost performance



That's not a driver, it's a suite called Samsung Magician; a piece software doing nothing as far as "performance" may be concerned.
Please do not misinform or confuse people.

@Tomgang you missed my point; i think anyway. But if aluminum is good enough for you, it's good enough for me too.


----------



## cucker tarlson (Aug 20, 2017)

Aenra said:


> That's not a driver, it's a suite called Samsung Magician; a piece software doing fuck all as far as "performance" may be concerned.
> Please do not misinform or confuse people.
> 
> @Tomgang you missed my point; i think anyway. But if aluminum is good enough for you, it's good enough for me too.


Scroll down and do not misinform or confuse people who can clearly tell the word "driver" from the words "samsung magician" !!!

http://i.imgur.com/S6Pg53p.jpg


----------



## EarthDog (Aug 21, 2017)

that driver has been there for quite a while AFAIK... it should be installed by default to have the thing working properly. Technically it does improve performance, but, it brings it up to spec by using the driver you are supposed to install in the first place.


----------



## Bg8780 (Aug 21, 2017)

Hey guys. I'm trying to get a 950 Pro 512gb to work on my EVGA E770 Classified.

I am using an Angelbird PX1 PCIe adapter. The 950 Pro shows up in BIOS but I'm unable to boot to a Windows USB install disk.

Any tips? I've tried the drive in AHCI and IDE mode to no results.

Thanks!


----------



## EarthDog (Aug 21, 2017)

Is your board able to boot from pcie???

Did you change the boot order to boot from the usb? 

What is the actual issue?


----------



## Gasaraki (Aug 21, 2017)

You can get a M.2 NVMe SSD to boot on a X58 system. I have it set up and running. I have a BPX 512GB NVMe SSD that doesn't have a legacy ROM on it. You have to boot up using UEFI loaded on to a USB stick.


----------



## Bg8780 (Aug 21, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Is your board able to boot from pcie???
> 
> Did you change the boot order to boot from the usb?
> 
> What is the actual issue?



I'm not sure if the board can boot from PCI. Would there be any documentation on this from EVGA?

When booting from the USB drive it halts at a light blue screen (not BSOD)


----------



## EarthDog (Aug 21, 2017)

Try a different port? Rebuilding the image on the usb stick?


----------



## Bg8780 (Aug 21, 2017)

EarthDog said:


> Try a different port? Rebuilding the image on the usb stick?



Already did. I'm not able to get anything to boot up. I've also tried booting into a Macrium Reflect PE. That also halts.

Should I have the drives set as AHCI, IDE or RAID?


----------



## trunks9us (Aug 22, 2017)

I can confirm that I am also using this as a boot drive and it works great.    Thanks for the write up.


----------



## Bg8780 (Aug 22, 2017)

Congrats to those of you to get it working. I've still been failing on my E770 Classified. I'm thinking it just won't work on these EVGA boards. I decided to pick up two 250gb 850 EVO's and run RAID 0 on the Intel SATA 2 Controller


----------



## trunks9us (Aug 22, 2017)

Bg8780 said:


> Congrats to those of you to get it working. I've still been failing on my E770 Classified. I'm thinking it just won't work on these EVGA boards. I decided to pick up two 250gb 850 EVO's and run RAID 0 on the Intel SATA 2 Controller



I am sorry to hear you can't get it working I am using a asus p6x58d-e  mobo  When I bought this back in 2010 I never thought I would be using it for this 7 years later.    I really don't want to upgrade unless I have no choice.


----------



## Bg8780 (Aug 22, 2017)

trunks9us said:


> I am sorry to hear you can't get it working I am using a asus p6x58d-e  mobo  When I bought this back in 2010 I never thought I would be using it for this 7 years later.    I really don't want to upgrade unless I have no choice.



Agreed, I love this platform. I have a 6 core 970 at 4.2ghz under water and a GTX 1080. I score just as high on Firestrike as systems with a 7700k.

My old Mushkin Chronos Deluxe's achieved 550mbps read/write on the Intel ICH controller before one died. I expect these Samsung EVO's to be about the same. I just don't have the time to continue to tinker with this M.2 drive.


----------



## EarthDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Bg8780 said:


> Agreed, I love this platform. I have a 6 core 970 at 4.2ghz under water and a GTX 1080. I score just as high on Firestrike as systems with a 7700k.


because you have more cores....look at your gpu score and compare that. Your card has a glass ceiling with that cpu.


----------



## Flaky (Aug 22, 2017)

Bg8780 said:


> Should I have the drives set as AHCI, IDE or RAID?


This setting is for SATA controller. It has no use here (PCIe drive is not handled by this controller).

You said that the 950pro is detected in bios. Did you mean boot order, or somewhere else?

In general, booting from 950pro and booting the windows installer from usb are two separate things. You may need to try different sticks and different ports (I'd prefer 2.0 ones here).


----------



## X58Forever (Oct 7, 2017)

Are there any issues installing windows 7 instead of 10?


----------



## Tomgang (Oct 8, 2017)

X58Forever said:


> Are there any issues installing windows 7 instead of 10?



I dont know for sure, but i dont think there shut be a problem since this is build in the SSD and has nothing to do with windows.


----------



## Jetster (Oct 8, 2017)

sure it will work


----------



## ulises (Nov 29, 2017)

Hello,

This is my board card: 
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P ( old one )
Of course, i tried to install  samsung ssd 960 mven and it did not work obviously.

As I have read it could perfectly work with  Samsung 950 Pro NVME ( i have an adapter pci E)  that i can buy from a friend but i must be sure it would work fine otherwise i can not give him back.  It is difficult to find this SSD 950 in Europe and is is expensive. I can buy it for 100€  a samsung 950 nvme  256go.

I ponder over this hard disk 950 because i use a lot compression and decompression software as winraar, winzip ( big files 4go 40go, 10 go and so on ) and I think pages must be appeared quickly than a standard ssd.

This is the adapter  nvme :  https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/PCI-...D-Slot-Adapter-For-M-2-PCI-E/32766479188.html

Have you maybe a better idea, another SSD compatible with ma board with similar performaces ? 

Thank you for your answers


----------



## Flaky (Nov 29, 2017)

Having OS running of other drive, the 960 should be visible and usable as a data storage.
What OS are you using? If it's a win7, is it fully updated?


----------



## ulises (Nov 29, 2017)

Hello,

Thanks for your answer.
Well, the 960 worked as a data storage, no porblem but it did not work as a system ( windows 7 and 10 fully updated) which is obivous as to my board card Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P , too old for SSD mvem. 
This is the reason  I was looking into the samsung 950


----------



## Flaky (Nov 29, 2017)

But why do you need the OS on NVMe drive?
Just keep all your data on 960 and do the compression/decompression stuff on it.


----------



## ulises (Nov 29, 2017)

I think i was not clear 
I want to install windows 10 on the ssd; I want to use it as a system  on my old  Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P.  The ss samsung 960 only work as stockage  on  my gigabyte; The gigabyte cannot recognize the ssd 960 as a sustem.
So, according to some , the samsung SSD 950 mven could be installed on  boards X58 . So if I install the smasung ssd 950  winth windows 7 or 10 as a system on my Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P, do you think it will work?


----------



## Flaky (Nov 29, 2017)

"I want OS on NVMe because I want OS on NVMe"
Whatever 

It should work, as long the motherboard is able to load the boot rom from the drive.
Most do just fine. I read somewhere about trouble with getting it to work on evga x58, but not sure if it was problem with motherboard, or the user.


----------



## Gasaraki (Nov 29, 2017)

ulises said:


> Hello,
> 
> This is my board card:
> Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P ( old one )
> ...



I have a X58 board running a NVMe drive as a boot drive using an adapter. I got it working by having the motherboard load a UEFI bios that can see the drive.

I have the MyDigitalSSD BPX. It does not have the BIOS ROM.

Here are the instructions:
https://audiocricket.com/2016/12/31/booting-samsung-sm961-on-asus-p6t-se-mainboard/


----------



## ulises (Nov 29, 2017)

Thank you for your answer Flaky.
Gasaraki, you speak about MyDigitalSSD BPX.   Your motherboard has a bios or UEFI? 
Do you mean your MyDigitalSSD BPX  works perfectly on your motherboard X58 which only has a standard bios? 

Did you compare your ssd mydigital BPX and an standard SSD? did you notice a difference when playing games, charging pages, from internet, and so on?


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 29, 2017)

If you want NVMe that badly, use Clover (LINK) or DUET.


----------



## ulises (Nov 29, 2017)

For the moment and as i can state: Samsung 950  and  MyDigitalSSD BPX should work as a system disk with windows 8 or 10  on motherboard X58 without legacy mode and  without UEFI option , i.e , both SSD mvme are supposed to be working  on a standard mainboard  X58 not equiped with M.2 port , MVEM.

agentx007, tthe method you propose i know, i think it is only possible with samsung 961 and a usb key is necessary. I state that this method limits the speed of the usb.


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 29, 2017)

ulises said:


> agentx007, tthe method you propose i know, i think it is only possible with samsung 961 and a usb key is necessary. I state that this method limits the speed of the usb.


There are no hardware limits for Clover method. I tested it with SM951 128GB - worked fine (you simply need a NVMe disk driver for Win 7 OS, Win 10 doesn't need it).

What do you mean by "limits the speed of the USB" ?
FYI : If you want, you can use a IDE/SATA drive (or partition of already installed HDD), as Clover partition.


----------



## ulises (Nov 29, 2017)

Well, I try to assimilate all this, new for me.

I resume :


1.My motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P = No UEFI, no Legacy no mven.

2.I Need a ssd mven 256 or 512

3.I have an  PCI Express 4x to M Key M.2 SSD Slot Adapter For M.2 PCI-E SSD (NGFF) SSD 2230 2242 2260 2280 Card M Key PCI-E X4 NG



According to some, Samsung 950     Pro 256   and MyDigitalSSD BPX 80mm should work when installed  them on my Pci Express 4xto M key and obvisouly on my motherboard’s pci E.     Is that correct ?

According to some Samsung SM951 NVMe and samsung 96 1nvme  need a usb key to install windows ? is that correct ?


Some ssd are hard to be found in shops  

This is the list i drew up :


Some advices? 



1.      Samsung SM951 MZVPV512HDGL-00000 M.2 (2280) PCIe NVMe 3.0x4 - Intel 512GB  Price 200€

Writting 1500

Reading 2150


2.      Samsung SM951 NVMe M.2 256Go   

Price 130€

Writting 1200

Reading 2150


3.      Samsung SM 961  256Go   

Price 140€

Writting 1400

Reading  3100

4.      Samsung SM 961  512G   

Price 220€

Writting 1700

Reading  3100


5.      Samsung 950 Pro 256  

Price : 110€  ( second hand)

Writting 900

 Reading 2200


6.      Samsung 950 Pro 512

Price : 350€

Writting 1500

Reading 2500

*7.      MyDigitalSSD 480GB (512GB) BPX 80mm (2280) M.2 PCI Express 3.0 x4*
*       Price 210€*
Writting 1600

Reading 2300

8.      MyDigitalSSD BPX 80mm (2280) M.2 PCI Express 3.0 x4 (PCIe Gen3 x4) NVMe MLC SSD (240GB)

Price 140 €

Writting 1300

Reading 2600


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 30, 2017)

According to me most doesn't know what they are talking about, and usually they don't have any proof to back up what they claim.

Here's my take on "some say" :
I say NVMe drive by itself doesn't need support of any kind from MB (PCI-e slot required, duh), if you use DUET or Clover as it's UEFI boot module.
I know Clover* can be installed on SATA HDD and can be booted from it (no USB devices are needed for booting). *confirmed that myself (didn't try Duet).
AND here are My proof's of ^that :

MB used = ASRock P4i945GC.
CPU used Pentium 4 3,2GHz PGA 478 w/EM64T.
My NVMe is a SM961 256GB and I use a cheap PCIe to Dual M.2 adapter (like this : LINK).

1) YT video of complete Windows 7 x64 SP1 installation on SM961 256GB and above hardware : LINK (bit of warning here, it's almost 90 min long ).
2) CPU-z valid with SM951 installed (same hardware) : https://valid.x86.fr/2g58sg


----------



## EarthDog (Nov 30, 2017)

What are the drive speeds? 

Isnt that board pcie 1?


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 30, 2017)

Board is PCI-e 1.0, and I connected NVMe drive to x16 slot, GPU was connected via x1 riser.
On video (@1:10:20) you can see live CrystalDiskTest : LINK
Results for SM961 (CDM 5.2.2 x64), before any drivers/updates :
Seq. Read (QD32) : 785MB/s
Seq. Write (QD32) : 722MB/s
4k Read : 53,26MB/s
4k Write : 108,8MB/s

Here's screenshot after updates :


----------



## EarthDog (Nov 30, 2017)

Neutered.. wow. Still a lot faster than a HDD, but damn is that drive wasted on that platform.


----------



## ulises (Nov 30, 2017)

Hello

Thanks , but your results are less than it should have 
 the Writting 1400
Reading 3100

I know  it cannot reach full spped but it should be more, shouldn't it?    MAybe your adapter card mven is limited to 1X  on a pcie 2.0


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 30, 2017)

@ulises Optimistic much ?
I'm using a PGA 478 CPU/board, and you want PCI-e 2.0 ?

PCIe version can be seen in Crystal Disk info on right side... FYI.
LGA 775 PCI-e 2.0 result with SM951 128GB :


----------



## ulises (Nov 30, 2017)

Interessting, thanks.

You own  SM951. In order to install on your motherboard, had you to use the same method as ssd 961 with a usb key, like the video ?


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 30, 2017)

Yes. However USB key is used only for installation (since I didn't integrate NVMe drivers in Win 7 installation).
If you want, you can install Clover without using any pendrives (simply connect hard drive to working PC and install Clover on it using Windows).
My method is for users who can't easily disconnect hard drives for Clover (or don't have a working system nearby).


----------



## ulises (Nov 30, 2017)

Your results are correct : samsung 950 128Go, (Samsung's  reading 2000 writting 650)   
As to you, do you advice me a samsung 951 or 961   256 ? or another alternative ?
I had thought of Samsung SM951  512   200€ but out of my budget partiotioning into two partitions  100Go for the system and the rest when I download big files to decompress or working photos with Optics DXO ans so on and then I put all in a second standard hard disk 4to

I must order them from Germany in France or Spain it is hard to find and very expensive.


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 30, 2017)

SM961 and SM951 are both great choises.
Keep in mind that for SSDs more space = higher seq. max. write speed (unless drive uses Xpoint).


----------



## ulises (Nov 30, 2017)

Ok, thank you. Is will be pondering over this next weekend


----------



## IvanFidelis (Apr 18, 2018)

Hi everyone,

I´m reviving this very nice and informative post, to ask about something that I did not found anywhere else around the web, and I did a lot of reading =)

I have a x58 based system GA X58A-UD7, and I´m about to buy a Nvme drive, and saw that the users that have this drivers already running, and posted the adapter that they are using, they are all using Pcie x4 based ones...

So, in the searching for the same adapters of the users, I saw one that drove my attention, a Pcie x16 based one...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M-2-NVMe...335944?hash=item3afab604c8:g:sJMAAOSwP4FaM-WX

Like the user cucker tarlson said about the speeds, I´m wandering if the reason of making a x16 adapter, is to achieve higher speeds, since in x4 Gen 2.0 we can get the "Est. real word Max 1.6Gb/s in Pci-e 2.0 x4", and with the Pci-e 2.0 x16 we can get 2x more...

Since the output format of the Nvme I´m about to buy is PCIe Gen 3.0 "x4", my question looks crazy, but, you know, even the adapter being so cheap and simple, I´m just wandering if they found a way to provide higher transfers on PCIe 2.0 x16


----------



## agent_x007 (Apr 19, 2018)

I own and use that exact adapter in my main PC  (I bought it with heatsink) 
It's x16 in lenght but still x4 electric (you can see PCB tracers don't go full lenght).
"x16" gives it better rigidity (it's less likely to woble in slot when not support by anything), and no bracket means you can install a dual slot card in slot above it (IF adapter is small enough for it to fit).


----------



## IvanFidelis (Apr 19, 2018)

Hi agent_x007,

Tnx for the real quick answer 

It´s a shame knowing that "we" have the power to get 4x more than we already get on x4 slots  but one day, who knows =D

This adapter shows what the slot really can do. But since it is built to RAID stuff, put just one Nvme SSD certainly will use just x4 anyway...

And I must say, it´s very nice to see your work on the socket 478 based system . A machine on it´s way to 20 years can deliver almost the same transfer of a new MB with onboard M2 10Gb/s that some companies call "super pro gamer evolution detonator extreme destroyer"...

One more time, tnx a lot for your time


----------



## IvanFidelis (Apr 30, 2018)

Hello,

I´m back to share my results, and show one more SSD Nvme working flawlessly on architecture without M.2 slots and UEFI bios, using Windows 7 x64 sp1...

I made a fast *video* "power on till power off" just to show system working and the speed till the system boot up "I had just the drivers installed, none programs"...

And I captured some images too:





The SSD with the adaptor:





I´m very happy with the drive, even simple tasks like browsing on internet are awesome. The windows 7 installation, outstanding, just a few minutes, and I used a USB 3.0 HDD case with a Sata 2 HD. As soon I got a sata 3 drive, or a flash drive 3.0, I´ll do the installation again for sure 

The system specs are in the first picture, so, I´m going now to finish the installation of all my stuff, and see how it goes. Till now, just marvelous 

All the best


----------



## Tomgang (Apr 30, 2018)

IvanFidelis said:


> Hello,
> 
> I´m back to share my results, and show one more SSD Nvme working flawlessly on architecture without M.2 slots and UEFI bios, using Windows 7 x64 sp1...
> 
> ...



Congrats on joyning x58 with an m.2 ssd and yeah its awesome with m.2 ssd on x58.  it really makes the old system feels fast and responsive. Infact so awesome that i got a second samsung 950 pro for games.

Oh and its nice to see that there are other m.2 ssd besides samsung 950 PRO that can work on X58. Enjoy your speed freak of a x58 system. I sure do.

A little tip. Make sure windows 7 has deaktivated defrag on your ssd. It makes more damage to the ssd than benefits. Ssd use a funktion called trim. Just if you are new to ssd.


----------



## IvanFidelis (May 1, 2018)

Tnx Tomgang 

And yeah Man, I´m freaking out here with the speeds of everything 

I was worried "and very curious too" about the Corsair MP500, and my MB being a Gigabyte, since all the positive tests and posts I could find, was in Asus boards. And worse, here, in this thread, 2 users posted about failing to put their boards to work, Ferrum Master, and Bg8780. Ferrum with Intel and Msi, and Bg8780 with Evga. And Bg8780 even have the 950 pro, with legacy support. Kind of worrying 

But all end up very well 

About the defrag thing, sure, I checked, and another surprise. Since I had a flawless turbo W7 install, all drivers installed, all my work and fun programs installed too "just finished", getting the full speed of the PciE x4 gen 2 can provide, all stuff working amazing well. I can tell that the hotfix to add native driver support for NVMe on W7 is very good.

Oh, about the defrag surprise, the windows even left my SSD out of the scheduled defrag list, like it should, awesome right 

Best regards


----------



## Xeroiv (May 18, 2018)

ulises said:


> Well, I try to assimilate all this, new for me.
> 
> I resume :
> 
> ...



Are all the drives listed here comfirmed to work in P6X58D or equivalent?  I suppose tack MP500 on to the list as well?  Is there a summary list or Google doc where all this is tracked?


----------



## IvanFidelis (May 19, 2018)

Hi Xeroiv,

I believe that is confirmed that some users were able to put all this drives to work in x58 boards, from different manufactures. And agent_x007 went much further, putting his sm961 to work even on a socket 478 board...

But I think that is important to get a closer look on the details of each user to have a nice understanding of how it can work, some examples:

** samsung 950* *Pro* - you have legacy bios support - on Asus boards, you can see it in bios, and boot from it (windows 10 no driver needed, windows 7 you have to load the driver). But there´s more, some users could not boot with MSI, Intel or EVGA boards with the same drive;

** Drives without legacy support* - you can use a UEFI boot, in this thread, there are users using Clover and Duet, having success on both methods, with different drives, different manufactures, different models. And of course, you can use samsung 950 pro too 

About the list, in my long research, I could not see nothing like that...

Good luck


----------



## Hood (May 19, 2018)

cucker tarlson said:


> these drives get horribly hot when not cooled and sitting next to a hot gpu. and why exactly would I skimp on a quality adapter if it sees my temperatures drop and performance increase for a fraction of the price of the drive ?


These drives only run hot during sustained sequential operation.  Using as a boot drive, once Windows, large programs, or games are installed, the drive only reads/writes small files very quickly, not long enough to heat up the drive.  The heat problem comes from moving large files that take a long time - not reading small OS or game files.  But still, I would use a good heatsink.


----------



## IvanFidelis (May 19, 2018)

Since I´m here, I made an "upgrade" on my Nvme, and I think the information can kill some doubts, for those with the same worry...

I was getting very high temps on heavy load (games, benchs, etc). And I decided to put a heatsink, the max temp on idle and low work, like browsing, office, etc, were nice, but in games and benchs was not good. Then I put a fan on it, and now the temps got much better:

Was around this:

**Adap & Nvme only:*

** Idle and light work:  45 - 53°
** games/benchs       :  53 - 63°

**Adap & Nvme with heatsink:*

** Idle and light work:  40 - 45°
** games/benchs       :  48 - 58°

**Adap & Nvme & heatsink with fan:*

** Idle and light work:  30 - 38°
** games/benchs       :  32 - 44°

I played for the test like 20 minutes on Titanfall 2 and Hand of Fate 2 - Goblins. And for the bench, a full test on crystalmark 6.0

To build this kind of cooler, I used a heatsink of a dead fx 5200, and the fan of a amd x2 cooler box. I did just a little pressure between the Nvme and the heatsink, since the Nvme looks totally fragile. I used a no conductive thermal past, and have to work on the heatsink a little, since the Fusion ship is taller...

Here an image:


----------



## Hood (May 19, 2018)

Flaky said:


> But why do you need the OS on NVMe drive?


This is where NVMe shines, because of the low latency and high IOPS.  Reading and writing the small OS files so quickly is what makes Windows feel so "snappy" on an NVMe drive.  Also very noticeable when using Windows utilities.


----------



## Xeroiv (May 21, 2018)

IvanFidelis said:


> Hi Xeroiv,
> 
> I believe that is confirmed that some users were able to put all this drives to work in x58 boards, from different manufactures. And agent_x007 went much further, putting his sm961 to work even on a socket 478 board...
> 
> ...



So just for clarity of my understanding.  The post you made earlier about getting the MP500 working was using a USB key with Clover or Duet?  I would like to avoid having a usb key and am curious to as if there are options outside of the 950 pro.


----------



## agent_x007 (May 21, 2018)

You can install Clover on standard sata/ide drive partition (it takes ~200MB).
You won't be able to use that drive for a Windows OS (at least, easily).


----------



## IvanFidelis (May 21, 2018)

Yes Xeroiv, to get the MP500 working as system boot, and probably others drives without legacy bios support, you´ll have to use Clover or DUET for the UEFI Bios. Like agent_007 said, it´s not easy, but you just have to learn how, because it works, 100% sure 

About the problem on using a usb drive, again, agent_x007 gave you the tip, you can use Clover on your HDD. In fact, I figured out how to use even DUET on my HDD, just yesterday. Now I´m using DUET on a small partition of my already installed HDD "the need of a usb drive plugged all the time for the boot was bothering me too "...

So, you can use a large number of M.2 Nvme drives of your choice, just use Clover or Duet, both booting from Usb or HDD, with 100% sure of success. The differences, I believe, is just on the time/research/study you´ll need to put them to work, and the reward:* just incredible awesome *

Good luck for you


----------



## ulises (Apr 11, 2019)

Hello,

 I tried with samsung 961 and it did not work. I recognize that I did not spent a lot of time doing that to succeed.


I have a x58 motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P. ( standard bios  2009-2010 , 2011 the last update )

Im going to by a samsung 970 evo plus 500 or Adata 8200 pro 512.

I would like to install one of them on the gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P. According to some peaple it could work  on ancient motherboard X58 by using duet or similar An usb Key is necessary. I wonder if instead of using a usb key i could use a hard disk or msata. O course, i have an adapter to nvme : 

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/Socket-M-...3.0&%3Btpp=1

but im going to get this new adapter with msata : https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/M2-NVME-N....31ff3c00tmBodE

As you can see , I can use a mdata hard disk to be used in this adapter as well SSd nvme as boot like a usb key. is it possible? Of course, the price of the msata or eventually of a classical SSD is closer to the price of an usb with identical storage capacity.

is there any interest to replace the usb key for msdata or hard disk to be used as "boot" to install the windows 10 or 7 on the nvme  (both disks ' msata and nvme ) on the same support ? Could be the "start" or "boot" faster using msata  than by using a key usb when windows is ialready ?nstalled.

thank you for your answer 

If I resume:

1. adapter nvme+msata
2. instal one hard disk nvme ( 512go)+ one msatta (128go) ont the same Adapter nvme+msata  ( click on the link)
3.Used msata 128 for boot and then instal windows on the nvme.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (Nov 10, 2019)

Hi, i wanna ask what to do if that usb/hdd clover boot suddenly die? Reinstall the whole thing again or just simply use BDU to make another usb clover. Sorry, really noob in this whole nvme thing.


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 11, 2019)

Just make another one.


----------



## resxwni01 (Dec 31, 2019)

*M.2 SSD on old X58 system with M.2 PCI 240gb kingston m.2 on x58 gigabyte GA-x58a-ud3r*


----------



## Initialised (Dec 31, 2019)

I had to turn on Express Gate to get my 5700XT past BIOS on my x58 so YMMV trying to get PCI-E M.2 to run


----------



## resxwni01 (Dec 31, 2019)

my bios picks it up but windows does not


----------



## Ferrum Master (Dec 31, 2019)

The only exception Samsung 950Pro.

Any other nvme drives will not boot windows.


----------



## agent_x007 (Dec 31, 2019)

@resxwni01 So... here's the thing : Windows 7 SP1 or Win10 probably thinks your "EFI" boot isn't actual EFI.
Because of that, you probably don't have EFI files (on hidden partition), on that drive.
Which makes it unbootable in "EFI mode", which makes NVMe booting not possible in this case.
Unless your BIOS/EFI has Nvmexpressdxe.ffs module (or similar) inside, you can't use NVMe drive in EFI mode.
And making it work under Legacy... is REALLY hard.

Try 3-rd party EFI program like DUET or Clover.


----------



## Tomgang (Dec 31, 2019)

Well I will be dam. Is my old thread still alive al most 3 years after I started it.

Just gonna show how popular X58 still is together with an nvme SSD. Still using my 950 PRO al most 3 years later and it has worked flawless all the time. Really gave my X58 a great speed kick.


----------



## resxwni01 (Jan 1, 2020)

*agent_x007 for the help, I am working on it now I will get it, just going to take me some time.

 I like you guys helping one another is why I came here.

Thanks Again*


----------



## Roger475 (Jan 2, 2020)

Tomgang,

I have a gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 motherboard, and the PCIe slots are *2.0* compliant.

Will the Samsung 950 Pro which is a PCIe *3.0 *interface work with my motherboard? 

Thanks.


----------



## Ferrum Master (Jan 2, 2020)

Roger475 said:


> Tomgang,
> 
> I have a gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 motherboard, and the PCIe slots are *2.0* compliant.
> 
> ...



Yes it will.


----------



## vlad48 (Jan 4, 2020)

+1 on detailed instructions @*Tomgang*
Got exact build up and running like a breeze in 10 minutes on Asus X58 P6X58D-E

A picture is worth a thousand words...


----------



## Tomgang (Jan 4, 2020)

Roger475 said:


> Tomgang,
> 
> I have a gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 motherboard, and the PCIe slots are *2.0* compliant.
> 
> ...



A little late answer. But yes it will work, al throw you will be speed limited because of PCIe gen 2 to around 1700 MB/s as max speed. I have seen others with Gigabyte X58 boards getting 950 PRO to work, so there shut not be a problem in your case.



Ferrum Master said:


> Yes it will.



But you said it would not work back then. Sorry cut not hold back on it



vlad48 said:


> +1 on detailed instructions @*Tomgang*
> Got exact build up and running like a breeze in 10 minutes on Asus X58 P6X58D-E
> 
> A picture is worth a thousand words...



Glad one more come to enjoy NVMe on X58. You are getting speeds i would espect as well.

Here is what i get on my 950 PRO 256 GB version. 512 GB has a higher write speed hence why you are higher on that part.


----------



## Builderman (Jan 14, 2020)

As an x58 enthousiast And with the low nvme prIces I decided to jump on the m2 wagon as well... or so I wished. I just can’t get my nvme drives to be detected in win10. I tried 2 drives, both using a pcie4x adapter: Kingston a2000 1tb and a toshiba/kioxia/OCz rc500 500 Gb disk. I don’t need them as boot disks, just want them as fast storage, but none of them is being recognized by win10 (I.e. not visible in device manager or disk management). I confirmed the functionality of both the pcie4x adapter and the two nvme drives in a modern UEFI amd based pc. I also did a memory error test, as some users (YouTube) found that this is helpful when a disk is not detected, but to no avail. Next I tried booting with a clover boot disk. Clover boots fine from usb, but I cannot get my legacy ssd win10 install (not gpt) to boot. I also cannot see the names of the disks. I tried to disconnect my pcie4x Marvell based SATA controller as well as my pcie1x based usb 3 controller, but that didn’t help either. What am I doing wrong? How can I get win10 to recognize the m2 drives in legacy bios/SATA mode (boot from sata6 ssd)? Or alternatively, how can I load clover in UEFI and then boot my legacy win10 from ssd? I just want to be able to access my nvme drive from win10! Any help would be appreciated. Btw my motherboard is an Asus p6x58 e pro, with a Xeon x5670 @ 4,8ghz.


----------



## agent_x007 (Jan 14, 2020)

Have you tried to put adapter in all PCI-e slots on your board ?
Also, did you install any NVMe drivers from manufacturers of those NVMe's ?


----------



## Builderman (Jan 15, 2020)

Thank you for the suggestions; great to see this thread is still alive. I did not try all ports yet; I will do that and report back. For the rc500 there are no manufacturer drivers yet (says the support page), but I will try a Samsung 970 evo plus from another system that I know has specific driver support. Thnx and I will share my findings!


----------



## fersergar (May 6, 2020)

Hello , could you say that list of m2 hard drives are compatible to put it in Mi asus extreme III X58 ?  and if possible an adapter of m2, Thank you very much.


----------



## Regeneration (May 6, 2020)

fersergar said:


> Hello , could you say that list of m2 hard drives are compatible to put it in Mi asus extreme III X58 ?  and if possible an adapter of m2, Thank you very much.



This card will let you use M.2 SATA SSDs out-of-the-box:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-M-2-SATA-Controller-Card/dp/B017IM54GM/

If you wish M.2 PCIe NVMe, you'll need another card, and to setup 3rd party boot loader:

https://www.amazon.com/QNINE-Adapter-Express-Controller-Expansion/dp/B075MDH28Y/
https://www.win-raid.com/t3286f50-G...h-legacy-BIOS-and-UEFI-board-DUET-REFIND.html


----------



## agent_x007 (May 6, 2020)

Don't SATA M.2 drives need a adapter with SATA port to work properly ?
Like this one : LINK (it has both B-Key for SATA and M-Key for AHCI/NVMe PCIe).


----------



## EarthDog (May 6, 2020)

agent_x007 said:


> Don't SATA M.2 drives need a adapter with SATA port to work properly ?
> Like this one : LINK (it has both B-Key for SATA and M-Key for AHCI/NVMe PCIe).


Nope.

The m.2 port simply needs to support the SATA protocol. Most boards have at least one m.2 port that does.



Regeneration said:


> If you wish M.2 PCIe NVMe, you'll need another card, and to setup 3rd party boot loader:


This. Though I question the reasoning of buying such a drive for the ancient platform. I'd rather buy a cheaper ssd and put that difference away for a system upgrade.


----------



## Regeneration (May 6, 2020)

agent_x007 said:


> Don't SATA M.2 drives need a adapter with SATA port to work properly ?
> Like this one : LINK (it has both B-Key for SATA and M-Key for AHCI/NVMe PCIe).



Some cheap PCIe M.2 cards come without SATA controller and need connection to the motherboard's SATA ports. That's plain stupid and completely useless... you can just use M.2 to SATA adapter instead. The one I linked to is equipped with Asmedia chip with bootable OROM on it.



EarthDog said:


> This. Though I question the reasoning of buying such a drive for the ancient platform. I'd rather buy a cheaper ssd and put that difference away for a system upgrade.



X58 was Intel's HEDT platform before iGPU and restricted overclocking nonsense. Still kick ass and faster than some mid-range CPUs... despite no UEFI, DDR4, AVX, NVMe, M.2, SATA3 and USB3. Most X58 motherboards come with at least 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots from the Northbridge, and some other x1, x4 from the Southbridge. Still capable of running the latest apps and games in decent frame rates.


----------



## freeagent (May 6, 2020)

Its still a fairly smooth system, not bad at all considering. This rig doesn't owe me a thing.


----------



## EarthDog (May 6, 2020)

Regeneration said:


> X58 was Intel's HEDT platform before iGPU and restricted overclocking nonsense. Still kick ass and faster than some mid-range CPUs... despite no UEFI, DDR4, AVX, NVMe, M.2, SATA3 and USB3. Most X58 motherboards come with at least 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots from the Northbridge, and some other x1, x4 from the Southbridge. Still capable of running the latest apps and games in decent frame rates.


Yep. I simply prefer not to have a glass ceiling on games and its just slow clock for clock compared to most anything after it.


----------



## Regeneration (May 6, 2020)

EarthDog said:


> Yep. I simply prefer not to have a glass ceiling on games and its just slow clock for clock compared to most anything after it.



If it ain't broke don't fix it. If everything works fine don't upgrade.

If your 2005 Chevrolet Camaro takes you to all the places you need to be - without a hitch - there is no need to buy the 2020 model.


----------



## puma99dk| (May 6, 2020)

Regeneration said:


> If it ain't broke don't fix it. If everything works fine don't upgrade.
> 
> If your 2005 Chevrolet Camaro takes you to all the places you need to be - without a hitch - there is no need to buy the 2020 model.



I agree with you on this one @Regeneration

You don't need a NVME SSD a SATA based SSD does things really great compared to the old spinner drives.

With X58 you have the lanes for if you need a better audio, usb 3.0 or something more heavy you buy the add-in card and off you go.

Like @Regeneration with the Camaro if the car still drives and brakes but the audio is ain't good upgrade the radio and speakers and you can still drive a great car.


----------



## EarthDog (May 6, 2020)

Hey, if you guys are good with it, that is fine. But the new camaro is a lot faster, it has has a shed load more features and abilities compared the 2005 model. I couldn't stand gaming on that or productivity compared to any 4c/8t or 6c/12t CPU today/I'd much rather have the 2020 model than 2005.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 6, 2020)

I finally got a used 950 pro for $89.  The seller is an ass but well it's worth it. Works great on Rampage II extreme with a no name pcie adapter. Noob question: why do some pcie adapter have capacitors while other don't?


----------



## Tomgang (May 6, 2020)

Great to see my idea still doing purpose for others. Specially thinking about that x58 came out just about 11 1/2 years ago and I been on x58 for 11 years myself. 

Can't believe I already have used my own 950 PRO for 3 years in my X58 and not a single problem so far.

Now I think of it, any one knows what have happened to user CAPSLOCKSTRUCK? 
Have not seen him for a long time now. He whas a true X58 fan down to the bone.


----------



## dorsetknob (May 6, 2020)

Tomgang said:


> Now I think of it, any one knows what have happened to user CAPSLOCKSTRUCK?
> Have not seen him for a long time now. He whas a true X58 fan down to the bone.



He is still Breathing that wet welsh Air
pre covid he had returned to construction industry.


----------



## Tomgang (May 6, 2020)

dorsetknob said:


> He is still Breathing that wet welsh Air
> pre covid he had returned to construction industry.



Ah i see. So he has returned to work and is alive and kicking. Good to hear.


----------



## Regeneration (May 6, 2020)

X58 is the last Intel platform with great overclocking capabilities: BCLK, Bus strap, IMC, PCIe, DDR and CPU multiplier. Unlocked multiplier was exclusive to the high-end processors, but isn't a big deal since BCLK can be pushed by 70 percent on most processors.


----------



## Tomgang (May 6, 2020)

Regeneration said:


> X58 is the last Intel platform with great overclocking capabilities: BCLK, Bus strap, IMC, PCIe, DDR and CPU multiplier. Unlocked multiplier was exclusive to the high-end processors, but isn't a big deal since BCLK can be pushed by 70 percent on most processors.



I can only agree to that statement. With an I7 920 that I got from stock 2.8 ghz to 4.4 ghz all core and my current I7 980x running 4.4 ghz 24/7 and for benchmark taken to 4.75 ghz from stock all core clock of 3.43 ghz. Bofh cpu air-cooled. Try to take a modern cpu over 1 ghz or more over it stock clock. That will prove quite difficult, specially on air cooling.


----------



## Vario (May 6, 2020)

I upgraded my father from 6c/12t W3680 at 4GHz all core, Asus P6X58D-E, 16GB DDR3 1600 and 240GB SATA SSD, to a 9900K at 4.6 GHz all core, ASRock Z390 Taichi, 32GB DDR4 3600 and 1TB 970 EVO (the i9 is underclocked undervolted due to aircooler and small case), its a noticeably faster system, particularly going to the NVME SSD.  Around the time of SPECTRE/Meltdown, his X58 system seemed to get much slower, maybe it was a Windows 7 security fix.  So I am in agreement with EarthDog, time to move on to newer machines at this point, though I am all for running a system a long time to really feel what an upgrade is like, rather than the upgrade every single year or every other year that a lot of people seem to do.  He still has the X58 machine but doesn't operate it much anymore.


----------



## Tomgang (May 6, 2020)

Vario said:


> I upgraded my father from 6c/12t W3680, 16GB DDR3 1600 and SATA SSD at 4GHz all core to a 9900K, 32GB DDR4 3600 and 1TB 970 EVO at 4.6 GHz all core, its a noticeably system, particularly going to the NVME.  Around the time of SPECTRE/Meltdown, his X58 system seemed to get much slower, maybe it was a Windows 7 security fix.



The older a cpu is, the harder specter and meltdown update hit its performance.

I whas also planing to upgrade to a Ryzen 9 3950X based system, but then that dam virus came and locked down my as others countries = goodbye job  and no upgrade for who knows how long before I can get a job again. Untel then x58 will have to do it for me. I don't think it's a good idea to spend a lot of money on hardware jobless.


----------



## freeagent (May 6, 2020)

I spent over 2k on my x58 when it was all new, I have a job and I am working everyday and I still can’t bring myself to drop that kind of coin again.


----------



## Vario (May 6, 2020)

Tomgang said:


> The older a cpu is, the harder specter and meltdown update hit its performance.
> 
> I whas also planing to upgrade to a Ryzen 9 3950X based system, but then that dam virus came and locked down my as others countries = goodbye job  and no upgrade for who knows how long before I can get a job again. Untel then x58 will have to do it for me. I don't think it's a good idea to spend a lot of money on hardware jobless.





freeagent said:


> I spent over 2k on my x58 when it was all new, I have a job and I am working everyday and I still can’t bring myself to drop that kind of coin again.


Totally understand.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 16, 2020)

Guys, which part of the samsung ssd 950 pro should i install the heatsink on?


----------



## puma99dk| (May 16, 2020)

snorlaxgangs said:


> Guys, which part of the samsung ssd 950 pro should i install the heatsink on?



Why not the whole top? it will help the chips and controller and not just one of them.


----------



## agent_x007 (May 16, 2020)

On side which heatsink won't prevent drive from being locked in place.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 16, 2020)

But isn't only the memory controller needed to be cool while the flash  is better when it warms. It was something about data retention. I have a bunch of vram copper for old graphic and the size is actually fit. But i don't which one is the memory controller.

Edit: found the clip about ssd heatsink, skip to 7:50


----------



## puma99dk| (May 16, 2020)

Then why not grap what we use back in the day on ram chips on back in the day?

Cobber should be great for that like these:


Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alphacool-GPU-RAM-Copper-Heatsinks/dp/B077VQTB6Q

I am not sure these fit but it's just a thought and then a thermalpad or paste.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 16, 2020)

puma99dk| said:


> Then why not grap what we use back in the day on ram chips on back in the day?
> 
> Cobber should be great for that like these:
> 
> ...


Yes i'm having similar once but a bit bigger. I just wanna know which one is the memory controller?


----------



## puma99dk| (May 16, 2020)

snorlaxgangs said:


> Yes i'm having similar once but a bit bigger. I just wanna know which one is the memory controller?



That's pretty easy even my non-tech sis could do that and my better half that built her first computer ever last year can do that.

The big Samsung UBX Controller chip all the way to the right just above the m.2. connector that should be your controller.

Then you got the ram cache if I am not mistaking, then a small A0M5NB chip I do not know what is and then you have your storage.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 16, 2020)

puma99dk| said:


> That's pretty easy even my non-tech sis could do that and my better half that built her first computer ever last year can do that.
> 
> The big Samsung UBX Controller chip all the way to the right just above the m.2. connector that should be your controller.
> 
> Then you got the ram cache if I am not mistaking, then a small A0M5NB chip I do not know what is and then you have your storage.


Yeah i really don't know. Mine was cover with a sticker which i learned is a thin copper strip, so i have no idea which one is underneath.   Thanks anyway.


----------



## puma99dk| (May 16, 2020)

snorlaxgangs said:


> Yeah i really don't know. Thanks anyway.



Your welcome, it wasn't to be mean, I just though people new about Samsung's in-house controller for their SSD's


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 16, 2020)

puma99dk| said:


> Your welcome, it wasn't to be mean, I just though people new about Samsung's in-house controller for their SSD's


i really don't know. I bought a gelid ssd heatsink then google a bit more about ssd then i found out not every part of ssd likes to be cold. Then i remember i have a bunch of small vram heat sink and it's easy to zip tied. I was in a bit hurry cuz the refund time was about to run out sry... Anyway i refund the gelid ssd heatsink. Was able do a quick comparison, the gelid one and random copper vram heatsink maxed out at 45*C at 30*C room temperature. All in all, i'm able to get my money back, and my ssd stay cool


----------



## puma99dk| (May 16, 2020)

snorlaxgangs said:


> i really don't know. I bought a gelid ssd heatsink then google a bit more about ssd then i found out not every part of ssd likes to be cold. Then i remember i have a bunch of small vram heat sink and it's easy to zip tied. I was in a bit hurry cuz the refund time was about to run out sry... Anyway i refund the gelid ssd heatsink. Was able do a quick comparison, the gelid one and random copper vram heatsink maxed out at 45*C at 30*C room temperature. All in all, i'm able to get my money back, and my ssd stay cool



Ah great, I use just the heat shield that's on my board with a Noctua 140mm fan above the vrm heatsink to cool the vrm, vrm heatsink, around the aio pump and hope some makes it down to the nvme ssd


----------



## Deleted member 197986 (May 24, 2020)

Just wanted to share my thoughts here. I have a Delock 89961 PCI Express x16 Card installed on my Asus Sabertooth X58. It recognizes the Samsung 970 EVO. There should be a boot option on this card, but didn't try yet as I'm currently using it for faster loading of games and apps. Someone has this card and tried if it can boot? Will possibly try soon as my original SSD 100 Windows is ending its life.


----------



## Regeneration (May 24, 2020)

This Delock 89961 card and probably other NVMe cards with Asmedia ASM2824 will work on X58 and old motherboards that don't support PCIe boot.






						Benchmarks of I/O Crest SYBA SI-PEX40129 Dual M.2 NVMe SSD PCIe card in Mac Pro 5,1 running macOS Mojave
					

Reader report and benchmarks with a SYBA SI-PEX40129 Dual M.2 NVMe SSD PCIe Card in a Mac Pro 5,1 running macOS Mojave. Card is bootable with Mac Pro 5,1 EFI 140.0.0.0.0 and system info shows TRIM support.



					www.xlr8yourmac.com
				




However, it is expensive, better to buy new motherboard+CPU.


----------



## Deleted member 197986 (May 24, 2020)

Regeneration said:


> This Delock 89961 card and probably other NVMe cards with Asmedia ASM2824 will work on X58 and old motherboards that don't support PCIe boot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks, I have this card and using it for one year now and currently getting the most out of this system as it works perfect with the Valve Index VR. New motherboard+CPU maybe in 10 years or so as I think that the progress of new development of CPUs et cetera is very slow.


----------



## freeagent (May 24, 2020)

Have you used a new cpu? I can say my third gen destroys my first gen. I can’t even imagine “10th” gen. It would be laughable.


----------



## agent_x007 (May 25, 2020)

To boot NVMe on X58 you need to use Clover or DUET.


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 25, 2020)

StarExplorer said:


> Thanks, I have this card and using it for one year now and currently getting the most out of this system as it works perfect with the Valve Index VR. New motherboard+CPU maybe in 10 years or so as I think that the progress of new development of CPUs et cetera is very slow.


That's one expensive card. Since it doesn't depend on cpu or ioh, you can install pretty much any m.2 nvme out there right? Do u use raid in your x58? Post some benchmark man.


----------



## Regeneration (May 25, 2020)

agent_x007 said:


> To boot NVMe on X58 you need to use Clover or DUET.



Unless the card comes with a bootable option ROM for legacy BIOS.



snorlaxgangs said:


> That's one expensive card. Since it doesn't depend on cpu or ioh, you can install pretty much any m.2 nvme out there right? Do u use raid in your x58? Post some benchmark man.



PCIe cards on the X58 x8/x16 slots put some pressure on the IOH.


----------



## agent_x007 (May 25, 2020)

Regeneration said:


> Unless the card comes with a bootable option ROM for legacy BIOS.


Yes. Which Samsung 970 EVO (which @StarExplorer already bought) - doesn't have.


----------



## Deleted member 197986 (May 29, 2020)

snorlaxgangs said:


> That's one expensive card. Since it doesn't depend on cpu or ioh, you can install pretty much any m.2 nvme out there right? Do u use raid in your x58? Post some benchmark man.



With Delock 89961 in the 1st PCI-E x16 and GPU in 2nd PCI-E x16 (might be using riser cable to switch GPU back to 1st PCI-E) :


----------



## snorlaxgangs (May 30, 2020)

Damn, that is fast for good old x58.


----------



## strazbk (Nov 14, 2020)

Hello everyone.

My PC has MB MSI X58 PRO, and now I am thinking to make a little bit faster.
As I understood from this thread, to load your system from PCIE-2 connected SSD, it must be Samsung 950. Unfortunately nowadays it is quite hard to by one.
At the moment my PC is equiped with HDD (for games etc.) and SSD (for windows). 
If i will buy a "Silicon Power P34A80 512GB", using adapter "Axagon PCEM2-1U PCI-E 3.0 16x - M.2 SSD NVMe" and connect it to PCI port, will it be possible to use it for games? (not as windows boot drive)

Thanks in advance.


----------



## PPCnostalgic (Nov 15, 2020)

Your best bet will be a Samsung SM951 AHCI version. It will boot Windows as well (mine does) if you install Clover on another HD or even a USB pen drive.
(HP Z400 Xeon W3690 2x SM951 Raid Zero)


----------



## agent_x007 (Nov 15, 2020)

Just FYI : Using Clover or DUET for booting, bypasses ANY problems you may have with launching OS from NVMe drive on older platforms.


----------



## Flyke (Nov 15, 2020)

I recently bought an XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 PCIe for my X58 ( Asus P6T Deluxe v2 ).
I bought an ICY Box PCIe extension card for it.

Downloaded DUET, installed on a USB stick. Transfered the partition from the usb stick to an older OCZ SATA II SSD.
I am now booting from the SSD which then boots from the PCIe.
It works quite well. I recommend it. I am still quite happy with my X58 system! Just need a new gfx card soon.

However I am not completely satisfied with the benchmarks seeing that other people can achieve >3k speeds.

GFX card is in slot 1, NVMe in slot 2.
Any tips?


----------



## PPCnostalgic (Nov 15, 2020)

Try a Raid Zero like mine:


----------



## strazbk (Nov 17, 2020)

PPCnostalgic said:


> Your best bet will be a Samsung SM951 AHCI version. It will boot Windows as well (mine does) if you install Clover on another HD or even a USB pen drive.
> (HP Z400 Xeon W3690 2x SM951 Raid Zero)



Sounds good, but only what I want is to use PCI-E / M.2 SSD drive for games. That should not be a problem at all?


----------



## Flyke (Nov 18, 2020)

strazbk said:


> Sounds good, but only what I want is to use PCI-E / M.2 SSD drive for games. That should not be a problem at all?



That should work 'out of the box'. I was considering doing the same when I recently bought an NVMe M.2. But I decided I wanted a clean install and use it as system drive for that little extra performance. Glad I did. Still wondering why Crystaldiskmark wont let me get better performance though.


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## Vario (Nov 24, 2020)

I bought a used Samsung 950 Pro 512 for around $60 and it boots perfectly on P6X58DE out of the box with a $10 Inateck M2 adapter (actually rather nice adapter for the price, included heatsink, screw driver, thermal strips) https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Adapter-Heatsink-Profile-SC05001-BK-US/dp/B07ZTCRMTM. Pretty happy so far.

Been running it without the heatsink and the 950 Pro mostly sits around 40 C so I won't put the heatsink on it.


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## Rattyto (Apr 19, 2021)

Hi all, i have an ASUS Rampage III Extreme Motherboard x58 and would like to replace my RevoDrive 3 with the Delock 89961. As I understand, this should also work with the Samsung 970 Pro through the BIOS for booting without DUET/Refind. Correct? Would a hardware Raid 0 with 2 NVME storages also work?


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