About 10 y/o hardware, rebuilt process

KrazyT · Oct 27, 2024

Hi everyone,
Sister gave me old PC parts.
Now I want to rebuild it for my father.

I've got everything, except HD.

The mainboard is an GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 (rev1.0).
It has an M.2 port.

Question : can I put any SSD in there ? Or there are any compatiblity issues ?
I had a look on the manual, but it wasn't really clear :/
(Don't really care if it's not going full speed)

Solaris17 · Oct 27, 2024

It’s a pcie m.2 so NVMe. Any normal NVMe drive should work

Macro Device · Oct 27, 2024

Yeah, NVMe works just fine, tested that myself on the latest firmware. Speed seemed pretty much optimal. Never tested other kinds of m.2 SSDs on this board though.

KrazyT · Oct 27, 2024

Cool, thanks a lot, I wasn't sure !

Toothless · Oct 27, 2024

It'll work but not at NVME speeds. You'll cap out around 800MB/s. You probably can use a PCI to m.2 card for full bandwidth. Tested this on two Z97 boards.

Ferrum Master · Oct 27, 2024

Sis having old Z97, I am interested.

KrazyT · Oct 27, 2024

Toothless said:
It'll work but not at NVME speeds. You'll cap out around 800MB/s. You probably can use a PCI to m.2 card for full bandwidth. Tested this on two Z97 boards.

Thanks, no problemo with the speed.
It will be allright, just the OS on it and an internet browser !

Bill_Bright · Oct 27, 2024

Do your homework. I probably would not put a M.2 SSD in there simply because everything else is 10 years old. A regular SATA SSD will still run circles around the fastest hard drives.

Toothless · Oct 27, 2024

Bill_Bright said:
Do your homework. I probably would not put a M.2 SSD in there simply because everything else is 10 years old. A regular SATA SSD will still run circles around the fastest hard drives.

Haswell can absolutely keep up with NVME drives with zero issues. Just because it has a long tooth doesn't mean it's not capable. The pricing between SATA and NVME is so small that it's not a concern.

Macro Device · Oct 27, 2024

Toothless said:
You'll cap out around 800MB/s.

Only an issue if you do something specific on your machine. For basic tasks, Excel spreadsheeting and gaming, it's overqualified. OP'll be fine.

Toothless · Oct 27, 2024

Beginner Macro Device said:
Only an issue if you do something specific on your machine. For basic tasks, Excel spreadsheeting and gaming, it's overqualified. OP'll be fine.

Yes, however not everyone knows of the Z97 limits and sometimes people want the performance they pay for. At the minimum it's just making sure someone understands.

eidairaman1 · Oct 27, 2024

Upgrade the motherboard bios to last stable release before doing any drives

damric · Oct 28, 2024

Question is whether that board supports BOOTING from NVMe. I seem to recall Z97 was a bit iffy because that was new tech at the time.

Toothless · Oct 28, 2024

damric said:
Question is whether that board supports BOOTING from NVMe. I seem to recall Z97 was a bit iffy because that was new tech at the time.

It does. From board slot and PCI card.

Noci · Oct 28, 2024

Maybe I'm wrong, but looking at the QVL the M2 slot this mainboard only supports the SATA III protocol with PCIe 2.0, not NVMe as most of the M2 SSD's are nowadays (that stuff is soooo confusing ).
https://eu.crucial.com/articles/abo...four lanes for,and a more responsive computer.

They are not very clear also in the manual, but I believe you guys if it works it works

.

However PCIe SATA III should be enough for a build like this (with the intended usage), only finding a SATA III M2 SSD might be a challenge nowadays I guess.

rtwjunkie · Oct 28, 2024

damric said:
Question is whether that board supports BOOTING from NVMe. I seem to recall Z97 was a bit iffy because that was new tech at the time.

They do. You just have to be very aware of what SATA lanes you cannot use for other drives.

Noci said:
Maybe I'm wrong, but looking at the QVL the M2 slot this mainboard only supports the SATA III protocol with PCIe 2.0, not NVMe as most of the M2 SSD's are nowadays (that stuff is soooo confusing ).
https://eu.crucial.com/articles/about-ssd/m2-with-pcie-or-sata#:~:text=PCIe vs SATA&text=PCIe uses four lanes for,and a more responsive computer.

They are not very clear also in the manual, but I believe you guys if it works it works .

However PCIe SATA III should be enough for a build like this (with the intended usage), only finding a SATA III M2 SSD might be a challenge nowadays I guess.

Most are backwards compatible. Just to be extra sure, I would (and have done myself) get no newer than a gen3 M.2 drive for a Z97.

damric · Oct 28, 2024

Noci said:
Maybe I'm wrong, but looking at the QVL the M2 slot this mainboard only supports the SATA III protocol with PCIe 2.0, not NVMe as most of the M2 SSD's are nowadays (that stuff is soooo confusing ).
https://eu.crucial.com/articles/about-ssd/m2-with-pcie-or-sata#:~:text=PCIe vs SATA&text=PCIe uses four lanes for,and a more responsive computer.

They are not very clear also in the manual, but I believe you guys if it works it works .

However PCIe SATA III should be enough for a build like this (with the intended usage), only finding a SATA III M2 SSD might be a challenge nowadays I guess.

yeah I had an ASUS Z97 mini-ITX board with an M.2 slot on the back, and well that shit could be read from windows but for some reason wouldn't boot from that drive. It was so long ago though I might not be remembering right. That was back when I could afford like a 128GB drive

KrazyT · Oct 28, 2024

Bill_Bright said:
Do your homework. I probably would not put a M.2 SSD in there simply because everything else is 10 years old. A regular SATA SSD will still run circles around the fastest hard drives.

Yes I'm aware of this.
I'll put an SSD, only to get rid of cables and keep it clean, the lazy and simplest method !
If it doesn't work, i'll put a SATA SSD, it's not the end of the world

Beginner Macro Device said:
Only an issue if you do something specific on your machine. For basic tasks, Excel spreadsheeting and gaming, it's overqualified. OP'll be fine.

Hu,hu, no gaming and no excel, it's uberqualified !

eidairaman1 said:
Upgrade the motherboard bios to last stable release before doing any drives

I'll check this

lexluthermiester · Oct 28, 2024

Toothless said:
It'll work but not at NVME speeds. You'll cap out around 800MB/s. You probably can use a PCI to m.2 card for full bandwidth. Tested this on two Z97 boards.

Are you sure? That slot is a 2 lane PCIe 3.0 slot. Should do 1960MBps easy.

KrazyT said:
I'll put an SSD, only to get rid of cables and keep it clean, the lazy and simplest method !

512GB NVMe drives are $45 for a good quality model. It'll be fine. Get one, plug it in, install your OS, enjoy.

Toothless · Oct 28, 2024

lexluthermiester said:
Are you sure? That slot is a 2 lane PCIe 3.0 slot. Should do 1960MBps easy.

512GB NVMe drives are $45 for a good quality model. It'll be fine. Get one, plug it in, install your OS, enjoy.

Every NVME I've thrown into a z97 capped around 800-900MB/s. Only with a PCI card did I get full speeds.

Hyderz · Oct 28, 2024

regarding the storage for this machine i think it dont matter for sata or nvme... just buy whatever is cheapest..

SL2 · Oct 28, 2024

Noci said:
Maybe I'm wrong, but looking at the QVL the M2 slot this mainboard only supports the SATA III protocol with PCIe 2.0, not NVMe as most of the M2 SSD's are nowadays (that stuff is soooo confusing ).

Look again.

I followed your link.

I've had a Broadwell laptop, it booted from that slot, something like 800 MB/s.

Hugis · Oct 28, 2024

Screen shots from my MSI Z97 4770k system with a Samsung nvme @ PCIE2.0x2, from a few years ago.
This should be the speeds you will get, better than sata and felt very responsive.

PLAfiller · Oct 28, 2024

I'd throw and M.2 SSD in there. @KrazyT in your link is everything you need: length of the SSD: 2242/2260/2280 , standard: M-key. I just wouldn't go buying a Gen 4 SSD for a Gen 3/2 slot on the motherboard, but there are so many cheap M2 SSD within Gen3, I wouldn't even hesitate getting one.

Harlow · Oct 28, 2024

Toothless said:
Every NVME I've thrown into a z97 capped around 800-900MB/s.

Same here on an old system I use to download files.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H
CPU: i7-4770K
SSD: Crucial 1TB CT1000P3SSD8

Crystal Disk Mark 8.0.4
SEQ1M Q8T1:
791.71MB/s Read
511.81MB/s Write

i.e. only slightly faster than a 2.5" SATA drive.

With an M.2 drive installed on the GA-Z97-D3H, two of the SATA ports/SATA Express are disabled.
(M.2, SATA Express, and SATA3 4/5 connectors can only be used one at a time.
The SATA3 4/5 connectors will become unavailable when an M.2 SSD is installed.)

Processor	Intel i7 77OOK
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aorus something
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12S dual fan
Memory	Ballistix 32 Go
Video Card(s)	MSI 3060 Gaming X
Storage	Mixed bag of M2 SSD and SATA SSD
Display(s)	MSI 34" 3440x1440 Artimys 343CQR
Case	Old Corsair Obsidian something
Audio Device(s)	Integrated
Power Supply	Old Antec HCG 620 still running good
Mouse	Steelseries something
Keyboard	Steelseries someting too
Benchmark Scores	bench ? no time to lose with bench ! :)

System Name	RogueOne
Processor	Xeon W9-3495x
Motherboard	ASUS w790E Sage SE
Cooling	SilverStone XE360-4677
Memory	128gb Gskill Zeta R5 DDR5 RDIMMs
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 2TB WD SN850X \| 2x 8TB GAMMIX S70
Display(s)	49" Philips Evnia OLED (49M2C8900)
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 Pro Snow
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on schitt Gunnr
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-1600
Mouse	Razer Viper mini signature edition (mercury white)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Moondrop Luna lights
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11 Pro Workstation
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

System Name	DLSS / YOLO-PC / FULLRETARD
Processor	i5-12400F / 10600KF / C2D E6750
Motherboard	Gigabyte B760M DS3H / Z490 Vision D / P5GC-MX/1333
Cooling	Laminar RM1 / Gammaxx 400 / 775 Box cooler
Memory	32 GB DDR4-3200 / 16 GB DDR4-3333 / 3 GB DDR2-700
Video Card(s)	RX 6700 XT / R9 380 2 GB / 9600 GT
Storage	A couple SSDs, m.2 NVMe included / 240 GB CX1 / 500 GB HDD
Display(s)	Compit HA2704 / MSi G2712 / non-existent
Case	Matrexx 55 / Junkyard special / non-existent
Audio Device(s)	Want loud, use headphones. Want quiet, use satellites.
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1000 W / Corsair CX650M / non-existent
Mouse	Don't disturb, cheese eating in progress...
Keyboard	Makes some noise. Probably onto something.
VR HMD	I live in real reality and don't need a virtual one.
Software	Windows 11 / 10 / 8

Processor	Intel i7 77OOK
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aorus something
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12S dual fan
Memory	Ballistix 32 Go
Video Card(s)	MSI 3060 Gaming X
Storage	Mixed bag of M2 SSD and SATA SSD
Display(s)	MSI 34" 3440x1440 Artimys 343CQR
Case	Old Corsair Obsidian something
Audio Device(s)	Integrated
Power Supply	Old Antec HCG 620 still running good
Mouse	Steelseries something
Keyboard	Steelseries someting too
Benchmark Scores	bench ? no time to lose with bench ! :)

System Name	Veral
Processor	7800x3D
Motherboard	x670e Asus Crosshair Hero
Cooling	Corsair H150i RGB Elite
Memory	2x24 Klevv Cras V RGB
Video Card(s)	Powercolor 7900XTX Red Devil
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 1TB, Samsung 980 1TB, Teamgroup MP34 4TB
Display(s)	Acer Nitro XZ342CK Pbmiiphx, 2x AOC 2425W, AOC I1601FWUX
Case	Fractal Design Meshify Lite 2
Audio Device(s)	Blue Yeti + SteelSeries Arctis 5 / Samsung HW-T550
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Mouse	Corsair Nightsword
Keyboard	Corsair K55
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2
Software	Windows 11 Professional
Benchmark Scores	PEBCAK

About 10 y/o hardware, rebuilt process

KrazyT

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator

Macro Device

KrazyT

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

Ferrum Master

KrazyT

Bill_Bright

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

Macro Device

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

damric

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

Noci

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

damric

KrazyT

lexluthermiester

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

Hyderz

SL2

Hugis

Moderator

PLAfiller

Harlow

System Name	HELLSTAR
Processor	AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling	2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory	4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX. Water block. Crossflashed.
Storage	Optane 900P[Fedora] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO+SN560 1TB(W11)
Display(s)	Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s)	SMSL RAW-MDA1 DAC
Power Supply	Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software	FEDORA 41

System Name	Brightworks Systems BWS-6 E-IV
Processor	Intel Core i5-6600 @ 3.9GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 Rev 1.0
Cooling	Quality case, 2 x Fractal Design 140mm fans, stock CPU HSF
Memory	32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	EVGA GEForce GTX 1050Ti 4Gb GDDR5
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD, Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung S24E650BW LED x 2
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 550W G2 Gold
Mouse	Logitech M190
Keyboard	Microsoft Wireless Comfort 5050
Software	W10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	Main
Processor	Ryzen 5950x
Motherboard	B550 PG Velocita
Cooling	Water
Memory	Ballistix
Video Card(s)	RX 6900XT
Storage	T-FORCE CARDEA A440 PRO
Display(s)	MAG401QR
Case	QUBE 500
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Power Supply	LEADEX V 1KW
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710
Keyboard	Huntsman Elite
Software	11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://hwbot.org/user/damric/

System Name	The Dark side of the room
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	MSI MEG X570 Unify
Cooling	Custom loop watercooling (Bykski CPU-XPR-POM-M-V2, Alphacool Eisblock GPX, Freezemod PU-PWM5B18W)
Memory	GSkill Ripjaws V DDR4 3600 CL16 (4 x 16GB)
Video Card(s)	XFX Speedster QICK 319 Radeon RX 6700 XT
Storage	1 x Kingston KC3000 1024GB (boot drive) + 2 x Kingston NV2 2TB (games & storage)
Display(s)	LG 34WP65C Ultrawide 3440x1440 @ 160Hz freesync premium
Case	Thermaltake Core P90 TG (slightly modded)
Audio Device(s)	onboard Realtek® ALC1220 with Logitech Z906
Power Supply	MSI MAG A850GF 80 Plus Gold
Mouse	Generic
Keyboard	Sharkoon Skiller SGK60 (with brown Kalih switches)
Software	Windows 11 pro
Benchmark Scores	It's a form of exhibitionism...;-), but fun in a way But showing off is triggering.............

Processor	Core i9-9900k
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax ETS-T50 Black CPU cooler
Memory	32GB (2x16) Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX 4070 Ti Super OC 16GB
Storage	1x 1TB MX500 (OS); 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 2TB MX500; 1x 1TB BX500 SSD; 1x 6TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	Infievo 27" 165Hz @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-1000 Gold
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Custom
Processor	i9 9900k
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 arous master
Cooling	corsair h150i
Memory	4x8 3200mhz corsair
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 EX Gamer White OC
Storage	500gb Samsung 970 Evo PLus
Display(s)	MSi MAG341CQ
Case	Lian Li Pc-011 Dynamic
Audio Device(s)	Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply	850w Seasonic Focus Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G403
Keyboard	Logitech G110

System Name	Office / Gamer Mk IV
Processor	i5 - 12500
Motherboard	TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4
Cooling	Themalright Peerless Assassin 120 RGB
Memory	32GB (2x16) Corsair CMK32GX4M2D3600C18 "micron B die"
Video Card(s)	UHD770 / PNY 4060Ti (www.techpowerup.com/review/pny-geforce-rtx-4060-ti-verto)
Storage	SN850X - P41Plat - SN770 - 980Pro - BX500
Display(s)	Philips 246E9Q 75Hz @ 1920 * 1080
Case	Corsair Carbide 200R
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC897 (On Board)
Power Supply	Cooler Master V750 Gold v2
Mouse	Cooler Master MM712
Keyboard	Logitech S530 - mac
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	PLAHI
Processor	I5-10400
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
Cooling	120 AIO IWONGOU
Memory	32GB Corsair LPX 2400 Mhz DDR4 CL14
Video Card(s)	PNY QUADRO RTX A2000
Storage	Intel 670P 512GB
Display(s)	Philips 288E2A 28" 4K + 22" LG 1080p
Case	Silverstone Raven 03 (RV03)
Audio Device(s)	Creative Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse	Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard	REDRAGON MITRA
Software	Windows 11 Home x 64