MSI First to Support NVM Express Storage on all X99/Z97/H97 Motherboards

[btarunr]

MSI, world leading in motherboards, is the world's first motherboard brand to fully support the next generation in storage control, NVM Express. All MSI motherboards sporting Intel 9 series chipsets including X99, Z97 and H97 are now supported. MSI has prepared BIOS updates which are now available for download. NVM Express is the next generation PCI Express storage standard introducing lower latency and lower power consumption but increased transfer speeds compared to the legacy AHCI controller.

MSI's R&D fine-tuned the BIOS to fully unleash all the power NVMe has to offer while supporting the majority of devices available on the market without any hassle. With the latest BIOS, MSI X99/Z97/H97 motherboards can support NVMe devices as primary storage under Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 8.1 64-bit and fully support NVMe booting. The BIOS updates can now be downloaded from the company website. The table below describes all supported models and BIOS version.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[DeNeDe]

waiting for ASUS updates...

 

[Jorge]

I hope NVM express becomes a standard as soon as possible. Producers are not very eager to offer the new tech. They always complain about the production costs. It is 2015 and still more than half of the laptops are 1366X768 pixel screens. I can not tolerate to see these laptops. On the other hand they offer 4K mobile phones with 3 - 5 inch screens. What an irony. IT companies insist on SATA III, UHS-I, USB 2.0 and 1366X768. Only Samsung has a real NVM express SSD. All the others still release slower and cheaper SATA III SSDs. Out dated technologies and parts must be left behind when the new ones occur. UHS-II support or USB 3.1 support or NVM express support will not cost thousands of Dollar. People give thousands of Dollars for idiot mobile phones. Tech Companies must not scare.

Sorry but your beliefs are not necessarily supported by the marketplace, per se as in "consumers must leave old tech behind" and purchase the trick-of-the-week hype that does not produce tangible system performance gains for many. As tech evolves the better tech will endure and the lesser will be replaced. Unless you have a PCIe based SSD NVM Express offers no advantage. PCIe 2.1 isn't even close to being saturated by most PCs so PCIe 3.0 or 3.1 is of no real advantage for many if not most PC users. Changing just for the sake of change isn't particularly useful unless you're a company/industry looking to exploit consumers.

http://komposter.com.ua/documents/NVMe-and-AHCI-as-SATA-Express-Interface-Options.pdf

As far as laptop screens are concerned, you can pretty much buy whatever screen resolution you desire - if you're willing to pay for it. Many people with smaller sized laptops have no need for anything more than 1366 x 768. Those with larger screen sizes can opt for the higher 1920 x 1080 if they desire. Those who do not desire these screens should not be forced to pay for them any more than those who desire Win 7 should be forced to accept Win 8.1.

 

[Arrakis9]

I hope NVM express becomes a standard as soon as possible. Producers are not very eager to offer the new tech. They always complain about the production costs. It is 2015 and still more than half of the laptops are 1366X768 pixel screens. I can not tolerate to see these laptops. On the other hand they offer 4K mobile phones with 3 - 5 inch screens. What an irony. IT companies insist on SATA III, UHS-I, USB 2.0 and 1366X768. Only Samsung has a real NVM express SSD. All the others still release slower and cheaper SATA III SSDs. Out dated technologies and parts must be left behind when the new ones occur. UHS-II support or USB 3.1 support or NVM express support will not cost thousands of Dollar. People give thousands of Dollars for idiot mobile phones. Tech Companies must not scare.

Thanks for Sh!t posting on another front page article about mobile phones and screen sizes on whats clearly a post about NVMe

On topic however, it looks like NVMe standard is becoming more public knowledge and once samsung gets their sm951 out to distributors i hope that other SSD manufactures will take notice and get the ball rolling towards this new tech... maybe we'll see something towards Q3 or 4? hopefully something at computex this year, fingers crossed.

 

[DeNeDe]

So this will work good with SATA Express also ? not only with pci-e ssd cards?

 

[Ricswi]

Current SM951 is ACHI only, no NVMe yet. In fact there's no consumer NVMe products right now and MSI's PR is in-descript, so not exactly sure what they are claiming first compatibility with. Intel P3700? Because that won't be used with consumer boards.

SATA Express at 1GB/s wouldn't receive real-world benefits from NVMe over ACHI. Only when you several GB/s over PCIe that those efficiencies make a diff.

 

[MpG]

True. Although this is also a chicken-egg situation - once the market is full of boards that support it, we'll start getting companies releasing stuff to take advantage of it, if only because they're desperate for a way to differentiate themselves from the hordes of generic SATA3 offerings.

 

[Ricswi]

True. Although this is also a chicken-egg situation - once the market is full of boards that support it, we'll start getting companies releasing stuff to take advantage of it, if only because they're desperate for a way to differentiate themselves from the hordes of generic SATA3 offerings.

Yes and No, You need consumer products to actually test it with to assure compatibility, so you'll end up updating your BIOS again anyway. Being first is only for show here. NVMe is definitely coming soon to consumer, but we need to get PCIE M.2 off the ground first - which is on every Z97/X99.

 

[Diagrafeas]

What about Z87 motherboards?
Z87 and Z97 are the same.