m.2 NVMe struggles. m.2 no worky

[aeffertz]

Hey everyone,

I've recently purchased a new SSD to take advantage of the m.2 slot on my motherboard. I have an ASUS Z170i PRO GAMING motherboard. I'm currently running an SSD and HDD over sata and a GPU in the pci-e slot.

I picked up a Western Digital Black NVMe drive (link) but I'm out of ideas to get it to work. Yes, it is fully seated and screwed into place. After hours and hours of research I've yet to make any progress... It seems like I'm missing some settings in the bios compared to other people and I've just recently installed the newest version available. Does anyone have any ideas or did I just waste $120?

Currently at wits end because it seems like this shouldn't be that difficult of a process but I'm stumped. Here's some screen shot of the bios.

https://imgur.com/a/n8fclPP

[Insta48]

Go back into bios settings and under monitor make sure m.2 is being monitored

[aeffertz]

Go back into bios settings and under monitor make sure m.2 is being monitored

Will go try this now...

[aeffertz]

Go back into bios settings and under monitor make sure m.2 is being monitored

I don’t see anything relating to m.2 under the monitor tab.


https://imgur.com/a/avKZHOO

[aeffertz]

So I've been working at this for 5 hours now and still haven't resolved a single issue. Calling the ASUS tech support line doesn't help at all and it seems like I know more about setting up a PC than they do.

I'm just super disappointed in both the product and support for ASUS products. Installing an SSD and getting it to work shouldn't be this difficult and there should at least be some documentation on which settings to turn on or what all you need to do to run an m.2 NVMe SSD, considering they boast the feature in their marketing.

Upon hours and hours of reading through Google results, it seems I'm not the only one having an issue and I've yet to find anyone solutions. It's just super frustrating and a total waste of time at this point, not to mention the money wasted on a new m.2 drive. The amount of information available on what I thought was a reputable brand is no better than some no-name brand. This is my first and will be my last ASUS product. What a joke.

[Simon LeBon]

I am pretty sure that the M.2 slot on your Z170i motherboard is not compatible with the latest NVMe Gen 3 drives.

The Z170i motherboard is more than 3 years old. THAT is when M.2 slots were still in their infancy and there were a lot of compatibility issues.

I'm not saying for sure... but I highly doubt the most current NVMe M.2 SSD will not work on that board in that slot. You might get it to work with a PCI-e card that has the latest NVMe Gen 3 slots on it.

It's not an ASUS only problem. You would have this problem with most any motherboard with an M.2 slot from 2015.

[JustinThyme]

I am pretty sure that the M.2 slot on your Z170i motherboard is not compatible with the latest NVMe Gen 3 drives.

The Z170i motherboard is more than 3 years old. THAT is when M.2 slots were still in their infancy and there were a lot of compatibility issues.

I'm not saying for sure... but I highly doubt the most current NVMe M.2 SSD will not work on that board in that slot. You might get it to work with a PCI-e card that has the latest NVMe Gen 3 slots on it.

It's not an ASUS only problem. You would have this problem with most any motherboard with an M.2 slot from 2015.

This is the truth. Your board does not support NVMe protocol. SATA and M.2 AHCI only. Very few of these were made, Samsung SM951 OEM was just about it. M2 was in its infancy ande NVMe had not yet been born. Not long after, as in less than 6 month the NVMe drives came out and are not compatible.
The SM951s now are so hard to find that they are commanding a higher price than an 970 pro.

The only option you have for that is the SM951 AHCI or an M2 Sata which is no different in performance than the 2.5 inch variety. If you go looking for the SM951 that actually gets far better performance than the SATA but no NVMe then make sure its the correct version as there are two. AHCI and NVMe.

Model starting with MZHPV is AHCI
Model starting with MZVPV is NVMe and wont work. This model is the OEM for the 960 pro

If you get a PCIe NVMe adaptor card the drive will work BUT you wont be able to boot from it.

The M2 supported drives are listed in your manual VIII, NVMe is not on the list.

https://www.quietpc.com/samsung-m2-ssds

[aeffertz]

This is the truth. Your board does not support NVMe protocol. SATA and M.2 AHCI only. Very few of these were made, Samsung SM951 OEM was just about it. M2 was in its infancy ande NVMe had not yet been born. Not long after, as in less than 6 month the NVMe drives came out and are not compatible.
The SM951s now are so hard to find that they are commanding a higher price than an 970 pro.

The only option you have for that is the SM951 AHCI or an M2 Sata which is no different in performance than the 2.5 inch variety. If you go looking for the SM951 that actually gets far better performance than the SATA but no NVMe then make sure its the correct version as there are two. AHCI and NVMe.

Model starting with MZHPV is AHCI
Model starting with MZVPV is NVMe and wont work. This model is the OEM for the 960 pro

If you get a PCIe NVMe adaptor card the drive will work BUT you wont be able to boot from it.

The M2 supported drives are listed in your manual VIII, NVMe is not on the list.

https://www.quietpc.com/samsung-m2-ssds

Than you so much for your help. I have not read anywhere saying that the m.2 on this motherboard were m.2 Sata only, I’ve read people online stating they are using NVMe m.2 drives and the manual doesn’t mention anything about it being m.2 Sata. I sincerely appreciate your help. **

[JustinThyme]

There are some that managed to mod their BIOS and got some NVMe drives to work, however, none of them got them to work properly reporting speeds well under the 2200MB/S of the AHCI M2. They got to like 800MB/s which is barely better than a 2.5 inch sata drive. I had the same with a G751 Laptop. M2 outdated in less than 6 months. That first wave of M2 PCie drives was short lived when the NVMe was released. Your manual doesn't differentiate because at time of release NVMe protocol didnt exist. Its reference to PCIe is the AHCI M2. All products released after, Z270 and up, specifically state NVMe.

I hate being the bearer of bad news but at least I saved your hair!

[aeffertz]

There are some that managed to mod their BIOS and got some NVMe drives to work, however, none of them got them to work properly reporting speeds well under the 2200MB/S of the AHCI M2. They got to like 800MB/s which is barely better than a 2.5 inch sata drive. I had the same with a G751 Laptop. M2 outdated in less than 6 months. That first wave of M2 PCie drives was short lived when the NVMe was released. Your manual doesn't differentiate because at time of release NVMe protocol didnt exist. Its reference to PCIe is the AHCI M2. All products released after, Z270 and up, specifically state NVMe.

I hate being the bearer of bad news but at least I saved your hair!

No worries! I’ll just return this drive and get a SATA m.2. Thanks again!