M.2 SDD compatibility with motherboard

Aug 26, 2021
1
0
10
Visit site
Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my storage space, and was looking into getting the SAMSUNG 980 PRO 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 Internal Gaming SSD M.2 (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM).

I have a quite an older mother board, X99A GAMING 7 (MS-7885)

Researching online it shows that the motherboard M.2 compatibility is 1 x 2280 Key M(PCIe Gen3 x4/SATA).

I have read that these SSDs may not produce the maximum output based on the Motherboard, so I am just wondering if it is compatible and the results of it. I am looking to upgrade the motherboard in the future so it is fine if I am using a SSD that is not performing at full potential.

I am no expert on computers, and I am not sure if it will work with a NVMe, so looking for some advise before I make a purchase, thanks.

Here is some more motherboard specs for the X99A GAMING 7

Storage
Intel X99 Express Chipset
• 10 x SATA 6Gb/s ports (2 x ports compatible with 1 x SATA Express port)*
- SATA1~6 support RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10
- SATA7~10 ports only support IDE mode and AHCI mode.
- Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology (Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1)
• 1 x SATA Express port*
• 1 x M.2 port, supports M.2 SATA 6Gb/s module* or M.2 PCIe module up to 32Gb/s speed**
- M.2 port supports 4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length module
- M.2 PCIe module does not support RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10.
- 1 x M.2 Key M Socket supports type 2280/2260/2242 storage devices in both PCIE Gen3 x4 & SATA mode
 
That's a gen 4 PCI-E drive and your motherboard only supports up to gen 3. It would work but you wouldnt get the full speed out of it.

If you plan on upgrading CPU/motherboard /RAM then no problem, it will work at full speed in a brand new board. Not that you would notice the speed difference outside of benchmarks anyway :)