ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 & WD Black 512GB SSD - M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe inquiry

[Beto Garcia]

Greetings Anandtech,
I have the following configuration:
Motherboard ASUS SABERTOOTH X79, with BIOS 2104 (2012/08/14),
CPU Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-3930K CPU @ 3.20GHz,
RAM G Skill RipjawsZ F3-17000CL9-4GBZH (x4 : 16 GB).
I want to request your valuable help with the following inquiry: I am interested in buying the WD Black 512GB SSD - M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe (WDS512G1X0C) and I need to know:
1. Is it compatible with my Motherboard ?,
2. What are the requirements (BIOS update, PCIe adapter, etc.) and instructions for it to be compatible and install it as a Boot drive?
Thanking the attention.

 

[nosirrahx]

There is no native support as there is no M.2 NVMe connector on your board.

I did some quick checking and while you can use an PCIe->M.2 adapter it will not be bootable.

There is a thread where a user seems to have been able to work around this limitation but the thread mentions modifying the BIOS:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3379376/sabertooth-x79-motherboard-pcie-converter.html

 

[Harry_Wild]

There is no native support as there is no M.2 NVMe connector on your board.

I did some quick checking and while you can use an PCIe->M.2 adapter it will not be bootable.

There is a thread where a user seems to have been able to work around this limitation but the thread mentions modifying the BIOS:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3379376/sabertooth-x79-motherboard-pcie-converter.html

A PCIe->M.2 that is not bootable is a waste!

 

[nosirrahx]

A PCIe->M.2 that is not bootable is a waste!

I tend to agree.

 

[Beto Garcia]

Thank you very much for your valuable answer, I will take it into account (if only the chipset of my motherboard was 3 or 4 years more recent ...). Modifying the BIOS sounds complicated and dangerous, it could potentially render the motherboard unusable.
Based on this information, I will have to opt for a standard SATA SSD; I need your valuable professional opinion on which of the following SSDs you recommend to install the OS (Windows 10 PRO) and the main programs (taking into account the quality of the product, the cost per GB and the features it offers):
1) SAMSUNG 860 EVO Series 2.5" 500GB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) [MZ-76E500B / AM]
2) Intel SSD 545s 2.5" 512GB SATA Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) [SSDSC2KW512G8X1] (64-Layer TLC 3D NAND)
3) WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB PC SSD - SATA III 6 Gb / s 2.5" / 7mm Solid State Drive - [WDS500G2B0A]
Regards,

 

[nosirrahx]

1) SAMSUNG 860 <- my personal choice for all new builds that require SATA SSD.
2) Intel SSD 545s <- I love Intel drives but only like NVMe and Optane and only for high end systems
3) WD Blue <- I don't have personal experience with them

 

[footballrunner800]

I have the same motherboard and I modified the bios for nvme. It’s the latest bios on the website I have never tested booting from nvme (haven’t bought a drive yet) but it should work. PM me if you want a copy of it. I also updated other modules like the ME.

 

[Shmee]

Crucial MX500 is currently seeming like the best price per performance SATA drive, if you decide to skip the NVMe. 860 Evo is honestly more pricey than it should be, and the WD blue is ok but not quite as good as the MX500. The blue tends to be in line with the now obsolete MX300.

 

[Beto Garcia]

I have the same motherboard and I modified the bios for nvme. It’s the latest bios on the website I have never tested booting from nvme (haven’t bought a drive yet) but it should work. PM me if you want a copy of it. I also updated other modules like the ME.

Thank you footballrunner800. Yes, want a copy of your modified bios for nvme, but I am unable to sent PMs/conversations since I don't have 25 posts yet.

Crucial MX500 is currently seeming like the best price per performance SATA drive, if you decide to skip the NVMe. 860 Evo is honestly more pricey than it should be, and the WD blue is ok but not quite as good as the MX500. The blue tends to be in line with the now obsolete MX300.

Thank you Shmee for the information, I appreciate it.

 

[Beto Garcia]

Greetings,


I decided to give it a try. So, I’ve updated my ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 motherboard with the Modified BIOS 4801 using the ASUS BIOS Flashback and configured the BIOS settings (OS Type Windows UEFI, Boot from PCI-E: UEFI driver 1st, Fast boot OFF). I’ve purchased and installed the Samsung SSD 960 Evo 500GB on the 2nd PCIe slot of my ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 motherboard to be used as Windows boot drive using an Mailiya M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter. All other drives were disconnected. When initially installing Windows 10 Pro 64-bit using the USB drive (Where do you want to install windows? screen) I have encountered the following issue:

“Windows can’t be installed on drive 0 partition 1”

I have tried formatting the drive but no positive result. There’s an option to “Load driver” but don’t know how to use it.

The 960 Evo is working since it shows up as a normal drive under Windows 7 Ultimate install.

Please see attached pictures for error and BIOS settings.

https://onedrive.live.com/edit.aspx...3A140!463&parId=FAD3FDE2EF53A140!133&app=Word

Please, I really need your valuable help with this matter. Thanks in advance.

 

[adilux]

Hi Beto, have you had any luck booting into the m.2? what if you disable UEFI and SAFE boot?
if it's speed you're after, an alternative would be to get a regular large SATA drive and get an optane memory in place of the NVMe and that'll speed up your sata read/writes.

 

[Shmee]

The 960 Evo is a initialized as a GPT drive, correct? Be sure of that. Also, I believe UEFI is required. Safe boot should be irrelevant. I don't think his board supports optane, only Z270 and later IIRC.