Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 + M.2 PCIe SSD + Win 7

[MicaX27]

I just purchased the GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 motherboard and was planning to install the new Samsung 950 PRO M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD and make it my boot drive using Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit; has anyone gotten that to work using this motherboard? If so, any advice/tips? Oh, and did you experience any stability or boot issues with Win 7? I'm concerned because a New Egg reviewer said his Samsung M.2 SSD is not visible in the BIOS no matter what he does (and he tried all 5 available versions). I don't want to install this board if I can't use it with a Samsung M.2 PCIe SSD and Win 7.

 

[vailr]

Newest bios version:F6g - beta
http://www.station-drivers.com/inde...-z170x-gaming-g1&catid=172&Itemid=169&lang=fr
The reviewer may have been trying with an older bios version, prior to retail release of that Samsung M.2 drive.
Windows 10 can be installed and run without activation for 30 days, before reduced function kicks in.
So: might be good idea to try that on a trial basis first.
Windows 7 would require supplying an NVMe driver, whereas Windows 10 would probably include one natively.

 

[MicaX27]

The reviewer definitely has the OEM version of the Samsung M.2 SSD and since he said he "tried all 5 available versions" of the BIOS, it's probably safe to assume that he hadn't tried v6 yet. The question is, do I need to update the BIOS to v6 (which is a beta version) to get the 950 Pro SSD to work?

I had assumed that the reviewer knows about the driver issues, but am now wondering if that could be the problem. Samsung has an NVMe driver for Win 7 but as far as I know, it's only for the retail version (950 Pro). Apparently Windows also has an NVMe driver for Win 7 available for download, though the Samsung driver is supposed to be better. And yes, Win 10 has native NVMe support but I'm concerned about the forced updates, privacy issues, bugs and a couple of other things, so want to stick with Win 7 for the time being.

I really don't want to update the BIOS if I don't have to, especially not with a beta version. My plan was to install the 950 Pro SSD, then install the Samsung NVMe driver, and then use Samsung's Data Migration software to clone my OS and apps to the new M.2 SSD and hope I can get it to boot. Would love to hear from someone who has managed (or even attempted) this with the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 motherboard, the Samsung 950 PRO M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD and Windows 7!

 

[vailr]

The essential first step would be for the drive to be recognized within the bios setup. The retail product "950 Pro NVMe" would likely stand a better chance of being supported by Gigabyte's motherboard bios firmware, as compared to one of the OEM 951 SSD versions.
Samsung also offers an SSD firmware checker & updater software: "Samsung SSD Magician".
Note: there are free 3rd-party software designed to disable certain unwanted Windows 10 features, such as: "O&O ShutUp 10" & "Destroy Windows 10 Spying".

Edit: A comment dated Nov. 22 in this thread:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storag...-PCIe-SSD-Review/Internals-Testing-Methodolog
mentions lack of a bootable Windows 7 on the Asus Z170 Deluxe Motherboard.
The 950 NVMe SSD can currently be seen and used for storage as a secondary drive, but not as a bootable drive (pending release of an updated motherboard bios).

 

[CyberWiz]

I had received my system w/ the Gaming 3 and disconnected all HDD's and SSD's but leaving the SanDisk x400 256GB pcie M.2 installed. Updated to latest BIOS F5m (beta). Booted into BIOS and reviewed settings and left XMP memory profile at default (2133MHz) or Off. Whenever you Flash BIOS you should power down and unplug computer. Next remove CMOS battery for 10 minutes then put battery back in. I then Boot up and Installed Windows 7 (I have Win7 Ultimate) on USB Flash Drive providing you have already prepared the Gigabyte USB Installation Tool from their Utility section at Gigabyte's website with your copy of Windows 7 iso. After Win7 is installed go download only the DRIVERS you intend to use from Gigabyte website. With Win7 best to avoid downloading Utility programs from Gigabyte as they have various effects on Windows 7 but work very well with Windows 10 Pro. Shut down and Plug in all your HHD's and SSD's and install Windows Update then restart. Going into BIOS you can select the memory XMP for Profile 1 also can use the CPU Automatic Over Clocking Profile for 4.3,- 4.4,-4.5 and 4.6GHz. Remember using a M.2 slot will result in less SATA connections and may result in less data transfer bandwith/ rate. So I think using both (2) - M.2 means only having 2 SATA connections left out of 6. Also you will find the a second GPU card in SLI/Xfire will cover a M.2 position making it get hot
so be sure to have some real good cooling solution. This Gaming 3 mobo is for entry level and it is Gigabyte's low end gaming board. Plan on upgrading your MoBo to Gaming 7 or the G1 flagship for better performance and more suitable (better) for M.2 functionality when both M.2 slots are used on G7 and 3 on G1. The NVME type of M.2 SSD's just don't make sense to use on this poor little Gigabyte Gaming 3 mobo. Windows 7 can work with the Z170 mobo environment but best to use Microsoft Windows 10 (Hate Win10 cause of all the MS Spying and invading our Privacy.) as designed to use Win10 over Win8.1 or Win7. A very good low end gaming mobo and best suited OS is creepy Windows 10. --Enjoy ! ---

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have two ASRock Z170 Pro4S boards, each with a Samsung SM951 (OEM) PCI-E 3.0 x4 M.2 AHCI SSD. I chose the AHCI version specifically, because it should and did work with Win7 OOTB (SP1 media), without having to load a driver from a USB stick during install. (Since, with Win7 and Skylake, USB flash drives don't work until you get the drivers installed.