Question How to know if a mobo can boot from M2 or PCIE SSDs?

[Sunburn74]

Hello,

I'm interested in updating my PC which is a about a decade old with some components. I'm trying to figure out how to tell if a motherboard can boot from M2 or PCIE SSDS?

For example I am looking at this product an asus z390A motherboard and can't tell if it can boot from newer generation large M2 SSDs.

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

Any assistance would be appreciated in learning how to tell if a motherboard can boot from these devices.

 

[UsandThem]

Yes, it supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives. You can always put a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drive in there as well as they are backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0. However, you will be limited to PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds (which are still faster than what people need/can actually see).

I believe just about every Z390 motherboard out there has a least one M.2 slot, and can boot from NVMe drives.

 

[Sunburn74]

Yes, it supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives. You can always put a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drive in there as well as they are backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0. However, you will be limited to PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds (which are still faster than what people need/can actually see).

I believe just about every Z390 motherboard out there has a least one M.2 slot, and can boot from NVMe drives.

All z390 motherboards can boot from NVME? Good to know.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Pretty-much every Intel platform from Z170 (Skylake) onwards, could boot from PCI-E NVMe slots. Likewise, with AMD AM4 since the beginning (the platform has dedicated PCI-E x4 link off of the CPU or APU - some APUs are cut down to x2, for NVMe SSDs).

Some late-model Z97 boards had M.2 NVMe slots, and even some late-model H81 boards could boot from NVMe with updated BIOS, but you had to use a physical PCI-E x4 adapter for them.

Some late-model AM3+ and FM2+ boards (ASRock's flashy red boards come to mind) had support for NVMe SSDs as well, and I think, boot support too.

MOST AM3+ boards did NOT, however.

 

[UsandThem]

All z390 motherboards can boot from NVME? Good to know.

The M.2 slot began appearing on late Z97 motherboards (although the slot was limited to slower speeds). The M.2 slot (and NVMe SSD) really began to take hold in consumer motherboards in 2015 (with the Z170 motherboards). Pretty much everything since then has supported it.

Edit: Larry beat me to it.