Maximus Hero X ssd question

[mojothehut]

Hey all.
So I have an Asus Maximus Hero X with a Samsung 960 pro 512gb in the top m.2 slot
I was wanting to buy another ssd to put in the second m.2 slot, for a bit more storage.
I'm looking at the 860 evo or maybe a 970 evo for kicks. I'm wondering if I need to update my bios first? Both of those models came out after my current bios, 0802. I don't want the meltdown/specter patched bios and performance loss, so this whole time I've put off updating my bios since everything runs fine now. Just a personal decision about security, I don't want to argue about it please.

So anyway, would 860/970 ssd requite a bios update or will they work fine without it?
Thanks!

 

[LTC8K6]

You don't really need to worry about performance problems with the patches, imo.
I have 2 fully patched Haswell systems, and if they slowed down any, I can't tell.

BIOS 1003 was a system performance improvement.

But anyway, I would think the SSDs will work fine without a BIOS update.

I wouldn't update the BIOS unless you had a problem.

 

[UsandThem]

They should work fine without it, but you also want to look your motherboard manual, and see if adding another M.2 drive will disable any SATA ports, disable any PCIe slots, or cause the M.2 drives to operate in a lower speed (i.e. x2 instead of x4).

Every board is different, but the manual will have a detailed page on the M.2 slots that explains what does what.

 

[mojothehut]

Well I don't use any sata ports at all, thinking about getting the 860 evo m.2 model, which is just sata anyway. I dont think one running PCIe x4 and the other running sata will choke the system too much? I only have one video card too.

 

[UsandThem]

Well I don't use any sata ports at all, thinking about getting the 860 evo m.2 model, which is just sata anyway. I dont think one running PCIe x4 and the other running sata will choke the system too much? I only have one video card too.

It won't "choke" your system, but every motherboard is different what happens when multiple M.2 devices are used. It might do nothing, or it could drop your NVMe drive's speed down from x4 to x2, which would be noticeable.

Before you buy, look in your motherboard manual for a detailed description (specific page on your M.2 slots) on what happens if you use "X here, and Y there". M.2 spec details are something you want to look at before pulling the trigger.

 

[mojothehut]

2 When the M.2_1 Socket 3 is operating in SATA mode, SATA port 1 will be disabled.
3 When the M.2_2 Socket 3 is operating in PCIEX4 mode, SATA port 5. 6 will be disabled.

That's all I could find. So right now my 960 Pro is in M.2_1 in PCIEX4
If I understand that right, it could still be in x4 while M.2_2 is in sata for the 860 evo?

 

[Campy]

From the specifications:

1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*2
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*3

Only one of the M.2 slots support SATA mode. So you will lose SATA 1, 5, 6. I believe it's also possible to run the second M.2 slot in x2 mode in order to not lose SATA 5 and 6, but obviously that will affect the performance of your 960 Pro.
However if you don't use SATA ports it's pretty irrelevant anyway.

 

[mojothehut]

Okay so. To sum it up, I should be able to run an 860 evo in my second m.2 slot (sata) without slowing down my 960pro (4x) in my first m.2 slot? =)