Seeking Advice for installing a 960 EVO M.2 NVMe to an ASUS Sabertooth Z170

[BonzaiDuck]

Over the last two months or so, I think I have been pondering the choices to use the M.2 slot on the Sabertooth for NVMe performance.

The options are, of course, the 960 Pro versus EVO, and the various sizes: 250GB EVO, 512GB and 1TB in either Pro or EVO flavors.

I was not eager to shell out $620 for a Pro 1TB drive when it becomes available. A Pro 512GB is feasible, but it has to accommodate a dual-boot OS in addition to what I really have in mind for it.

What I really had in mind for it was an additional use as a caching SSD for slower SATA devices using the PrimoCache software. I would also be confident that the Intel ISRT feature would work with the M.2 slot, but I really want to avoid configuring the entire system for RAID. So PrimoCache is the preferred option for me.

Since this is more or less an experiment in caching to an NVMe device, I really only need to spend $130 on a 960 EVO 250GB card. I didn't like the reseller notices: "Availability -- 2 to 4 weeks." Or "Preorder" for the January 2017 release date.

But now, the 960 EVO 250GB M.2 is immediately available from a reliable reseller. $130 -- no shipping, not tax. So I pulled the string at the checkout button.

The drive will arrive a week from today. I'm trying to sort out my configuration options, and I'm fretting over BIOS settings. I have also added to my options the use of a PCI-E adapter in an x4 slot (or slot offering x4):

Lycom DT-120-PCIe-Adapter

I need to keep as many SATA ports available as possible on my Sabertooth board. In addition to SATA_5 and _6 ports, the ports 1 and 2 are also part of SATA Express_1. The two remaining SATA ports 3 and 4 are also part of SATA Express_2.

There is also a BIOS selection between [M.2] and [PCI Express] mode. If M.2 is selected, my understanding is that the M.2 drive in the motherboard M.2 slot shares bandwidth with SATA Express_1. Now -- I could shuffle my drive assignments around so that remaining SATA drives are connected to ports 3, 4, 5 and 6. That would leave the full bandwidth available for the M.2 card in the motherboard slot.

Here, I'm only guessing that fitting the 960 EVO to the Lycom card for installation in my PCI-E x4 slot or PCI-E x16_2 will avoid all this trouble with shared bandwidth, use of SATA ports 1 and 2, etc.

I guess I want someone to lay it out for me: "What do I need to do?"

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Over the last two months or so, I think I have been pondering the choices to use the M.2 slot on the Sabertooth for NVMe performance.

The options are, of course, the 960 Pro versus EVO, and the various sizes: 250GB EVO, 512GB and 1TB in either Pro or EVO flavors.

I was not eager to shell out $620 for a Pro 1TB drive when it becomes available. A Pro 512GB is feasible, but it has to accommodate a dual-boot OS in addition to what I really have in mind for it.

What I really had in mind for it was an additional use as a caching SSD for slower SATA devices using the PrimoCache software. I would also be confident that the Intel ISRT feature would work with the M.2 slot, but I really want to avoid configuring the entire system for RAID. So PrimoCache is the preferred option for me.

Since this is more or less an experiment in caching to an NVMe device, I really only need to spend $130 on a 960 EVO 250GB card. I didn't like the reseller notices: "Availability -- 2 to 4 weeks." Or "Preorder" for the January 2017 release date.

But now, the 960 EVO 250GB M.2 is immediately available from a reliable reseller. $130 -- no shipping, not tax. So I pulled the string at the checkout button.

The drive will arrive a week from today. I'm trying to sort out my configuration options, and I'm fretting over BIOS settings. I have also added to my options the use of a PCI-E adapter in an x4 slot (or slot offering x4):

Lycom DT-120-PCIe-Adapter

I need to keep as many SATA ports available as possible on my Sabertooth board. In addition to SATA_5 and _6 ports, the ports 1 and 2 are also part of SATA Express_1. The two remaining SATA ports 3 and 4 are also part of SATA Express_2.

There is also a BIOS selection between [M.2] and [PCI Express] mode. If M.2 is selected, my understanding is that the M.2 drive in the motherboard M.2 slot shares bandwidth with SATA Express_1. Now -- I could shuffle my drive assignments around so that remaining SATA drives are connected to ports 3, 4, 5 and 6. That would leave the full bandwidth available for the M.2 card in the motherboard slot.

Here, I'm only guessing that fitting the 960 EVO to the Lycom card for installation in my PCI-E x4 slot or PCI-E x16_2 will avoid all this trouble with shared bandwidth, use of SATA ports 1 and 2, etc.

I guess I want someone to lay it out for me: "What do I need to do?"

Probably shouldn't have wasted readers' time with this thread and post. I may have read various articles about NVMe, PCI-Express and SATA-Express, but I was still confused when faced with the situation.

Here's what I understand now.

If I use the mobo M.2 slot, it will either share bandwidth with, or make unfunctional the SATA1 and SATA2 ports that are two of the three plugs for SATA-Express_1. The skinny on the street says that -- ignoring this fact -- performance isn't up to snuff for NVMe drives thus deployed.

the PCI-E "x16_3" (x4) slot will only work as x2 unless x4 is selected in BIOS, which then makes useless the SATA5 and SATA6 motherboard ports.

This latter approach is the way to go. If you need extra SATA ports, you can buy a PCIE x1 SATA controller.