Z97X Fatal1ty Killer for M.2 Drive Motherboard
Z97X Fatal1ty Killer for M.2 Drive Motherboard
Hey, I'm working on a budget PC using the motherboard you mentioned. Everything else is set, but the SSD part is tricky. I know it's SATAe or PCIe 2.0x2, which should handle around 1,250MB/s—plenty for cheaper drives. My concerns are: A: Will this speed work with an NVMe SSD? B: Can I upgrade to more PCIe lanes (like PCIe 2.x or X4) in the BIOS? C: Which drives will stay fast even after this upgrade? I was thinking of a WD Black 2017 or Toshiba XG5 (512GB). D: Besides the crazy AsRock models, are there any Z97 boards that can boost M.2 SSD performance? I don’t want to use an adapter card and prefer keeping many free PCIe/SATA slots for future upgrades. Thanks ahead and stay safe!
A. You're able to reach those 1250mB/s on your board.
B. A PCIe M.2 adapter lets you utilize the full Gen 3 x 4 performance from your drive, though it will lower your GPU speed from x16 down to x8.
C. Most current drives will be limited by the bottleneck, so opt for a more affordable option like a 980 or a SNACK.
D. It's not really a big deal since it's a Z87 model; I don't know of a setup that uses CPU lanes for M.2 on Z87, but it might exist. Also, the actual speed won't be crucial for most tasks—generally, peak sequential speeds aren't what people need.
Before I address your queries, keep in mind that for tasks requiring heavy storage, drive speed isn't the main concern beyond SATA 3 performance. Startup times, game loads, and app responses are nearly the same between a SATA 3 SSD and a PCIe 4.0x4 SSD. A. Yes. B. No. SATA Express only supports two PCIe lanes. C. Unless you discover a significant discount on an older model, opt for a drive that isn't worrying about bottlenecks. The consistent performance will be superior, and reusing it in a newer setup won't turn the drive into an issue. D. I don't agree. You might check later models like Z97 boards, but most makers just reused SATA Express connections.
Can achieve up to 1.25GBps on this device? Yes, it should work well for your needs.