How To Install Windows On A PCIe SSD

There is no legitimate "copy' of a Windows install disc.

I trust that's not what you meant there.

ziko wrote: Will ALL X99 boards Support this method? I own the X99 Extreme4/3.1 with 1.2 BIOS. Officialy, only the Extreme 4, without USB 3.1 support the NVME SSD. Its my first Asrock board and i am very disappointed with it. Today it boot normaly, tomorrow freeze at Asrock logo. After reset CMOS it boots again. How long, its a luck of the draw. Boot time is horrible, CSM disbled and Win 10 x64 fast boot enabled. My first and last Asrock product, for shure. Will now try to go along with this board. My boot drive is a OCZ Revodrive 3 x2 PCIe. No issue, only the boot problem and overclocking issue from board.   Can anyone answer my question about the M2 boot drive on my Extreme 4/3.1?

Welcome to the world of X99 boards.

ALL X99 boards are slow to POST, which is the process that happens before the actual OS loading/boot occurs. Even with CSM Disabled and Fast Boot Enabled.

If you check other forums with threads about other X99 boards, you will find complaints about the "boot time". The startup time of any PC includes BOTH the POST time, followed by the actual OS boot time. It is the POST time on X99 boards that is slower than other chipset boards.

When you hear the single POST Ok beep from the board, that is when the OS boot process begins.

There is a secret about "Fast Boot", it is actually Fast POST. Using Fast Boot causes the POST process to be shorter (or faster), which gives the affect of the overall PC startup process to be faster. Still, X99 boards are slow to POST, my X99 board is also slow to start.

Next, you use an OCZ Revo drive, have you used it with any other board?

Revo drives boot slow because they must load their special driver, which you must have installed, right? Revo drives are one of the non-standard types of PCIe drives, and are not related to the new PCIe SSDs, except for the use of the PCIe interface. They are really SATA SSDs that use the PCIe interface.

Your X99 Extreme4/3.1 board supports using the new PCIe SSDs. I use a Samsung SM951 on my X99 Extreme6/3.1 as the OS drive with Windows 10.

You are wondering about this because you can't find any information in the specifications or UEFI/BIOS versions about adding NVMe support. My X99 board also does not have that information.

The reason why we can't find this information is this: Our X99 boards are the new 3.1 models, that were released after the original ASRock X99 boards. Our X99 boards have ALL of the UEFI/BIOS updates in their FIRST UEFI version that the older X99 boards have had since their release.

Unfortunately, there is no information in our board's specifications or UEFI versions that tell us about this. But I assure you your X99 board will support a PCIe NVMe SSD, and you can use the methods in this thread to install and use one as your boot/OS drive.

I'll be happy to help you if you have any issues with a PCIe NVMe SSD.

mptock wrote: Still a little confused. The z170 extreme3 bios does not support NVME? Correct? So my Samsung 950 pro is running off AHCI protocol instead? The support that is does offer is only to be able to boot from a NVME

ALL ASRock Z170 boards support NVMe PCIe SSDs, including the Z170 Extreme3. You can boot an OS from a 950 Pro with your board.

Check the Specifications page of your board, and scroll down to the Slots and Storage information:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z170%20Extreme3/?cat=Specifications

You won't see any information about adding NVMe support in the UEFI/BIOS version listings of ASRock Z170 boards, simply because they support NVMe out of the box with any UEFI version.

Mother boards that came before the Intel 100 series chipsets will have information about supporting NVMe in their UEFI updates, if that support was added. The older boards, when released, did not have NVMe support out of the box.

An NVMe SSD, like the 950 Pro, cannot use the AHCI protocol, it is programmed within its firmware to use the NVMe protocol, nothing can change that.

Have you installed the Samsung NVMe driver? What OS are you using?

Are you having a problem with your 950 Pro as a boot/OS drive?

Will ALL X99 boards Support this method?