970A-G3.1 M.2 help [Solved]

shadetree1 wrote: I wanting to install or image over the current Windows 7 X64 WMC MBR to the M.2 slot. Cannot find information if the  M.2 PCI Express Gen2 x4 (20 Gb/s) socket 3 is able to use the Gen3 x4 SSDs.  If so, what version of ssd AHCI or NVMe is supported. Only the PCI-E x16 graphics and x1 turner slots are being used.   Like to free up all 6 SATA ports for HDDs it an HTPC. Thank You for any suggestions.

Let's look at the specs for the 970A-G3.1, which is a newer model board:

1 x M.2_SSD (NGFF) Socket 3, supports type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen2 x4 (20 Gb/s)*

*If PCIE4 is occupied, M2_1 will be disabled.
The M.2 socket does not support SATA M.2 SSDs.

Since the M.2 slot does not support SATA M.2 SSDs, and the M.2 spec is Socket 3 and PCI Express, then it can be used with both NVMe and AHCI PCIe M.2 SSDs.

This means SSDs like the Samsung 950 Pro, SM951 AHCI and NVMe, SM961,  the OCZ RD400, the Intel 600p, and Plextor and HyperX M.2 SSDs, as long as they are NOT SATA M.2 SSDs, can be used in the M.2 slot. None of the specific models I listed are SATA M.2 SSDs.

While the specs do not specifically say so, these PCIe M.2 SSDs can be used as the OS drive. A few existing ASRock AMD boards with M.2 slots have had NVMe support added recently (Fatal1ty 970 Performance/3.1 for example), at the same time that the 970A-G3.1 was released, so it also must have this support.

Any of the M.2 Gen3 x4 PCIe SSDs can be used with lower bandwidth connections. Even those that are Gen2 x2 for example. They will experience lower performance if the interface is less than PCIe 3.0 x4.

The PCIe 2.0 x4 M.2 interface on the 970A-G3.1 will have the least performance reduction, better than a PCIe 3.0 x2 connection, but it won't allow the full performance of PCIe 3.0 x4.

Imaging an MBR Windows 7 installation, or a new installation of Windows 7 on a PCIe M.2 SSD is another story.

PCIe SSDs whether M.2 or PCIe slot types, require GPT formatting and the use of the Windows EFI boot loader, instead of the "legacy" boot loader that is normally used. Cloning an existing Windows 7 MBR installation to a PCIe SSD simply will not work.

Another problem is the Windows 7 installation folder/file layout has a known bug in the location of the EFI boot loader program. That can be manually fixed, but takes some work and cannot be ignored.

Installing any modern version of Windows (Win 7, 8. 8.1, 10) requires configuration in the UEFI/BIOS to cause the EFI boot loader to be used. That is discussed in my guide about installing Windows on a PCIe SSD:

http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1236&title=how-to-install-windows-on-a-pcie-ssd

Instructions for modifying the Windows 7 installation files for a "UEFI Booting" Windows installation (which means using the EFI boot loader) are included in this guide:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

CONFERMED  

Quick answer,