Simple Installation of Samsung NVMe Boot Drives in W7, W8.1, W10 systems described

[BambiBoomZ]

Hewlett-Packardians,

Given the number and variety of models- though almost all Samsung- of NVMe boot drives listed in the Passmark Peformance Test baselines for HP zX20 systems, the installation is not extraordinary:

z420

The z420, which has a motherboard nearly identical to the z620 and uses the same BIOS, a tabulation from 1,556, z420 Passmark Performance Test baselines using M.2 NVMe boot drives results:

Samsung 950 PRO: 16

Samsung SM951 NVMe: 7

"NMVE Samsung 950" : 5 (Probably = 950 PRO)

Samsung SM961 NVMe: 4

Samsung 970 EVO: 2

Samsung 970 PRO: 2

Samsung 960 PRO: 2

Samsung 960 EVO: 1

_________________________

TOTAL z420  NVMe Boot Drives  = 29  (1.8%)

z620

A tabulation of 998, z620 Passmark Performance Test baselines using M.2 NVMe boot drives results:

Samsung 950 PRO: 11

Samsung SM961 NVMe: 4

Samsung SM951 NVMe: 3   (The Samsung SM951 NVMe is also the drive used in HP Z Turbo Drive G2)

Samsung 970 EVO: 2

Intel 750 NVMe: 2

Samsung PM961  NVMe: 1

Samsung PM951 NVMe: 1

_________________________

TOTAL z620  NVMe Boot Drives  = 24 (2.4%)

z820

A tabulation of 705, z820 Passmark Performance Test baselines using M.2 NVMe boot drives results:

Samsung SM961 NVMe: 9

Samsung 950 PRO: 5

Samsung SM951 NVMe: 6   (The Samsung SM951 NVMe is also the drive used in HP Z Turbo Drive G2)

"NMVE Samsung 960" : 4

Samsung PM951 NVMe: 2

"NVMe Sabrent" : 1

_________________________

TOTAL z820  NVMe Boot Drives  = 27 (3.8%)

TOTAL M.2, NVMe drives in HP zX20-series systems in Passmark baselines = 29 + 24+ 27 = 80

While, by percentage, the proportion of NVMe boot drives in zX20 systems is quite low, this is still an indication that the installation must have some regularity to it. 

Samsung released in 2019 a document referring to the "Samsung NVM Express Driver v3.1" which adds into Device Manager / Storage controllers, the  "Samsung NVMe Controller": 

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/915sWhvT1FS.pdf

When adding the Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB to z620_2 on Windows 7 as a data drive, this driver was loaded and the "Samsung NVMe Controller" listing appeared.

A summary of the 12-page installation guide: 

0.   Agree in advance that in the event the installation of the driver causes the Earth to suddenly revolve in the opposite direction- "tests indicate only a relatively small chance", Samsung is not responsible.

1.  Check/revise some particular settings as above

2.  Install the driver, currently v.3.3:

Samsung_NVM_Express_Driver_3.3.exe:

https://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/samsung_nvm_express_driver.html

3. Confirm that in Device Manager / Storage controllers, the listing appears called, "Samsung NVMe Controller" .

Samsung must have recognized the number of potential sales of NVMe M.2 for use in existing systems and devised this installation application.  This application was released as v.3.0 in 2016 , revised to 3.1, and then again in 2019 to v.3.3 to accommodate newer designs.

BambiBoomZ

HP z620_2 (2017) (R7) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8C@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid Cooling / 64GB (HP/Samsung 8X 8GB DDR3-1866 ECC registered) / Quadro P2000 5GB _ GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB (Lycom DT-120 PCIe M.2 adapter) + HGST 7K6000 4TB + HP/HGST Enterprise 6TB / Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 sound interface + 2X Mackie MR824 / 825W PSU / Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit (HP OEM) > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)

[ Passmark Rating = 6280 / CPU rating = 17178 / 2D = 819 / 3D= 12629 / Mem = 3002 / Disk = 13751 / Single Thread Mark = 2368 [10.23.18]

HP z420_3: (2015) (R11) Xeon E5-1650 v2 (6C@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid cooling / 64GB (HP/Samsung 8X 8GB DDR3-1866 ECC registered) / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB/ HP/LSI 9212-4i > Samsung 860 EVO 500GB + HGST 4TB / ASUS Essence STX + Logitech z2300 2.1 / 600W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (HP OEM ) > Samsung 40" 4K

[Passmark System Rating: = 5644 / CPU = 15293 / 2D = 847 / 3D = 10953 / Mem = 2997 Disk = 4858 /Single Thread Mark = 2384 [6.27.19]

[DGroves]

the list bambiboomZ provided is not really accurate, as only the samsung 950 pro is a bootable nvme  as it has the necessary nvme bios extensions in it's firmware, the intel 750 has also been reported to work as a boot device if all devices including the cd/dvd is set to uefi mode but i personally can't verify this

all of the other consumer nvme listed will not work as a boot device under "ANY" OS as the z620/420/820/220 workstation models lack the necessary nvme bios extensions

however it is possible to preload the missing nvme bios code using a usb based Loader DUET/REFIND or CLOVER

passmark is unable to determine if a nvme loader is in use as that's not it's function, all it does is benchmark drive speeds so it's list of bootable  nvme drives on intel pre x99/c216 chipsets is inaccurate and should not be used to determine if a early (or any) system supports nvme as a boot device

[BambiBoomZ]

DGroves,

 The statement, "only the samsung 950 pro is a bootable nvme" represents a rejection of objective reality. Passmark baselines component / configuration reporting is automatic; the eighty zX20 systems cited are indisputably booting from the fourteen different models of M.2 NVMe drives listed. 

Of course, despite the assumption of some, anyone following this subject knows that this is not a situation of simple plug and play.

BambiBoomZ

[DGroves]

sigh,.........i'm not questioning their booting I'M QUESTIONING "HOW" THEIR BOOTING

due to how you present the data many users will think any nvme device you mention will be a simple install/format and use

and that's simply not the case

tell you what, pick any current consumer nvme ssd you posted in it's smallest/cheapest capacity and boot it on your z620 and post on this forum how/settings used to do so WITHOUT USING A NVME LOADER like DUET/REFING or Clover....... this will help many of the readers here on which ssd to buy/use