Z440 with M.2 NVMe bootable OS

[SESA207478]

I'd like to install a Samsung 1TB 970 EVO NVMe M.2 internal SSD with PCIe 3.0 x4 interface as the bootable disk and OS.

My Z440 has an Intel Chipset C612. The Chipset supports..

2 PCIe x16 Gen 3
1 PCIe x8 Gen 3

1 PCIe x1 Gen 2

1 PCIe x4 Gen 2
1 PCI Slot

Will the Z440 allow an M.2 NVMe as the bootable OS?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/81759/intel-c612-chipset.html

[old_geekster]

@SESA207478 , welcome to the forum.

I can't find any information in the specifications for the workstation that mentions a M.2 socket.  Here is the Maintenance and Service Guide.  In Chapter 1, Hardware overview, it lists all of the components of the system board, but there is no M.2 socket listed.

Please click the Thumbs up + button if I have helped you and click Accept as Solution if your problem is solved.

[matroX]

Hello.

According to my investigation (I wanted to do the same) it will not boot. Not via "raw adapter', that only sticks to PCI-E and has no own electronics. 

I think it would only boot if you have dedicated PCI-E drive, even if that still uses NMVe disk inside.

Will be glad if you had some tests and have updates.

[SESA207478 · Accepted solution]

The Z440 doesn't have an on-board M2 socket but will support a bootable OS on NVMe M.2 with an adapter. The Z400 and 420 will not. The adapter I'm using is from StarTech. PCI Express x4 to M.2 PCIe SSD Adapter MFR #PEX4M2E1

B&H #STPEX4M2E1

HP offers 3 similar adapters, referred to as Turbo Drive. A while back it was unclear if the adapters would support a 1TB NVME card. When looking today it appears the G2s support 1TB.

Z Turbo Drive (Supports up to 512GB)

Z Turbo Drive G2 (Supports up to 1TB)

Z Turbo Drive G2 Quad (Supports up to 1TB)

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/z-turbo-drive-g2.html

[matroX]

Tell us what READ / WRITE speed you achieved with this disk connected to PCI-e.

[SESA207478]

The speed isn't as high when compared to mounting directly to a PCIe socket but I believe measures higher than a standard SSD when connected using a SATA cable.

Sequential
Read 1,020
Write 842
Mixed 885

SusWrite 852

Random 4k
4K Read 45.3
4K Write 107
4K Mixed 68.4

Deep queue 4k
DQ Read 806
DQ Write 660
DQ Mixed 744

[matroX]

Hi.

Here is for comparision 2x Intel 530 SSD in RAID 0.