PCI-E card for SSD not working properly!?

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by DarKSeeD, Nov 30, 2016.

  1. DarKSeeD

    DarKSeeD BOG Translator

    I've bought a PCI-E 2x M.2 Card (PCI-E/Sata) from i-Tec. It has two M.2 slots and unfortunately only the SATA slot works after adding a SATA cable. I couldn't use the PCI-E slot for unknown reasons. The SSDs I've used have B+M keys so in theory they should work either way.
    I'm stuck between sending this card back or purchase another M.2 SSD with only B or M key. The motherboard used is a MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon. The SSDs are: Crucial MX300 M.2 2280 - CT275MX300SSD4 - 275GB and a ADATA M.2 2280 - SP900NS38 - 128GB.
    I forgot to mention that I want to use a PCI-E card because when I use the onboard M.2 it the SATA ports 5 and 6 from the motherboard are disabled and that is not an option for me.
    Suggestions? Thank you.
     
  2. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Not too familiar with M.2 support. UEFI enabled?
     
  3. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Wow, I didn't know M2 can be so complicated. I thought mSATA and M.2 is already complicated enough...
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2016
  4. DarKSeeD

    DarKSeeD BOG Translator

    Tried with UEFI on/off. Tried another computer. Same result. It's the second card I'm testing! Guess I'll return it and go for the third. Then I'll post back.
     
  5. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Yeah, I can't help you much. I haven't have a M.2 or mSATA setup yet.
     
  6. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    After reading your post again, just want to clarify something. I know that Crucial MX300 M.2 2280 is a SATA type M.2. I'm not sure about ADATA M.2 2280 but it seems to be SATA type as well. You probably need an SSD with M.2 PCIe to use the PCIe slot like a Samsung 950 Pro or Plextor M6E.
     
  7. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    I just read up some stuffs. I'm not an expert, but here's what I have interpreted.
    You have 2 M.2 slots on your PCI-E 2x M.2 Card from i-tec.

    One slot is B-keyed for SATA protocol/interface. You will need to connect the SATA port from the card to the motherboard SATA port.

    The other slot is M-keyed and uses PCIe protocol/interface
    So you need a M.2 PCIe SSD to use the M-keyed slot. Althought your SSD is B+M keyed, it is probably a M.2 SATA.

    Have you used both M.2 SSD on your motherboard M.2 together?
     
  8. DarKSeeD

    DarKSeeD BOG Translator

    Tried all possible combinations! The SATA interface worked (with cable attached) on both SSDs but not the PCI-E. Also tried a second system - ASROCK 990FX Extreme3 with the same negative results. And yes, I've used both SSDs in the same time and also one at a time.
     
  9. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    I'm assuming you have tried the latest BIOS too.
    Did the SSD get detected in windows even though not in BIOS?
     
  10. DarKSeeD

    DarKSeeD BOG Translator

    Yes. Latest BIOS on both motherboards. After hours of searching and reading I found this on Crucial site "As with our mSATA offerings, all of Crucial's current M.2 drives are SATA-only, so even if dimensions and keying match a PCIe-only socket, the drive will not work.". Along with the reply I got from the Delock manufacturer - both SSDs are SATA only so that is the answer why the PCI-E was not detected.
     
    thickglass likes this.
  11. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Yeah, That's the confusing part is that your motherboard supports manuals says M.2 support for SATA on one slot and PCIe on the other, but you manage to run both SSD on the motherboard itself.

    I believe PCIe SSDs will state PCIe, if it doesn't state PCIe or SATA, it is most likely SATA.
     
  12. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Yup, usually pcie based m.2 ssd is much more expensive than sata version, and usually faster as well. Both pcie and sata are not interchangeable.

    Sent from my E5803 using Tapatalk
     

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