Question 1

I don't need a lot of storage space, can I use this as my sole storage drive?

Accepted Answer

you can, but 256gb can be used up very quickly. It is a great drive for your operating system and few programs. But for storing files i would still recommend an additional drive, perhaps just a traditional hard drive to compliment this blazing fast drive.

Question 2

Would this product work on a MSI B250 PRO-VD? Thanks

Accepted Answer

I do not know. I have a B350 MSI  Tomahawk  and it does not work on my mb. If your mb  M.2 supports PCIe  NVme rather then  SATA it should work. I did not know the difference when I purchased the WD ssd. At lease you are doing your homework.

Question 3

Does PCIe mean I can plug it into one of my free PCIe ports and boot from it?

Accepted Answer

This SSD plugs into the M.2 slot on the motherboard not into a PCIe port or slot. After installed you must make it "bootable" by "cloning" the version of OS you are using or by installing the OS from a DVD or ISO disk to the SSD. After the SSD is made "bootable" you need to change the boot sequence in the BIOS to make the PC boot from The SSD. Sounds a lot harder than it is. Western Digital has the cloning software on their site that works great. It's called WD Acronis True Image. Hope this helps. Great device by the way!

Question 4

How do I find out if this is compatible with my motherboard or not? I have an Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 motherboard.

Accepted Answer

It's compatible with your board. Only "requirement" for this M.2 is PCI-E x4 mode capable port, but that's just to get full speed of the drive. Both of you're M.2 ports support this, I'd just advise use upper one under CPU for better cooling. :] Also, you can find this on back of MoBo box or in MoBo Manual. Either one will tell you specs of your M.2 ports. (sorry if that came off rude sounding, not my intentions in the slightest.) Cheers. hope this helps.

Question 5

Is this product compatible with the Gigabyte GA-970 AM3 motherboard?

Accepted Answer

1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x2/x1 SSD support)
  It will work.

Question 6

What kind of temps under load are you all seeing? I have a Corsair M.2 that just isn't big enough(120gb) anymore. It runs around 49°C to 56°C under load. Because of where mine mounts(Right on the back of my GPU, it gets a little hotter than if it were mounted elsewhere on the MB).

Accepted Answer

Only seeing roughly 35-40C under heavy load, though mine is under a motherboard shield at the top, so can't say what it'd be like under GPU. These ones don't tend to get to hot though, have one on ITX gaming board too and it's directly under GPU and after a few hours of gaming it's only in lower end of 40C.  (not playing AAA titles, just dungeon crawlers...)

Question 7

will this work in an hp 15-bs013dx?

Accepted Answer

I don't see an PCIe M2 connector listed in your laptop's specs on the HP website.  A SATA SSD would still provide a respectable performance boost for you, though.  I'm sure Newegg has some on sale now too.

Question 8

Windows 7 Compatibility: 
According to WD Support pages - " Windows 7 does not natively support PCIe NVMe SSDs. Using the default Windows 7 installation package and attempting to install Windows 7 on a system with a PCIe NVMe SSD will fail because no SSDs will be detected. To install Windows 7 on a PCIe NVMe SSD-based system, please consult with Microsoft for more information." 
So, is there a Windows update file or a Hotfix to make Win 7 compatible?

Accepted Answer

Yes, there is a Hotfix to make Windows 7 compatible. (Make sure you have Service Pack 1 installed on Win 7 first.)
 Get the Hotfix: Go to mic**soft support and search for "Update to add native driver support in NVM Express in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2".
After doing the Hotfix/update you can clone Windows 7 onto a PCIe NVME SSD.

To install Windows 7 directly onto a PCIe NVME SSD check out these videos:
Go to Y**tube and search for "Add NVMe driver support to Windows 7 Installation". Watch the video.
or
Go to intel support Click on Support and search for "How to Install Microsoft Windows* 7 on a PCIe* NVMe Intel® SSD" Scroll down to Method 2. Watch the video.

Question 9

Will this work on an MSI Z97s Sli Krait Motherboard?

Accepted Answer

It looks like that motherboard supports "8cm length module" or "80mm" so yes, any M.2 2280 will fit.

Question 10

Is this SSD compatible with the Acer Nitro 5 Spin? NP51551887W
Thanks.

Accepted Answer

Yes it supports M.2 NVMe so the WD Black will work great

Brand	Western Digital
Series	Black
Model	WDS256G1X0C
Device Type	Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Used For	Consumer

Form Factor	M.2 2280
Capacity	256GB
Memory Components	2D NAND
Interface	PCI-Express 3.0 x4

Max Sequential Read	Up to 2050 MBps
Max Sequential Write	Up to 700 MBps
4KB Random Read	Up to 170,000 IOPS
4KB Random Write	Up to 130,000 IOPS
MTTF	1.75M hours

Power Consumption (Idle)	50 mW (Low Power Mode PS3) 5.5 mW (Low Power Mode PS4)
Power Consumption (Active)	135 mW (Avg.)
Operating Temperature	0°C ~ +70°C
Storage Temperature	-55°C ~ +85°C
Max Shock Resistance	1,500G @ 0.5 ms half sine
Max Vibration Resistance	Operating: 5.0 gRMS, 10-2000 Hz, 3 axes Non-operating: 4.9 gRMS, 7-800 Hz, 3 axes

Height	2.23mm
Width	22.00mm
Depth	80.00mm
Weight	7.20g

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WD Black 256GB Performance SSD - M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive - WDS256G1X0C

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