Question 1

Can you load programs on this drive along with the operating system or is it best to use for OS only?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can definitely install programs along with the OS. Since this SS drive is "wicked fast" you should try to save the extra space to install programs that traditionally takes up a lot of time to load, such as games and graphic intensive programs such as video editors. You will notice a significant time difference in the loading time. This will save you lots of time guaranteed. For additional storage you should check out the traditional HD such as the WD black edition. This card is way to expensive to just install the OS, and adding programs will NOT impact OS loading time any way; it's a win-win!

Question 2

Will this unit work in a desktop computer?
I have a pavillion-p6 2100.

Accepted Answer

I use it in my new desktop.  However, your motherboard must have an M2 PCI Express slot in order to use it.  If your computer is more than a year old it almost certainly does not have one of these.  If it is less then you need to check your motherboard specs to see if the M2 slot is listed as a feature.  This is a significant selling point for a motherboard so if it is has one it will be listed.  It is not listed it is safe to assume it does not have one.  The slot kind of looks like the slots for M-SATA drives that most motherboards have had for the past 3-4 years allowing you to add an SSD (that looks similar to this) directly to the motherboard.  If you use an M-SATA slot on a motherboard that has one then it consumes 1 or more of the SATA lines on the motherboard.  An M2 PCI Express slot does not do this, instead it uses up some of the PCI Express lanes probably limiting the number of PCI Express cards that can be added to the motherboard but it does give you the fastest SSD connection out there.

Question 3

will this work in the

MSI Z97-Gaming 5 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard?

thank you!

Accepted Answer

I bought one last year which worked in the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 board fantastically.  But off the top of my head, I know M.2 harddrives come in different lengths depending on the capacity.  So the safest way is to check the motherboard's spec to see long an m.2 drive it can accommodate and the length of this m.2 drive you are considering.  Nevertheless, again just off the top of my head, I think the 256 gb drive will fit on both the Gaming 5 and the Gaming 7 boards.

Question 4

Will this fit my Sabertooth  Z77 board?

Accepted Answer

After looking at your motherboard I would say NO. You will need a  motherboard that comes equipped with an onboard M.2 slot. Your motherboard don't have one. Look at some MBs like a Z97X-UD5H-BK to see what it looks like. Not all MB's have this slot. Having this on the board sure gives you a fast boot time, and is great for loading games fast. However SSD cards are another way to go. More and more PCIE cards slots are being used as hard drives. This is another great way to go. One day all mechanical drives will be gone.

Question 5

does this drive include a screw for installation? thanks!

Accepted Answer

No. My motherboard (Asus Z97-Pro) had the screw on the board.

Question 6

Does anyone have any experience with using this as a boot drive?  I hear it doesn't show up in BIOS or UEFI like a normal drive does.  Do I need to set up a different boot drive first?

Accepted Answer

At first my system didn't recognize it, but I just had to find the proper setting in the UEFI bios.  I was using an Asus Maximus VII Hero.  Under "Advanced", go to "Onboard Devices", then you have to change the PCI Express setting to "M.2 MODE". After a quick reboot it was recognized and booted just fine after copying the system image from my original SSD.

The one problem I did had was after switching to M.2 Mode, my pci sound card was disabled.  This was because changing to M.2 mode switches some of the PCI express lanes and dedicates them to the m.2 drive.  If there is a way around this I couldn't figure it out.  I'm not a fan of onboard sound, so I went back to using my standard SATA SSD.  I don't think this drive is significantly faster than a high end SSD to justify, at least for my taste.

Question 7

Will This work on an MSI Z97 MPower Max AC board?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it should.  From an online review of the board:  "Between the two bottom PCIe x16 slots towards the back, you can also see the new M.2 connector.  This is the second board we've seen provide this connector, and it's one of the main features that is brought to the table with the Z97 chipset."  My rig uses an Asus Maximus VII Gene MicroATX board with a similar M.2 connector.  I use the Plextor M6e PX-G256M6e M.2 as my boot drive.  Works great.

Question 8

Will this work in a MSI 990FXA GD80 v2 MB?

Accepted Answer

It should work, but you will need a M2P4A (PCIe 2.0 X4 to M.2 (NGFF) SSD Adapter) to use in one of the PCIe slots as there does not appear to be an M.2 slot provided on the motherboard itself for a direct connection.

Question 9

Will this SSD work with this motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX 95W Socket AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard?

Thanks

Accepted Answer

Nope
The only am3+ boards I see that will take the m.2 format are the Fatality boards. Though I'd give a big thumbs up to ASrock for even building new am3+ boards at this point. 
You'll need to switch up to full size ATX for these boards though. 
990fx killer would be my choice. 
the other is the
970 performance.

If you're dead set on amd, you may need to just build for fm2+

Your other/better option is to switch to intel.

Question 10

Is this the M.2 card alone or the one attached to PCI Board? I know the one attached to the board voids the warranty if I wanted to use this in a M.2 slot.

Accepted Answer

This is just the M.2 Card. If your board supports PCIe x2 on the M.2 slot, this is the drive to have

Questions & Answers