Question 1

So what if you pre-ordered this, were charged for it, and it has not shipped?

Accepted Answer

We are contacting you today regarding your pre-order for the Samsung EVO M.2 SSD. Unfortunately, it has been brought to our attention that we did not receive inventory for this product by the projected release date of December 13, 2016. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Newegg is dedicated to ensuring our customers are notified and provided all necessary information to make the best shopping selection. Please keep in mind that your method of payment has not been charged for the pre-order. At the present time, we have not received a revised ETA from our vendor. You are welcome to keep your existing pre-order and it will be processed and shipped once we receive inventory, or you can instead choose to cancel your pre-order within your Newegg Account's Order History.

Question 2

Just bought this for my new threadripper config, which includes a "ASUS ROG ZENITH EXTREME" (sTR4 AMD X399). My new system screams, I love it, but alas the bios does not even see this drive. What gives? Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Accepted Answer

The only thing I can suggest is something you probably have already done, and that's update your BIOS. Also check to make sure you have all the necessary drivers installed for your mobo. I have an Asus X99 Deluxe mobo and I flashed my BIOS and I think I had to install drivers for this. Also go on Samsung's web site because you will find various drivers and software there for your M.2 drive.
Good luck and hope you get it all ironed out because you will enjoy the increased performance.

Question 3

Do these type of devices share bandwidth with PCIe video cards?  If so, what would the result be?

Accepted Answer

The simple answer is yes.  Performance depends on the  processor you have and the motherboards number of PCie  lanes.  The motherboard determines which slots are shared. If you have 14 lanes and the video cards use 14 then there will some loss in performance. It's a balancing act that the processor will handle.  If you are using an i3 vs. i7 or Xeon then you will notice the difference.  If you are using 2 or 3 video cards and the 960 then you might see a hit in video frame rates.

Question 4

Will this work in an ASRock X99-ITX/ac?

Accepted Answer

Kenneth, not having an ASRock MB I can't answer your question specifically.  But check your owner's manual and sight your board for a M.2 socket. The socket will be polarized, e.g., the device can only fit one way.  The sockets lend to located in the PCI socket section of the MB or on the board periphery. Good luck.

Question 5

Why is it selling here for $100 more dollars than when it originally went on market?

Accepted Answer

The $479 price for the 1TB is fair market value, actually (NewEgg as seller).  But there are several "Marketplace" sellers on NewEgg who are charging way more than that.  In-demand item that goes out of stock quickly and leads to price gouging.

Question 6

Whats the difference between the 960 evo and the 970 evo?

Accepted Answer

Basically prove price. The 970 is little faster but not worth the difference in price unless you are doing bleeding edge gaming or picture/video editing. Spend the money on the largest size storage instead.

Question 7

I am confused by the interface description on the ASUS ROG STRIX Z270G GAMING LGA1151 DDR4 DP HDMI M.2 mATX Motherboard with onboard AC Wifi and USB 3.1.  Will this SSD plug into that motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Short answer: yes, this will work just fine.

Long answer: Yes, the Samsung 960 EVO M.2 SSD will fit in any standard M.2 2280 M-keyed slot on motherboards.  There are actually two x4 PCIe M.2 slots on the STRIX Z270G GAMING, one fitting a max length of 80mm (2280) w/ SATA support and one fitting a max length of 110mm (22110).  Most M.2 SSDs including the 960 EVO are 80mm long.  I've seen some motherboards disable 2 regular SATA ports when both M.2 slots are occupied, so if you plan on adding a second M.2 SSD you should read the manual for the motherboard first.  The protocol is also important, as there are two types of M.2 SSDs:  SATA-based (same speeds as SATA III but different connector - and NOT the same as mSATA) and NVMe PCIe-based (much faster/lower latency but not always supported as easily with older OSes like Windows 7).  This 960 EVO is the NVMe PCIe-based kind.  Very fast!

Question 8

Can they be purchased with Win 10 pre-load?

Accepted Answer

If the manufacturer offers that option. All I saw when I purchased mine was a blank drive to which I can install my own operating system.

Question 9

what is the speed on it does it do the rated speed or is it throttled down cause i have a 2.5 ssd?

Accepted Answer

I am going to assume you are talking about a 2.5 inch SSD, otherwise, I don't know what this means.

The long answer is: 
a) SATA ports negotiate with the controller to determine the highest supported bus speed. One SATA device does not slow down other SATA devices.  
b) The question IS MOOT ANYWAY, because this is NOT SATA. This is an NVME drive.  You must have an NVME slot on your motherboard.  It is not on the SATA bus and does not interface to a SATA controller, SO NO EXISTING DRIVE WOULD SLOW IT DOWN anyway, even if (a) were not true. 
c) IF you have a slot on your motherboard,  It WILL compete with your PCI Express cards for bandwidth.  Basically,  you will lose 8 PCI express lanes with this card that will not be available to other PCI Express cards, usually graphics cards. 
d)  The limiting factor will either be the number of PCI Express lanes your motherboard makes available -or- the number of lanes available to your CPU.  Usually the CPU is limiting.  5000K (and >) Intel CPU's come in both 28 and 40 CPU lane versions.  Check your processor spec.  [I can't link to to other sites here, but Google "How do PCIe lanes work" if you don't know what I'm talking about.]

I hope you have the nvme slot.  This thing is WICKED FAST and unlike a lot of stuff enthusiasts spend bucks on, WELL worth the money.

Question 10

Does this require drivers from Samsung to work with the advertised speeds or will the windows generic driver work ok?

Accepted Answer

Drivers required.  Not to be confrontational, but why would you use Window's generic drivers? If you're worried about boot issues, boot/system drive work just fine for me and have never had a problem.

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