Aurora R8, M.2 and U.2

Question

just bought an R8 in sale to replace old pc. It is coming with M.2 1TB drive installed. My old pc has a U.2 2TB drive that I would like to install on the R8. Config specs does not show M & U configuration (not surprising). Has any one tried to add a U.2 drive via PCI x4 adaptor card or will the BIOS clash when choosing drive to boot from?

Kilted13 · Accepted Answer

R8 finally arrived and test with for mentioned adaptor, all looks good so far. Thanks all for advice

GTS81 · Answer

A while ago, @Anonymous installed a PCIe x4 adaptor card and put and M2 SSD on it. I'm not sure if he left another M2 SSD in the motherboard's M2 slot. What I recall is that there were no tears shed. It went well.

GTS81 · Answer

@Anonymous : If you are a cheapskate economical person like me, you can still nab a high performing TLC NAND SSD on big online retailer Cyber Monday sale. The WD SN750 1TB is going for $129 which is ~$50 less than usual and $30 less than the Samsung EVO 970.

r72019 · Answer

@Anonymous 'What do you think about the '8 PCIE data lanes that are not available' comment from the XPS forum? The would be for the XPS 8930 mobo'   All PCIe lines aren't always being used simultaneously. If there's a bottleneck, presumably the speed will just get slowed momentarily.  Another way of looking at it, why would Dell (Pegatron) bother putting a PCiE slot on the mobo, if it was not usable.  Instead, they'd just neuter it (see for example Aurora R7/8/9).

r72019 · Answer

@GTS81 'There is a Community member  over in the XPS forum claiming that  'You cannot have two M.2 NVMe SSD cards on this motherboard--that would require 8 PCIE data lanes that are not available. So, that gives me the excuse to go buy a Samsung EVO 970 M.2 SSD to test out that theory.' If you're looking for an excuse, by all means, go head.  But I will say that I have two M2 NVME PCiE SSDs on this motherboard.   Works great, no conflicts.  And both are bootable.

r72019 · Answer

@Anonymous I think you'd be fine with one PCIE NVME M2 drive in the M2 slot, and a second drive drive connected via PCiE adapter to the lower x4 slot.

Now, if one were to connect 2 PCiE NVME m2 drives in one PCiE slot via adapter in the XPS 8930, I'd say that's a no-go because: (1) the XPS 8930 doesn't have a second x8 slot; (2) it doesn't support bifurcation; otherwise (3) you could splurge on something like this bifurcation controller/adapter and have 5 PCiE M2 NVME drives in the PC (requires a second x8 slot or losing the GPU).

https://www.amazon.com/ADWITS-Adapter-Supports-Bifurcation-Compatible/dp/B07KFX8287/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+ADWITS+Quad+M.2+NVMe+SSD+PCIe+X16+Adapter%2CASM2824+PCI+Express+3.0+X16+Switch+to+4+Ports+M.2+Adapter+Card%2CSupports+RAID%2CPCIe+Bifurcation%2C4+X4+NVMe%28AHCI+Compatible%29M.2+SSD+in+Size+2242%2F2260%2F2280%2F22110&qid=1575347336&s=electronics&sr=1-1

Kilted13 · Answer

Thanks all, it will be a few weeks before the unit arrives and will give it a go with the below adaptor

https://www.startech.com/HDD/Adapters/pcie-nvme-u2-ssd-adapter~PEX4SFF8643

will post if it works

r72019 · Answer

No, the bios on the mobo does not have a setting to allow for bifurcation.  It would need to be done via the pcie adapter card (much more expensive, something like the product noted in my prior comment instead of a standard $10 adapter).

SeanA8 · Answer

Hello. Did it work?

I already have an NVME SSD on my R8 motherboard and I'd like to add two (or more) via a PCIe 8x card in my lower slot. Does the R8 support PCIe bifurcation? Can I use an adapter like this?

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-M-2-X16-V2-Threadripper/dp/B07NQBQB6Z/allinterviewscom

r72019 · Answer

The card linked in your post will not work - it will only display 1 SSD.  The others will not show up.

r72019 · Answer

Samsung 970 EvoPM981SM961

SeanA8 · Answer

Although I wish it did support that card, I really needed to know!

Thank you.

I have the RTX 2060 taking the first two slots, but still have the 4x and 8x slots. So I should be able to get away with putting two 4X PCIe to NVME adapters in there. Like two of these?

https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Adapter-Heatsink-Profile-SC05001-BK-US/dp/B07ZTCRMTM/

r72019 · Answer

Yes, that's how I did it on my PC.  GPU blocking upper two.  Nvme adapter cards in the bottom two.  They will allow the drive to run at full speed on an R7/8.

GTS81 · Answer

That's what my life is all about now. Making those numbers go higher, generation on generation.

TFurn30 · Answer

I have an Aurora R8 with an M.2 Nvme drive on the motherboard. I added the M.2 Nvme PciE x4 card with the samsung EVO 970 1tb.

Now my fans seems to blow like crazy every 10 seconds or so during gaming. Would this M.2 Pci card possibly

be causing that?

Alienware Desktops

Aurora R8, M.2 and U.2

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