Question:

B450M Aorus Elite motherboard and I want to install a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD on it. However, the motherboard manual only specifies that the M2A/M2B sockets support M2 SATA or M2 PCIe SSDs, not M2 NVMe. Does this mean that my SSD is incompatible with my motherboard? Do I need to cancel my order or is there a way to make it work?

Answer:

How to install a Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD on a B450M Aorus Elite motherboard

If you have a B450M Aorus Elite motherboard and you want to install a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD on it, you might be wondering if your SSD is compatible with your motherboard. The motherboard manual only specifies that the M2A/M2B sockets support M2 SATA or M2 PCIe SSDs, not M2 NVMe. Does this mean that your SSD is incompatible with your motherboard? Do you need to cancel your order or is there a way to make it work?

The good news is that your SSD is compatible with your motherboard. You do not need to cancel your order or look for another SSD. The reason why the motherboard manual does not mention M2 NVMe is that NVMe is a protocol that runs on PCIe. Therefore, any M2 socket that supports PCIe SSDs also supports NVMe SSDs. The difference is that NVMe SSDs are faster and more efficient than PCIe SSDs, because they use a direct connection to the CPU instead of going through a chipset.

However, there are some things that you need to consider before installing your SSD on your motherboard. First, you need to choose the right M2 socket. The B450M Aorus Elite motherboard has two M2 sockets: M2A and M2B. The M2A socket supports both SATA and PCIe SSDs, while the M2B socket only supports PCIe SSDs. Since your SSD is a PCIe SSD, you can use either socket, but we recommend using the M2A socket, because it has a thermal guard that can prevent your SSD from overheating. The M2B socket does not have a thermal guard, so you might need to install a separate heatsink for your SSD.

Second, you need to enable the NVMe mode in your BIOS settings. By default, the M2 sockets on your motherboard are set to SATA mode, which means that they will not recognize your NVMe SSD. To change this, you need to enter the BIOS by pressing the Delete key when you boot up your PC. Then, go to the Peripherals tab and select the NVMe Configuration option. There, you will see the list of M2 sockets and their modes. You need to change the mode of the M2 socket that you are using from SATA to NVMe. Then, save and exit the BIOS.

Third, you need to install the SSD driver on your operating system. The Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD comes with a driver CD that you can use to install the driver. Alternatively, you can download the driver from the [Samsung website]. The driver will optimize the performance and reliability of your SSD. After installing the driver, you can use your SSD as a boot drive or a storage drive, depending on your preference.

By following these steps, you should be able to install your Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD on your B450M Aorus Elite motherboard without any problems. Enjoy the fast and smooth performance of your SSD!

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I hope this article helps you. If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know. 😊