Comments on: Understanding M.2 RAID NVMe SSD Boot and 2/3x M.2 NVME SSD RAID0 Tested

By: GraniteStateColin

GraniteStateColin — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 17:23:37 +0000

Just a note that at least with the newer AS-Rock motherboards (Z390 Phantom Gaming 6 in particular), you only need to turn on CSM to enable UEFI, after that, you can turn CSM back off (UEFI stays on), which improves some other areas.

This allowed me to setup up a bootable RAID1 system using NVMe drives. Fast and bulletproof reliable (RAID5 would be cheaper per GB, albeit with slower write speeds, but the Phantom Gaming 6 board only includes 2 M.2 ports, not enough for RAID5).

By: Samuel Fowler

Samuel Fowler — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:20:00 +0000

In reply to Karl Ermatinger. Yes, these Asrock boards are shit when it comes to raid, I have a brand new z270 killer sli/ac board and brand new 2x 960Pro 512gb m.2 and same story, I create the array in bios, no issue.. Then I go to install the latest Win10x64 with piles of different drivers from everywhere I look and not ever seen! Garbage, I'll never own another shit Asrock board ever.

By: roadkill612

roadkill612 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 19:53:00 +0000

In reply to Technopeon. A comparitive test using the IGP is an excellent suggestion.

By: Invi

Invi — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 12:04:00 +0000

In reply to Karl Ermatinger.

Thank you for that. I had and im kinda still having trouble.
For me after i build the RAID i could not choose to boot from it after i copied over the contents from my former OS ssd.
I then tried installing from the windows 10 disk and could again not see the SSD in the Overview. After using the RAID Driver like you described it finally showed up and i could install it fine and boot fine from the m2 SSDs. Interesting fact. The Entry in the Bios says Windows Boot Manager instead of Intel Raid which has to do with the UEFI Installation i guess.

Unfortunately this would mean i would have to start from scratch which im not really fond of so im still trying to find a way to copy my old Windows to the M2 SSDs.
Unfortunately it wont show up in the Bios then. I guess it has to do with being a Legacy installation instead of a UEFI one as the new one.

By: Technopeon

Technopeon — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 16:09:00 +0000

I guess I really got lucky. I am using three bit older AHCI PCIe gen3 x4 drives (Samsung SM951) in windows software RAID 0 (boot from another single M.2 gen3 slot on the motherboard) and I’m getting over 6GB/s sequential read. The 3 SSD’s in the array are installed on three PCIe x4 to M.2 adapters in three of my PCIe slots (I only use one video card). My DMI chip is only v2.7 so I must be bypassing it. Another thing is that my CPU has 40 PCIe lanes (I7-5960X on X99). The I7-6700K used in this article only has 16 PCIe lanes. The M.2 slots on their setup might have been contending for lanes when trying to read the stripes on the drives simultaneously. Perhaps using the Intel graphics in the processor would free up some lanes.

Here’s the PCIe to M.2 adapter I used:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=12K-017B-00001

The first NVMe RAID adapter (U.2):
https://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-rr3800a-overview.htm