Hey everyone! I'm really new to PC hardware, so I hope you can help me out. I've got a Gigabyte B150M-Power motherboard, and I recently bought a WD Black 2TB SSD for extra storage. However, I'm not sure if my motherboard has the M.2 port required for NVMe drives. I've done some searching, but I can't find a clear answer. I'm considering upgrading my motherboard if necessary, but since I'm using an older 6th generation Intel Core CPU, that can get pricey. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm kind of clueless with PC parts!
3 Answers
Unfortunately, if you're using a GPU, you won't be able to use that NVMe SSD with the B150M board. If you aren't using a graphics card, you could potentially add a PCIe M.2 expansion card. Otherwise, I'd suggest going for a SATA SSD instead since that's what will work best with your board’s layout. Oh, and if you have an HDD, consider making the SSD your main drive for the OS!
To start off, can you confirm the full name of your motherboard? There might be some confusion as I couldn't find a board called B150M-Power either. Sometimes, it's tricky to locate specific models on the manufacturer's website.
That is the name! I had trouble finding anything about it myself. Nothing about it on the Gigabyte website.
No, your motherboard doesn't support NVMe SSDs directly, especially if it only has a GPU slot without any expansion slots for M.2. You might want to consider returning the NVMe drive and going for a SATA SSD instead to stay compatible with your setup.
I figured that would probably be my fate. Thanks for your help!
Thanks for the advice! I think that's definitely the route I'm going to take.