I've finished building my PC, but the SSD isn't working and the motherboard shows a solid red indicator. The drive I bought is a SATA 3 M.2 SSD, and my motherboard is an MSI PRO A620M-A WiFi. How can I confirm whether the M.2 slot supports SATA drives or only NVMe?
3 Answers
It looks like the M.2 slots on that board are NVMe-only. You’ll need to replace the SATA M.2 drive with an NVMe model if you want to install it directly into the motherboard.
You can still use the SATA M.2 SSD with a compatible adapter. Some adapters connect it to a regular motherboard SATA port and require SATA power, while others use a PCIe slot. However, buying an NVMe SSD is usually simpler and will provide better performance.
An adapter might be worth considering instead of replacing the drive.
Check the motherboard manual or specifications for the M.2 slot’s supported interfaces. This board’s M.2 slot appears to support PCIe/NVMe drives rather than SATA M.2 drives. The connector keying is also a clue: SATA M.2 drives commonly have two notches, while many NVMe drives have one.
I checked the connector and mine has two notches, so it looks like the slot and SSD aren’t compatible.
I may just sell this one and buy an NVMe drive instead.