My motherboard only has two M.2 NVMe slots, but I already bought a third NVMe drive. I tried installing it with a PCIe expansion card, but the computer became very stuttery and crashed several times. What would be the best way to use this drive without causing stability problems?
2 Answers
If you don't have an open PCIe slot with enough bandwidth, a USB NVMe enclosure is another option. It won't perform like an internal connection, but a USB 20Gbps or 40Gbps port can still provide decent speeds for extra storage. For a simpler and more reliable alternative, you could return the NVMe drive and buy a 2.5-inch SATA SSD instead.
The crashes and stuttering suggest the expansion card may be defective, poorly made, or incompatible with your setup. A properly working NVMe adapter normally shouldn't make the system unstable, especially if the new drive isn't being used as the boot drive. Trying a better-quality adapter in a suitable PCIe slot would be worth doing.
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