Help with MITX z170 motherboard and m.2

Hi,

I recently found out, that the MSI z170 pro gaming board I wanted to get won't be able to fit the samsung pro 950

I have 3 more board choices in my country.. None have m.2 support..

After a little disappointment I decided ill just order the the motherboard from Amazon..

And my options are either the Asus z170i pro gaming or the Maximus Impact VIII that has a U.2 meaning ill get the Intel 750 400gb SSD.
(I have a good intel dealer and the price should be the same as samsung pro 950)

Any ideas suggestions?

I guess my only choice is either Asus z170i + samsung
I am more leaning to the ROG + Intel combo

Thanks!

6 of one half dozen of the other... do you NEED the speed of m.2 drive? If so, go that route. If not, go the other way.

Well maybe not today, but surely in the future.. I prefer adding the extra buck.. since I don't replace my pc's quite often I buy something once in 4 years.

The ROG is price the same as the MSI, and the difference between the other 3 boards is minor.. so I rather get the better board.. with more features..
anyway the price difference for example between the Samsung 850 512 to the Intel 750 / pro 950 is 100$ and I think having higher speed main disk is worth the extra cash. (random inflated prices in my country)

I think the extra speed will help me when I use my VM's, and run some heavy programs, but maybe I am wrong and the samsung 850 will be enough..

Thanks!

I don't know where you found Z170 Impact in price near to MSI Z170I Gaming. ASUS costs $250, MSI $170. Prices without tax from newegg but in Poland I have about the same difference. Most features are similar on both boards.
MSI is also great for memory overclocking and was even tested at higher memory kits ( up to 4266 in dual channel ).
Except these 2 boards, all other are just average or below average. I had ASRock Gaming but I returned it to the store because of weird behaviour and limited voltages/overclocking. I switched to MSI Z170I also because of ~30% lower price and general better board design.
MSI supports only smaller M.2 SSD but I don't think you will really see the difference. Nvme SSD have mainly faster sequential read/write while they cost 2x more per 1GB. I don't know if it's worth the price as most operations are random. I just doubt you will move really large files more often.
On the other hand there is problem to find good 2240/2260 M.2. Most smaller M.2 SSD from ADATA or other manufacturers are on slow controllers like JMicron or old SandForce. From better SSD in small M.2 form factor you can find something like Crucial MX200 but regarding performance it's about the same as standard SATA SSD ( something like Samsung 840 Pro in general use ).
Actually I had the same problem with M.2 on ITX boards and I'm using SATA SSD.

I understand..
The MSI board was my first choice because of the price + quality.. the shame it can't get a 80mm m.2, I might just get the Samsung 850 evo
I just want my board to be future proof and be able to insert an m.2 pcie or a u.2 (in the asus rog), when it becomes cheaper..

The case I bought (rvz02) limits me to two 2.5, and since I want 1 to have a 1TB HDD (for movies and music, and random games).. I taught that the m.2 will be a nice solution.
the Asus z170i Pro gaming seems to fit the needs, but I am not sure how it is in comparison to the MSI z170 or the Impact. all reviews give them 95% + so it isn't very helpful..

Is it possible to get a m.2 to u.2 adapter? and just wait for more u.2 SSDs? I have searched google a lot.. I found an Asus / MSI, but I coudn't find it in the global msi site to check the specs and if i'll be able to use it.

Thanks a lot!

Update:
I read there is such a thing as m.2 extenders? is there a way to extended the 2260 to a 2280 and then mount the samsung m.2 somwhere else in the case?

Update 2:
After thinking for a while, maybe my best decision would be to get the Asus Rog impact that has a U.2 (if I ever want a PCIE ssd) and a 500gb Samsung Evo
So then I am satisfied that my mobo will be able to get the better SSD once they become cheaper and more available (now only intel 750 is u.2)
and I didn't spend a buttload of money on a SSD, just an extra 60$ bump on the motherboard. (does that seem like a good choice?)

On MSI you can install 2280 M.2 but the only issue is that there is no mounting "hole" and it's really close to one chip on the way. I had even idea to use hot glue and check if it works but I had no free M.2 SSD that time and I used SATA SSD for my build. Now M.2 2280 is in laptop so again I can't use it.
I don't think that U.2 connector survives next generation of motherboards. I expect it to be as popular as SATA Express for which there are no SSD on the market ( or I can't find them in mass sales ).

If you have no problems with budget then get ASUS board. ROG boards have more BIOS updates and longer general support so you also pay for that. There is a chance it will overclock CPU better. MSI has high vdroop what may affect overclocking or at least it's annoying as you have to set higher CPU voltage than it needs. Except that MSI board is really good and I'm pretty much satisfied I got it. I'm using it with [email protected] and I don't really care about max OC for daily use but I already checked it runs fine with 2x8GB@3600 so has high potential.

I see, so generally speaking I can fit the m2. 2280 on to the MSI board, but I won't have a mounting hole? so it will just be less stable?

So basically its either to go with the ROG or the MSI board, I don't have a problem to add the extra 60$ for the ROG, but is really needed? if there isn't actually a problem with the MSI board and m.2 2280?
I don't think its worth the 2x price for a PCIE SSD.. I think the Samsung Evo 850 500gb has a good price tag and is pretty good.
So maybe in the future when the 950 will be cheaper ill upgrade.

And Thanks so much for the help!

All M.2 connectors are the same. The only difference is length of the PCB. However I don't think you will like to make any weird mods on your new board or SSD. M.2 SSD won't sit in the socket good without proper mount. There has to be some pressure and good contact. I couldn't find any easy way to make it and everything else is kinda risky. Like I was thinking about hot glue but I heard that Samsung NVMe SSD are getting hot so glue can melt after longer work ( or maybe not, I didn't check it ).

Woomack said:

All M.2 connectors are the same. The only difference is length of the PCB. However I don't think you will like to make any weird mods on your new board or SSD. M.2 SSD won't sit in the socket good without proper mount. There has to be some pressure and good contact. I couldn't find any easy way to make it and everything else is kinda risky. Like I was thinking about hot glue but I heard that Samsung NVMe SSD are getting hot so glue can melt after longer work ( or maybe not, I didn't check it ).

Click to expand...

Not all M.2 are the same. There are different key types for different devices.

Keys are different because of SATA, PCIE and mSATA cards. However M.2 SSD are in 2 standards and if socket supports PCIE SSD then it also supports SATA. Only SATA M.2 sockets are not supporting PCIE.
Weird is that MSI supposed to support NVMe SSD while all of them are in 2280 standard which is not officially supported on Z170I Gaming Pro.

Woomack said:

Keys are different because of SATA, PCIE and mSATA cards. However M.2 SSD are in 2 standards and if socket supports PCIE SSD then it also supports SATA. Only SATA M.2 sockets are not supporting PCIE.
Weird is that MSI supposed to support NVMe SSD while all of them are in 2280 standard which is not officially supported on Z170I Gaming Pro.

Click to expand...

What I'm talking about doesn't have to do with SSD's. Look up key E for M.2, there are no SSD's for it.

The MSI z170i supports PCIE SSD from what I read in the MSI site.

I taught maybe there is such a thing as an extender, since the only problem is the height isn't it?

for example maybe this:

http://www.amazon.com/M-2-NGFF-Extender-Cable-SATA/dp/B00M8HC0Z6

or Even a m.2 to u.2 adapter (I saw Asrock and MSI sell some)

are these options plausible?