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MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard Review Comment Thread

Hi, first of all I'd like to thank you for writing this great review.
I have actually purchased this motherboard before reading this review and have now come across an issue which you mentioned in this review and could use some more clarification.

I have a only one SSD that I wish to install and I tried to place it in the second M.2 slot. Because as you mentioned in your review, the first slot is quite close to the CPU and the first GPU slot so it could have some issues involving heat. Therefore I wish to use the bottom M.2 slot to avoid this issue.

However when booting the computer it seems to be unable to find the SSD. At first i thought that this was a factory issue but then I started googling and ended up on your extremely detailed review. Now I don't completely understand the following bit, but I believe this is at the root of my problem.
standard M.2 drive can be added into this top M.2 port even if both the main and secondary PCI-E x16 slots are already populated. Of course, the bottom M.2 port is not so lucky, but that is why MSI has included two of these future-proof ports for users.
Click to expand...

I'm too scared to do something wrong so before I try something I'd like to consult with someone more experienced.

To better understand the environment I'm trying to set up I'll explain a little more in detail.
  • The single SSD I'm trying to install is: ADATA Premier Pro SP900 M.2 2280, 256 GB SSD
  • Next to the SSD I'm have an SSHD installed which is found but might be the cause of problem. As it's connected with by SATA. (Seagate Desktop SSHD, 2 TB)
  • The reason I want the SSD in the bottom M.2 slot is because I have a rather large GPU (ASUS STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5) above, now I don't know if this might be the cause but just to be certain I thought i'd mentioned it anyway.

What do you think could be the main cause of this problem and how would you go about fixing it? What ports causes the bottom M.2 slot to stop working or is this not possible when having only 1 SSD and 1 HD? Or do you think I should just place the SSD in the top slot?
 
So, according to the table here, your situation is depicted by the 6th column from left to right which says you loose sata ports 5 and 6. You just need to find out the correct boot settings so you can install the OS on the M.2 SSD.
 
MARSTG said:
So, according to the table here, your situation is depicted by the 6th column from left to right which says you loose sata ports 5 and 6. You just need to find out the correct boot settings so you can install the OS on the M.2 SSD.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your quick response. I've actually stumbled upon it just after I posted and now I have a better understanding of what port is which number. This helps a lot. I just find it quite confusing that the M.2 is the one that becomes unavailable and not the other way around. As it is shown in the manual you would assume it's port 5 and 6 that would become unavailable, but I guess this goes both ways?

As i actually believe that only the SATA 2 port is being used by the SSHD which would mean that everything is connected correctly. How can I make the SSD appear when trying to install the OS (Windows 10), could you tell me which settings or where in the BIOS I need to change to allow the SSD to be detected?

I can't check which port is connected right now as I am at work, but if I'll give an update later tonight if the problem persists or if it got solved and what did it exactly.

I really appreciate the help, thanks!
 
Last edited:
well, when you install the OS one of the first windows to appear will be that with the available drives so you just need to start your OS install the regular way, by optical disk or USB stick and take it from there.
 
MARSTG said:
well, when you install the OS one of the first windows to appear will be that with the available drives so you just need to start your OS install the regular way, by optical disk or USB stick and take it from there.
Click to expand...

This is where the SSD is missing from. I'd like to install the OS on the SSD but it only shows the SSHD as available driver.

You don't know of any setting in the BIOS that could make it appear?

I know for a fact that the SSD is working, because I have tested it (afterwards) on a different motherboard. I haven't tested it on the top M.2 slot but even if it works there, then this must mean that the bottom M.2 slot has to be defect, which would suck horribly. I really hope there is some setting I can change to make it show up.
 
SKYMTL said:
Have you tried with JUST the SSD installed?
Click to expand...

This is 100% true and a rule-of-thumb. You'll see that veterans of Windows will always install an OS with ONLY the drive they want the OS on. (Probably because they have experience with formatting the wrong drive :ph34r: but I've never had that happen :ph34r:)
 
I think you need to activate a specific option that looks like this in your bios. This screenshot is from an Asus mobo but you should have something similar.

I looked at the user manual (second screenshot) and I think the info you need is at page 96 which deals with the creation of a bootable RAID volume using 2 x M.2 SSDs. It is not your case, but instead of enabling the RAID mode you should enable AHCI mode at step 6.
 

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Ok, still havent resolved the issue.

The SSD doesn't show up when installing the OS or in the BIOS. I've tried placing it in the first M.2 slot and that didn't help.
I've tried removing the HDD (SSHD) so only with the SSD and still didn't get detected. I've tried removing the GPU, didn't make a difference either.
So the SSD just doesn't get detected in either of the M.2 slots.

I'm 100% positive that the SSD actually works as I tested with a friend whom has the exactly same motherboard. And there it gets detected without any problem.
So the SSD isn't the problem and it is compatible with the motherboard but for some strange reason it just won't be detected on my motherboard.

I guess it has to be a factory defect of my motherboard. Or do you believe there is another explanation or solution I'm overseeing?
I've tried almost every possible setup that I could think of to get it running.
 
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