Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

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Lawrence Lee
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Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by Lawrence Lee » Mon Sep 07, 2015 3:13 pm


Luke M
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by Luke M » Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:53 pm

So I take it you had no problem booting from it, on an old machine? In what modes (EFI or classic)? My understanding is that most of these laptop PCIe SSDs don't have boot ROMs, so only work on newer machines with NVMe support built into the BIOS.

hmp_goose
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by hmp_goose » Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:34 pm

Luke M wrote:So I take it you had no problem booting from it, on an old machine? In what modes (EFI or classic)?
This.

Still young X58 mobos want to know! :mrgreen:

chienpourri
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by chienpourri » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:56 am

This drive is NOT NVME - it is AHCI so should be bootable on most platform. However a BIOS upgrade might be required on most older motherboards (Z87 and older). I would suggest doing some research first before spending money on this.

A really good and faster alternative is the Samsung SM951 (which for now is still AHCI, but a NVME version is almost available), however it has a tendency to heat up quite a bit so placement inside the case is crucial in order to get some airflow (or add a thermal pad).

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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by Xyvotha » Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:22 am

Nice article! Surprised to see there are no huge real world performance improvements over SATA. It seems price/performance wise I'm sticking to 2.5" for now.
Thanks!

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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by hmp_goose » Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:45 pm

chienpourri wrote:This drive is NOT NVME - it is AHCI so should be bootable on most platform. However a BIOS upgrade might be required on most older motherboards (Z87 and older).
… You don't know, ether? :cry:

Thanks, anyways …

Luke M
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by Luke M » Wed Sep 09, 2015 6:20 am

Ah, so it's AHCI. Still, if it doesn't have a boot ROM (still waiting for an answer on that), then support for it would be BIOS dependent. Even if the BIOS knows about AHCI for on-board SATA ports, it doesn't automatically mean that it supports booting from ROMless add on cards.

chienpourri
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by chienpourri » Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:59 am

For the lazy here's the 3rd result from a google search:
Kingston let us know that the Boot ROM code is on the HyperX Predator PCIe SSD and that it should be bootable on pretty much any system as long at the BIOS supports a bootable device on the PCIe slot you are wanting to place the card in. Kingston has tested the HyperX Predator PCIe SSD back to boards using the Intel P67 chipset with great success, but found Intel 5 series chipsets were a bit hit and miss. If you have an Intel P55/H55/H57 board you might want to update your core system before plopping in a cutting edge storage drive like this anyway!

Lawrence Lee
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by Lawrence Lee » Thu Sep 10, 2015 6:59 pm

Luke M wrote:So I take it you had no problem booting from it, on an old machine? In what modes (EFI or classic)? My understanding is that most of these laptop PCIe SSDs don't have boot ROMs, so only work on newer machines with NVMe support built into the BIOS.
No problems booting on our test system (Intel P67 chipset). Not sure what mode it was in.

Luke M
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Re: Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB M.2/PCI-E SSD

Post by Luke M » Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:42 pm

Ok, good. I know some of the Intel PCIe SSDs only boot in EFI mode. EFI is what retail PCs have used since Windows 8 (Microsoft requires it). You know, "secure boot" and all that crap. Most systems older than Win8 were classic boot only (the traditional method based on the original 1981 IBM PC...Master Boot Record etc).

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