booting nvme disk via pcie adapter on older machines

the new modern motherboards support NVMe SSD. don't need this mod method any more.

this mod method is for motherboards during the time of Windows 7, when NVMe revolution NOT occurred and UEFI was vague.

I have modded HP Elite 8300/Elitedesk 800 G1, SFF/twr, four in total. Just followed Paul's' guide. It worked. an average user can easily learn to do.

one thing
chipname varied PC by PC. at this point, Paul's' guide is working. but chipname varies. when modding, copy chipname right on screen. It may be different from that of Paul's guide.
HP 8300, twr vs. SFF, chipname NOT same.
HP 800 G1 DM vs. SFF vs. twr, chipname NOT same.

cost
about $30 per PC mod. SSD 512GB<$30. PCIe adapter card <$2 on ebay. I tested 512GB Intel 670P, Samsung PM961 and Toshiba. each worked fine.
If no plan to upgrade PC soon, this mod is NOT bad at all. Crystal test sees some 5X improvement, depending on CPU (i3/i5/i7, PCIe v2 to v3, 3X to 6X in my test).

clean install
these are HP PCs. I was using Windows 7/10 install media from HP Cloud Recovery. clean install no any problem. the HP install media works for HP PC only.

its beauty:
1. including install drivers needed.
2. naturally activated. no need of Window 7 key. no need of online activate.


Con:
1
After BIOS mod, most backup software cannot detect the NVMe SSD on PCIe slot. This causes a problem when backup. I was asking help for MR. indeed I tested about 3-5 backup software. none could detect (ghost MR, , , CrystalDiskInfo). At final, I got a ghost trial copy (broadcom) and did disk image then backup the image.
2
MBR. Its boot menu is out of order (damaged). When use, it's getting abnormal or fails. I got hard time to boot from DVD ROM (MBR).

So, if you would spend more than $30 budget, maybe could upgrade PC to HP 800 G2/3, which naturally support NVMe SSD. and easy to run backup.

when run backup software, need source disk and target disk, both visible. I mainly use Ghost 11.5 and MR.
before mod, backup is image data between SATA SSD. Ghost/MR worked fine.

on those modded PC, Ghost/MR/crystaldiskinfo cannot detect the NVMe SSD on slot. hence
1. I couldn't restore image to the NVMe SSD. I had to clean-install. (Paul must have realized the problem, he did in purpose take Samsung disk in order to run Samsung tool to restore image)
2. when clean-install and tune done, I couldn't backup the "clean" OS on NVMe SSD because Ghost/MR only detected SATA SSD. the real source disk on NVMe SSD was invisible.

it really took me awhile to detour the problem. (always clean-install on SSD is bad).
also, to examine SSD "Total HostReads/Writes", need to run Crystaldiskinfo. but on those modded PC, crystaldiskinfo couldn't detect NVMe SSD on PCIe slot. (On Paul's blog, Jim was asking me why NOT posted SSD info, I couldn't. as crystaldiskinfo didn't detect the NVMe SSD)

on my HP 800 G3, ghost does NVMe SSD disk image or backup, no any problem. but on those modded 8300/G1, it's no go.

could be. but I am NOT sure.

my present backup software are working on newer PC (HP 800 G3 NVMe SSD). but no go on those modded.
so does Crystaldiskinfo, works on any PC except those modded (when OS is up (W7 or 11) on NVme SSD, driver shouldn't be a problem at all).

SIW2 said:

sounds like a driver problem.

I couldn't tell on his blog.

1. they all did clean-install. Paul assigned Samsung disk in order to use Samsung tool.
2. none posted SSD info. people posted SSD reading/writing rate but no SSD info.
3. Paul cleaned his blog. issues NOT related to direct mod, he removed. I had posted several issues. no more posts after removed.

Upgrade to G3, get one if you could. 50% off weekend. cheaper than G1 mod.




HP ELITEDESK 800 G3 | I5-6500 3.20 GHZ | 8 GB | 2VD16US#ABA | Grade-C | eBay

siliconbeaver said:

if you would spend more than $30 budget, maybe could upgrade PC to HP 800 G2/3, which naturally support NVMe SSD. and easy to run backup.