....but it will still be lightning fast compared to my HDDs.

Yes.

And it looks about 40 quid cheaper here in the UK

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by martin-w

I have installed Macrium Reflect 8 Free Edition for this task. I assume that I need to clone the existing Windows boot drive to the new NVMe M2 SSD, and then switch the drive numbers? I assume that the latter is possible, as there will be lots of software links to the C:\ drive? I can then format the old HDD, and use it for backup storage?

Edited December 24, 20214 yr by Christopher Low

• Identified the two NVMe M2 drive slots on my Asus Maximus IX Hero motherboard
• Selected the one that was not covered by the graphics card and massive CPU cooler!
• Had to find a screw small enough to use for the "2280" slot (none provided).
• Finally managed to get it secured in position after an extended game of "pick the screw up off the motherboard".
• Booted up the PC, and discovered that my second HDD had vanished.
• Oh, and there was no sign of the NVMe drive in File Explorer.
• Discovered that I had to run Disk Manager and create a simple volume for Windows 10 to "see" the new drive (assigned the letter "E").
• Discovered that installation of an NVMe drive disables some of the existing SATA ports.
• Switched the SATA port for the second HDD.
• Booted up the PC again, and finally I could see all three drives!

I will run Macrium Reflect 8 Free Edition in the morning to clone my C:\ drive to the NVMe SSD, switch the drive letters to make the SSD the boot drive, and then format the old HDD to use as a flightsim backup drive. Fingers crossed that it all works

Two small bits of advice, a magnetic screwdriver of the right tiny size is invaluable for these tiny screws and a read of the motherboard manual is even more useful.
I learned this from experiencing much the same as you did, a four port SATA expansion card allows me to have a total of nine drives on a
motherboard with three of the six onboard SATA ports disabled by having two M2s.
Both M2s have covers that each have three of the tiny screws in them.

Happy Christmas.

Edited December 25, 20214 yr by Reader

19 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Had to find a screw small enough to use for the "2280" slot (none provided).

 

Its usually in a little bag in the motherboard box. 

or with the new M2 if you are lucky.

Edited December 27, 20214 yr by Reader