Intel 750 2.5" NVMe SSD purchase error

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Dynamic

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Topic # 183917 3-Nov-2015 13:54

Hi Team

I've done something dumb and purchased the wrong interface when ordering an SSD. One of my team opened the box to have a look before we realised the error so return is problematic.

I had intended to buy the 1.2Tb PCIe SSD on a card, but bought the 2.5" form factor by mistake. The 2.5" SSD-style device has an NVMe connector and cable that mates up to a specific daughter card on a some motherboards.

http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/sb/CS-035482.htm (see the bottom images - we have the SSD and the cable but not the little card)

Has anyone mated one of these drives up with a PCIe card? I'm having trouble finding one. We don't need to boot from the drive.

Cheers in advance for any suggestions.

"4 wheels move the body. 2 wheels move the soul."

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

richms

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Reply # 1419853 3-Nov-2015 14:15

Let me know how you get on, because I cant really put the large PCIe card into my machine and have the stock cooler on the GFX card. If there is a way to put the 2.5" onto a PCIe 4x card, and its small enough it might sneak in.

Richard rich.ms

Dynamic

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Reply # 1419964 3-Nov-2015 15:49

Have researched some more and it looks like the SFF-8643 connector required is not particularly common. Could have purchased a Dell RAID card with the right connector but it tops out a 1.2tbps where both the 2.5" and the PCIe card version of the Intel 750 SSD are capable of 2Gbps read speeds. The cost of the Dell RAID card will be about the same cost as the restocking fee. I'll just have to bite the bullet on the restocking fee and be more careful next time.

If anyone happens to want this SSD let me know this week (as I won't get to return it until Monday for logistical reasons). $1350 including GST and freight is substantially below wholesale price. Comes with an invoice and the full factory warranty.

Intel Part Number: SSDPE2MW012T4R5
Condition: Box opened but static bag still sealed.
Information: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/solid-state-drives/solid-state-drives-750-series.html
Speed: Up go 2.5Gbps (read) and 1.2Gbps (write) and up to 290,000 4k IOPS.
Tested Motherboards: http://www.intel.com/support/ssdc/hpssd/ssd-750/sb/CS-035484.htm

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richms

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Reply # 1420102 3-Nov-2015 18:19

The SFF-8643 connector on a raid card will be no good to you. nvme puts pcie lanes over the signals, the raid card will be putting sas/sata over the cables. They are both electrically LVDS signals, but not compatible.

The best solution I have seen would be to get a PCIe to m.2 card that does nvme, and then stick one of the m.2 cards into it that breaks the lines out onto the sff connector. But that would still be putting a large card right beside my gfx card which is the only 4x slot I have, and therefor making excessive wind noise like when I tried a card in that slot in the past.

Richard rich.ms