Can you install 2 modules in same system to accelerate 2 hard drives? (Z390 motherboard has 2 M.2 slots)

[LeonWaksman · Accepted solution]

1. No, only one Optane module can be installed and only one SATA drive can be accelerated. Please read the answer for question "I have two modules. Can I use them both for system acceleration?" https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000024018/memory-and-storage/intel-optane-memory.html
2. The second M.2 slot you can use to install fast NVMe SSD with Windows and your programs.

Leon

[DMoor5]

I realized that after I posted. I have a 32gb installed using a 8TB HDD. The hard drive is partitioned into 2 drives, C with the OS, and D with the data. I just found out I can't pin anything on the D data drive. That is what led me here.

[n_scott_pearson]

Yea, if you have two NVMe-compliant M.2 sockets, I would want to get a really fast NVMe SSD to use as the System drive and make the 8TB drive a single-partition Data drive. Then, you will be able to pin specific folders on this Data drive to have them always cached. Remember that, with this kind of setup - and especially with the pinning capability available - the System drive does not need to be super big. You could get away with 240/256GB - or perhaps even 128GB - for the system drive. With the pinning capability, you can install large games to the Data drive yet pin for highest performance and thereby avoid the need for the games to be installed to the System drive. A real win-win there.

...S

[DMoor5]

This is what I was hoping to accomplish, but I read somewhere that you can only pin items that are stored on as the same drive as the OS. If I install a NVMe SSD for the OS (drive C) and use the 8TB as data drive (drive D), would I be in the same boat I am in now?????

Here is what the FAQ's say:

Can I use the pinning functionality when accelerating my secondary/data drive with Intel® Optane™ memory or using Intel® Optane™ Memory H Series as a secondary/data drive?

No, pinning is only available when the drive, or media, being accelerated contains the Windows® 10 operating system.

When I try to pin something, I get an error message: "Pinning failed" in the Intel® RST application / "Pinning Operation Failed - Unable to pin due to internal error. Please try pinning again" in the Intel® Optane™ memory application.

This could be due to the item you're trying to pin. This error message will show if the item selected to be pinned isn't located on the accelerated drive. For example, the file is located on a secondary/data drive when the boot drive is enabled for acceleration.

I am getting the 2nd one. The only option I see thus far is removing the 2nd partition, but that would be a nightmare with TB's of data/games and paths to try and change.