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Optane configuration requirements in 2021

Weirdbear
Beginner
1,807 Views

Hello,

 

I have a new desktop computer with Z690 chipset motherboard at home but it has my relatively old 2017 NVME Samsung 1TB SSD. I noticed work laptops with Intel H10 and H20 have been working well and the new motherboard is Optane ready, so I was thinking of also adding an existing spare Optane SSD to accelerate it.

 

My questions are:

- Motherboard has 1 x m.2 nvme direct to CPU and 3 x m.2 nvme connected to PCH. Can the CPU direct m.2 also be used in an Optane memory configuration or must both storage and Optane cache be connected through the the PCH m.2?

 

- Unusually I find myself with an array of Optane SSD modules on hand. Optane M10 32GB, Optane 800p 118GB, Optane DC P4801X 100GB. Can any of these be used for acceleration?

 

I could try them all but but it would be a slow process!

 

Many thanks for any assistance.

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1 Solution
BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,790 Views

Hello, Weirdbear.


Thank you for posting on the Intel Community Support Forums.


I received your thread regarding the Intel Optane Memory options with your motherboard, I will be glad to assist you.


For your first question, if I understood correctly, both the Optane and disk to be accelerated should be RST controlled; If SATA mode is set to Intel RST this should take care of the slow media device, then it is just necessary to check the M.2 port, which is something that must be checked in the BIOS configuration, and sometimes the BIOS user guide may indicate if you have to connect the Optane Memory to a specific M.2 port, as it used to be the case that some motherboards supported Optane only in one out of several M.2 ports.


Regarding your second question, out of the ones you mentioned, only the Optane Memory M10 series can be used to accelerate other drives, and please keep in mind that this is only applicable for SATA SSD or HDD, and not for other NVMe SSDs, so the other Intel Optane SSDs listed are just regular NVMe drives that use the same technology as the Optane Memory, designed for pure storage and not for acceleration of other SATA devices.


If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know, I will follow up on November 25th just in case.


Best regards,


Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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4 Replies
BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,791 Views

Hello, Weirdbear.


Thank you for posting on the Intel Community Support Forums.


I received your thread regarding the Intel Optane Memory options with your motherboard, I will be glad to assist you.


For your first question, if I understood correctly, both the Optane and disk to be accelerated should be RST controlled; If SATA mode is set to Intel RST this should take care of the slow media device, then it is just necessary to check the M.2 port, which is something that must be checked in the BIOS configuration, and sometimes the BIOS user guide may indicate if you have to connect the Optane Memory to a specific M.2 port, as it used to be the case that some motherboards supported Optane only in one out of several M.2 ports.


Regarding your second question, out of the ones you mentioned, only the Optane Memory M10 series can be used to accelerate other drives, and please keep in mind that this is only applicable for SATA SSD or HDD, and not for other NVMe SSDs, so the other Intel Optane SSDs listed are just regular NVMe drives that use the same technology as the Optane Memory, designed for pure storage and not for acceleration of other SATA devices.


If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know, I will follow up on November 25th just in case.


Best regards,


Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,733 Views

Hello, Weirdbear.


I wanted to follow up on your thread to check if you had any questions regarding my previous message.


I will follow up again on December 2nd before closing the thread in case additional time is required.


Best regards,


Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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Weirdbear
Beginner
1,695 Views

Hello, thank you for the assistance.

 

I have since located the storage setup supplement provided by the motherboard manufacturer. They document the following:

---------

    1. Enabling an Intel® Optane™ Memory

    A-1. System Requirements

    1. Intel® Optane™ memory H10/H20.
    2. System acceleration with Intel® Optane™ Memory can only be enabled on the M.2 connectors supported by the Chipset.
    3. Only the system drive partition on the Intel ®Optane memory being used can be enabled for system acceleration. The system drive partition must be GPT formatted and have Windows 10 64-bit (or later version) installed.
    4. The motherboard driver disc or an Internet connected computer.

--------

From the above it seems only acceleration of Intel H10/H20 NVMe M.2 drives is supported via chipset. As the product only has NVMe M.2 and does not contain any SATA M.2 connectors, I assume this means SATA acceleration is not supported on this product .

 

Unfortunately H10/H20 drives do not appear to be for sale direct, so I will need to wait for a surplus unit to become available through work which could take some months. While I wait, I might experiment with the existing Optane hardware I have available anyway and see if it will potentially work, while being aware it is not a supported solution.

I think the thread can be closed.

BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,646 Views

Hello, Weirdbear.


Thank you for letting us know, and for marking a posts as the answer.


I will be closing the thread right now, but if you require any type of assistance from Intel in the future, you can always contact us back.


Best regards,


Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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