Requirements To Use A PCIe*/NVMe* Solid State Drive

Reference
27 Aug 2026

Requirements To Use A PCIe*/NVMe* Solid State Drive

NVMe*-Based SSDs Require Minimum Hardware, BIOS, And Driver Support

Summary

In order to use Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe*) SSDs a systems hardware, BIOS, Operating System (OS), and driver must support it.

NOTE

Modern hardware and OSes are expected to work, without issue, out of the box.

Resolution

Hardware

  • Motherboard or Printed Circuit Board must be able to connect to the SSDs interface:
    • Such PCIe* (Add-In Card), M.2, U.2, EDSFF.
    • Consult your system/motherboard manual/support for more information.
    • An SSD may fit into a connector, but that does not mean it supports NVMe.
  • For boot drives:
    • UEFI/BIOS that supports UEFI 2.3.1 or later, with NVMe* support.
    • GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition.

Operating System

  • Microsoft® Windows 8.1 and newer have an NVMe* driver built in.
    • Windows 7 & 8 require a Windows update prior/during installation.
  • Linux kernel 3.3 and newer.

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Tags
Compatibility
Driver
Installation
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