Note that Dell 3060 and 3070 Micro MFF have M.2 PCI-e x2 (the 3070 documentation is correct; the 3060 documentation indicates x4); same for mini and tower machines
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/10/25
Now that Dell 3060 and 3070 Micro MFF have become available quite a bit cheaper than before, please note that both only support M.2 PCIe x2 (though the 3060 documentation indicates x4, the 3070 documentation correctly states x2).
This is a board electronics issue, as the chip-set does support x4.
The M.2 connector however is more versatile than I expected and does support a variety of M.2 keying of which not all “big connector” PCI-e or USB M.2 adapters support:
- B-key (always SATA)
- B-key + M-key (always SATA)
- M-key (either AHCI or NVMe/NGFF)
I discovered this because one of mine shipped with the only B-key + M-key device I ever had which failed in either an M.2/NGFF NVMe to USB or an M.2/NGFF NVMe to PCI-e adapter but worked fine in the SATA varieties of both adapters.
The thing was that it would physically fit the slot of the M.2/NGFF NVMe adapters but not function in them at all. that felt quite counter-intuitive.
Of course dual mode adapters for them exist for a reason (:
Related:
- [Wayback/Archive] dell 3060 mff dual nvme – Google Search
- [Archive] Solved: Optiplex 3060 NVMe SSD Only Works in PCIe 2.0 Mode? – Dell Community
I just got a call from a very nice gentleman at Dell outlining that this is a physical issue with a scaled-down chipset implementation and cannot be corrected by a BIOS update.
The PCIe storage data as presented in the 3060 user manual is incorrect and there is only a slow PCIe 2.0 bus available for the NVMe port.
Not good news, but at least now I can stop trying to get this to work, and get back to doing my job. Eventually I will sell this below-spec runt off and buy a real PCI 3.0 system, but for now at least we all have an answer to the problem, albeit a very disappointing one.
[Wayback] topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/optiplex-3070-desktop_owners-manual_en-us.pdf
- [Archive] Do Optiplex 3060 have an NVMe pci-e3 x4 port? – Dell Community
See page 12 of Dell OptiPlex 3060 Tower specs here. Seems the M.2 SSD slot supports either a PCIe 3 x4 NVME or SATA (AHCI / C20 SED) SSD.
EDIT: Based on feedback below and here, it seems M.2 NVMe SSDs in the OptiPlex 3060 don’t run at quoted speed on page 12 of Dell’s spec: “PCIe 3 x4 NVME, Up to 32 Gbps”
But, are only running half that speed using PCIe 2 x4 instead.
- [Archive] Dell OptiPlex 3060 Micro Service Manual | Dell US
Installing the M.2 PCIe SSD
About this task
NOTE The instructions are applicable to M.2 SATA SSD also.Steps
- To install M.2 PCIe SSD:
- Insert the M.2 PCIe SSD to the connector in the system board [1].
- Replace the single (M2X3.5) screw that secures the M.2 PCIe SSD to the system board [2].
- Install the:
- 2.5 inch hard drive assembly
- Side cover
- Follow the procedure in After working inside your computer.
- To install M.2 PCIe SSD:
- [Archive] Solved: Optiplex 3060 NVMe SSD Only Works in PCIe 2.0 Mode? – Dell Community
- [Wayback/Archive] nvme vs sata key – Google Search
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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