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Enabling NVMe Support on Supermicro C7Z97-MF Motherboard

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3 minutes

I recently hit a bit of a roadblock. My Supermicro C7Z97-MF motherboard has been a reliable part of my setup for years, but I wanted to upgrade to an NVMe drive for faster storage. The catch? My motherboard doesn’t support NVMe out of the box. Instead of forking out for a new motherboard, I decided to try updating the BIOS to add NVMe support. Here’s my journey on how I got it done.

Why Bother with NVMe?

  1. Speed: NVMe drives are incredibly fast compared to traditional SATA SSDs. They can dramatically reduce boot times and improve load times for applications and games.
  2. Performance: For tasks like video editing, gaming, and large file transfers, NVMe drives can make a noticeable difference.
  3. Future-Proofing: NVMe is becoming the standard for high-performance storage, so adding support extends the life of my current setup.

The Process

To enable NVMe support, I needed to update the BIOS with a modified version. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how I did it:

  1. Backup Your Current BIOS: Before making any changes, I made sure to back up my current BIOS. This is a crucial step in case anything goes wrong.

  2. Download the Modified BIOS: I modified the original BIOS to one that includes NVMe support. Here’s the link to the BIOS file I modified.

  3. Access the IPMI Interface:

    • Log in to the IPMI web interface of the motherboard using your browser.
    • Navigate to the firmware update section.
    • Select the modified BIOS file and start the update process.

  4. Update Directly Through BIOS:

    • Alternatively, if you prefer, you can update the BIOS directly through the BIOS setup.
    • Restart your computer and enter the BIOS setup (usually by pressing DEL or F2 during startup).
    • Use the BIOS update tool within the BIOS interface to select the modified BIOS file from a USB drive.
    • Follow the on-screen instructions to update the BIOS.

  5. Restart and Configure: After the BIOS update, I restarted my computer and went back into the BIOS setup to configure the settings. I made sure the NVMe drive was recognized and set it as the primary boot device.

The Result

After updating the BIOS and a bit of tweaking, my NVMe drive was up and running. The performance boost was immediately noticeable – everything from boot times to file transfers was significantly faster.

If you’re in a similar situation and want to unlock the potential of NVMe drives without upgrading your motherboard, this BIOS update is a great solution. Make sure to use UEFI as the boot option instead of Legacy BIOS (and disable it entirely). If you’re looking to upgrade a different motherboard, feel free to use the guide I used, link here.