So, I made a mistake, and ordered an M.2 SATA SSD then realized that the motherboards that I bought, didn't support that format.
For the x99 Classified and the Rampage V Extreme, they both require M.2 PCIe 22x80 Drives like the Plextor M6e or the Samsung XP941. Both require the UEFI version of Windows to be loaded. Installing Windows 8 is super easy. Insert disk, Click install.
Windows 7 Ultimate does not agree with this procedure at first, but after only a few steps, it will work. I have spent the last 24 hours constantly looking at how to get it to install, and right now, I have it completed and it was actually extremely simple.
Make sure you have the Windows 7 disc in the tray before shutting down. I tried to use a USB and it wouldn't agree with my idea. I keep a Blu-Ray reading for this reason.
First, disconnect ALL extra SATA drives and cables and make sure your M.2 is installed. I had my tri-SLI in the way, so I used an Ink Pen to release all 3 cards from the PCI-e lanes, and pulled all three out at once.. Probably not the smartest way to do this rather than breaking down the loop, but it worked and I installed the drive.
***If you do not disconnect all other drives, especially drives that contain windows, it will not work.*** Boot with only the M.2 installed, and immediately enter the BIOS when the prompt comes up. Go to the Advanced Tab (this is on the RVE, so if the tabs are different, adjust to get the same result) go down to On-Board Devices. Change the shared PCI lane is set to the M.2 Selection. Default is Auto and will NOT work.
On the Rampage it is PCIEx8_4 and M.2 as seen below.
Once you are complete head over to the boot tab. Go down to the selections and you will set it to UEFI Disc driver. The standard drive that is automatically selected WILL NOT allow you to load windows onto the Drive. Option shown below.
Boot with the windows disc to load drivers. I utilized
Seven Forums Member Arkhi's guide on how to set up the M.2 drive itself.
Once you load into windows, you should be prompted to Install, Agree to Terms and Service, then Custom or Upgrade. Custom installation with a Clean Boot of windows is the option you want to select. When you get to the Drive selection screen Delete EVERYTHING until it says "Drive/Disk 0 Unallocated Space" Select it, and Click New. it is going to come up with the maximum amount of space automatically. I hit up just to verify. This will create 3 Partitions.
***If you have not disconnected other drives, especially other OS drives, this is the point where the Partitions will not be created, and the install will fail.*** The 3 partitions are:
- Partition 1 - System - The EFI System partition that contains the NTLDR, HAL, Boot.txt, and other files that are needed to boot the system, such as drivers.
- Partition 2 - MSR - The Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition that reserves space on each disk drive for subsequent use by operating system software.
- Partition 3 - Primary - Where Windows is to be installed to.
**Copied directly from the Sevenforums page**
Leave these Partitions as they are. Select Primary and Click Next. Yes, at the bottom it will say "Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 3. (Show details)" ignore and and click next.
From this point Windows will install properly.
The point of this guide is due to mass amounts of digging and frustration last night. I was not aware of having to change the boot drive over to the UEFI selection, and all other guides tell the user to disable CSM, create thumbdrives, and many other steps. Rather than dealing with the frustration of another user searching for the answer, I am hoping this guide will assist in someone reaping the benefits of M.2. I have not run any sort of benchmarks yet, but I am thoroughly impressed with install speeds and boot times.
post edited by Scarlet-Tech - 2014/12/12 23:49:06