I realize the upgrade WON'T perform at full speed in the Z97 and that's ok.
Yeah, that's an understatement, the M.2 slot runs at PCIe 2.0 x2. So maybe not get a high-end PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD. Any SSD that you can currently get will be bored, but at least you can use it in a nicer system later.
You can think about something like a Samsung 990 EVO Plus, WD Blue SN5000 or SN580, WD_BLACK SN7100, SN850X. Something that is not completely over the top, but will perform very well once you upgrade the system at some point.
But on those older systems, it might not be such an easy swap. You see, Windows tends to only boot from an M.2 PCIe SSD once you have the BIOS settings a certain way, and if you don't, it can mean some work.
On these older boards, the best settings should be something like such:
Under Settings\Advanced\Windows OS Configuration -> Set Win 8/8.1/10 WHQL Support to [Enabled], Win7 to [Disabled]
Under Settings\Advanced\Integrated Peripherals, set SATA mode to [AHCI]
Under Settings\Boot, any Fast Boot options to [Disabled]
Under Settings\Boot\"Boot Mode Select", set [UEFI]
Under Advanced\PCIe Subsystem, set Above 4G to [Enabled]
Personally, I would wait until you have the money for the entire system upgrade. And this is a system I would actually upgrade, it's getting a bit long in the tooth. Then you just do a fresh install of Win11 right onto the new SSD.
With current RAM and SSD prices, I would not be thinking about building a PC this year.
If you need to upgrade, you need to upgrade. And sadly, we cannot say that the prices will become normal again after this year.
I will quote something I read today:
"Analyst
Jukan points out trends suggesting that the current memory crisis could potentially become a permanent state of affairs. At least, any hope for a short-term recovery has vanished, and even a medium-term recovery is uncertain – resulting from the ever-increasing demand in the server sector [specifically for AI data centers], compared to the rather sluggish capacity expansion among memory chip manufacturers. Memory chip production is projected to grow by only 5% annually until 2030 – meaning that by then, it might not even be enough to cover the current demand.
To make matters worse, much of this additional capacity will be directed solely towards HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), thus not relieving pressure on the regular DRAM market. Apparently, the memory chip industry's capacity expansion is very conservative, as each of the few remaining manufacturers wants to ride this high-price phase for as long as possible, and avoid jeopardizing it with their own overcapacity. An additional risk is that a potential bursting of the AI bubble could trigger a significant market correction, resulting in a substantial loss of demand all at once. Unfortunately, no serious relief is expected from Chinese memory chip manufacturers, as CXMT, for example, has reported that its capacity expansion is currently hampered by US export restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment."
See also
The prices for RAM etc. may not come down considerably again, unless the AI bubble bursts for some reason. So now might be as good a time as any to upgrade an old system.
