Since I ended up figuring out how to get this second M.2 SSD using the PCIe adapter card working, I will share what I did to get it recognized and working.
With the second SSD/Adapter plugged into the second GPU x16 slot4, there was no way it could be accessed via Disk Management or anything else. Like it did not exist. Tried everything I could think of, or find online.
Solution:
I have a bootable Win10 on a USB stick.
I took out the ssd/adapter from the x16 slot4, and uninstalled the ssd from it.
I took out the stock m.2 ssd from the m.2 port, and put in the new one.
I plugged in my usb stick, and powered up. It booted using the usb, as that now became the default 'Windows Disk' in the UEFI BIOS set up.
I loaded Windows Disk Management and it recognized the m.2 SSD, which it did not before, so I set it up as usual as a standard volume, no drive letter yet.
Then I exited Windows and powered down.
I swapped back in the stock m.2 ssd to the m.2 port.
I reinstalled the new m.2 sdd back onto the PCIe adapter again, and plugged it back into the second x16 gpu slot4.
I booted up and it booted using stock m.2 ssd.
The second ssd/adapter was now recognized in Windows Disk Management, and I gave it a drive letter.
It will be meaningful because we know what the speeds should typically be. So we can see the speed loss.
I have an opportunity to get a 2nd nvme at a really good price. Your results will tell me to buy the 2nd nvme or instead an regular ssd/sata drive. Thanks.
The R10 cuts the speed of the x4 PCiE slot #3 (#2 is obstructed by the GPU) in half, so only 2 of the 4 lanes transmit data.
I believe you should be able to increase your speed to 3K+ write via PCIE by dropping your adapter and SSD down to the bottom GPU slot, which will allow full bandwidth.
Interesting that the speed got dropped so much from the PCiE adapater. I have the intel version aurora on the z370 board, and I'm able to get over 3K read on all the PCiE lanes - and I have 3 PCIE NVME drives connected.
Hey, nice call! You are right, I have my SSD NVMe in slot #3. Questions for you:
1) Do you know if I simply move the PCIe adapter from slot #3 to #4 if I'd lose the drive mapping / have to take caution to copy the data and reinstate? Or, perhaps will the OS know the drive (e.g. D:\) simply moved?
2) How are you getting more than two NVMe M.2's on your computer? Are you using a PCIe adapter that allows for more than one NVMe stick, and if so, suggestions?
It is plug and play, you can swap it between slot 3 & 4 no problem. I've done it myself. I have two separate PCiE adapters, one in slot 3 and one in slot 4. The z370 board powers all four PCiE lanes in slot 3 so I don't have a speed problem.
johnbowzer
4 Posts
0
December 28th, 2020 14:00
Since I ended up figuring out how to get this second M.2 SSD using the PCIe adapter card working, I will share what I did to get it recognized and working.
With the second SSD/Adapter plugged into the second GPU x16 slot4, there was no way it could be accessed via Disk Management or anything else. Like it did not exist. Tried everything I could think of, or find online.
Solution:
I have a bootable Win10 on a USB stick.
I took out the ssd/adapter from the x16 slot4, and uninstalled the ssd from it.
I took out the stock m.2 ssd from the m.2 port, and put in the new one.
I plugged in my usb stick, and powered up. It booted using the usb, as that now became the default 'Windows Disk' in the UEFI BIOS set up.
I loaded Windows Disk Management and it recognized the m.2 SSD, which it did not before, so I set it up as usual as a standard volume, no drive letter yet.
Then I exited Windows and powered down.
I swapped back in the stock m.2 ssd to the m.2 port.
I reinstalled the new m.2 sdd back onto the PCIe adapter again, and plugged it back into the second x16 gpu slot4.
I booted up and it booted using stock m.2 ssd.
The second ssd/adapter was now recognized in Windows Disk Management, and I gave it a drive letter.
Windows Explorer also sees the new disk.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.2K Posts
1
February 19th, 2020 19:00
If you extrapolate from this thread, yes it should work:
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Installing-3-x-1TB-M-2-Samsung-PCiE-NVME-Drives-in-Aurora-R7-8/m-p/7474557#M22386
... if the PCIe-Addin card is 100% compatible and 100% operational.
However, a good SATA-3/600 SSD is usually fine for large games and other things you might store on a D-Drive.
SkierBosche
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
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February 29th, 2020 20:00
Posting in reply now to confirm this works just fine. Simple, easy setup.
SkierBosche
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
1
July 15th, 2020 12:00
I can but results will not be meaningful as I do not have a before/after.
The PCIe NVMe memory is indeed slower than the NVMe M.2 slot memory, but again, that is not apples to apples.
I have yet to peg the GPU on this box either, even when rendering video.
But, moot really as this is the only place I can expand to more NVMe memory on this machine.
Fatlardo
7 Posts
0
July 15th, 2020 12:00
Can you test the speeds on that new slot and also test your gpu? I thought I read somewhere it slows down since the pcie lanes are shared?
Fatlardo
7 Posts
1
July 15th, 2020 13:00
It will be meaningful because we know what the speeds should typically be. So we can see the speed loss.
I have an opportunity to get a 2nd nvme at a really good price. Your results will tell me to buy the 2nd nvme or instead an regular ssd/sata drive. Thanks.
SkierBosche
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
1
July 15th, 2020 13:00
Using Blackmagicdesign's Disk Speed Test:
The 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB - M.2 NVMe attached to a PCIe adapter gets 1305 MB/s WRITE, and 1455 MB/s READ
The OEM 2TB M.2 NVMe attached to a NVMe slot gets 1891 MB/s WRITE, and 3028 MB/s READ
Fatlardo
7 Posts
1
July 15th, 2020 13:00
Thank you so much. That’s still very fast.
r72019
6 Professor
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5.3K Posts
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July 15th, 2020 21:00
I wonder if the slowed speed has to do with the PCiE slot that you plugged the adapter into.
r72019
6 Professor
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5.3K Posts
3
July 15th, 2020 21:00
@SkierBosche @Fatlardo
Ah, I think I figured out why your speed got slowed. It's explained on page 8 of the manual: https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/alienware-aurora-r10-desktop_users-guide_en-us.pdf
The R10 cuts the speed of the x4 PCiE slot #3 (#2 is obstructed by the GPU) in half, so only 2 of the 4 lanes transmit data.
I believe you should be able to increase your speed to 3K+ write via PCIE by dropping your adapter and SSD down to the bottom GPU slot, which will allow full bandwidth.
r72019
6 Professor
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5.3K Posts
1
July 15th, 2020 21:00
Interesting that the speed got dropped so much from the PCiE adapater. I have the intel version aurora on the z370 board, and I'm able to get over 3K read on all the PCiE lanes - and I have 3 PCIE NVME drives connected.
Here are my benchmarks: https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Installing-3-x-1TB-M-2-Samsung-PCiE-NVME-Drives-in-Aurora-R7-8/m-p/7474557#M22386
SkierBosche
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
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July 16th, 2020 16:00
Hey, nice call! You are right, I have my SSD NVMe in slot #3. Questions for you:
1) Do you know if I simply move the PCIe adapter from slot #3 to #4 if I'd lose the drive mapping / have to take caution to copy the data and reinstate? Or, perhaps will the OS know the drive (e.g. D:\) simply moved?
2) How are you getting more than two NVMe M.2's on your computer? Are you using a PCIe adapter that allows for more than one NVMe stick, and if so, suggestions?
Thank you!
-Dean
SkierBosche
1 Rookie
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14 Posts
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July 16th, 2020 17:00
Do note that this slot #3 drive is NOT a boot drive, just another drive. Re: Moving it.
r72019
6 Professor
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5.3K Posts
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July 16th, 2020 20:00
Yeah, shouldn't make a difference. The aurora's with the z370 actually allow for booting from PCiE, presumably it would be the same for the R10.
r72019
6 Professor
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5.3K Posts
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July 16th, 2020 20:00
It is plug and play, you can swap it between slot 3 & 4 no problem. I've done it myself. I have two separate PCiE adapters, one in slot 3 and one in slot 4. The z370 board powers all four PCiE lanes in slot 3 so I don't have a speed problem.