Aurora R7, looking to add 1TB 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD

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@Lavick81 wrote:

I am looking to add the SSD below to my new R7 system. Just want to make sure it will work and me use the 2TB HD that came with it as my storage drive. 

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SSD I am looking to upgrade to: Samsung 960 EVO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW)

Yes, that will work fine.

Is there some specific reason why you thought it might not be compatible?

Right.

Having an Optane Module occupying your only motherboard M.2/PCIe/NVMe slot does complicate issues. You probably should have mentioned that bit of relevant info in original post  :Smile:

Sounds like you are aware of most of your options (of configs that MIGHT boot and work) . I could give you some ideas, but I have no specific experience with Optane-Modules. I like to use that one slot for NVMe-SSD.

Also, over the years I have grown to dis-like Intel-RST and their old caching non-sense (so I get rid of it when possible).

I think this question has been asked before, but I don't think anyone ever actually did it. Or if they did, they didn't come back and let us know if their (overly-complicated ? ) Optane-HDD-PCIe-SSD config actually worked.

Thanks for the reply!

I just opened my case to check it out. I see where the current Intel Optane Memory is. Would recommend replacing that with the 1 TB drive or for me to get a PCI adapter for it? I am keeping the 2 TB hard drive it has now and not sure how the Intel Optane Memory would work with it and a SSD. 

Thanks again for the help!

Thanks and sorry about that, though all of these pre-built R7s had the same setup.

I think I will check around and see if I can find anything on how it works with a SSD. If there is no be gain from it then I will just replace it. I'll try to remember to post back on what I do and how it worked.

Thanks again!

I suppose your little project is a bit intriguing. 

The first question in my mind is does the 2tb spinning HDD even need to be Optane-accelerated ? ... when you have a 1tb primary SDD ? Will there be games/apps on it or is it just for data-files?

Second question is will Aurora-R7 BIOS allow a PCIe Addin card (holding NVMe SSD) to take BOOT priority over the Optane-Module in the MB's slot ? I know it should, but will it?

One good thing is these PCIe Addin cards (NVMe SSD holders) are relatively cheap and inexpensive to try (or toss away).

With the price of 2.5inch SATA-3/600 SSD's now-days ... I think spinning-platter drives inside machines for apps/games is just about dead. While spinners still have a purpose (data, USB-HDD backups, NAS, etc.) I think I would rather just use some form of native SSD inside machines. They are more reliable, use less power, run cooler, simple config, and so much faster. 

OK... so it's not usual to add another drive (SSD) to a computer that already has a HDD? Regardless, I'll pay someone to do this... just trying to understand if I have to replace to get the best benefit of SSD or if I can add a SSD and still get the benefit of fasting load times/faster boot ups/etc.

So does anyone have any solve for this question above?

I have an Alienware Aurora R7 that comes with the HDD 2tb. I want to keep it AND add an additional SSD for the OS and games... but I guess the Samsung 970 EVO Plus would not work as it would require me to remove the Intel Optane?? 

What is an "easy" way to add an internal SSD and which one do you recommend for my Alienware Aurora R7?

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@moxiejeff wrote:

1. but I guess the Samsung 970 EVO (M.2-2280/PCIe/NVMe form-factor version) would not work as it would require me to remove the Intel Optane?? 

2. What is an "easy" way to add an internal SSD 

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This has already been answered above (and in other "Optane threads").

1. Correct

2. There is no "easy way" ... other than to pay someone to do it for you.

Even if you settle for just adding a SATA-3/600 based SSD, it will still take time-and-effort to get the system booting from it (if it works at all, since this would be a strange, non-standard config).

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@moxiejeff wrote:

OK... so it's not usual to add another drive (SSD) to a computer that already has a HDD? 

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Correct.

Tesla, do you have a specific NVMe m.2 SSD you would suggest for Aurora R7? Decided to just replace my traditional HDD and install a new SSD.

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@moxiejeff wrote:

Tesla, do you have a specific NVMe m.2 SSD you would suggest for Aurora R7? Decided to just replace my traditional HDD and install a new SSD.

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Any Samsung, Intel or Kingston M.2/PCIe/NVMe-SSD should be fine.

But if you are getting rid of your spinning-HDD, you have no need for Optane module.

Seems like you would instead install (a real) M.2/PCIe/NVMe-SSD in place of the Optane-module, and keep the spinning-HDD. Like in the thread your just Kudoed . :Smile:

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R7-upgrade-SSD/m-p/5862235/highlight/true#M1611