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Aurora R9, 970 EVO issue when 860 EVO plugged into 3rd HDD bay
Recently, I was having some performance issues with my Samsung 970 Plus evo. I was getting 3500+mbs reads, then I ran a performance check and I was getting 890 mbs out of nowhere. My Samsung 860 EVO(2.5" SSD) was performing flawlessly.
I was in AHCI, formatted the drives, and performed a clean installation of windows. Samsung magician ran a clean diagnostic scan, driver was up to date, and interface was correct.
After some research, I unplugged the 2.5" SSD from the 3rd HDD bay. I performed Samsung magician and now I am back to 3500 mbs read 3200 write. I am pretty happy.
I am concerned though. Has anyone else seen this issue? Is there something wrong with my moptherboard ? Is it typical for computer to share resources?
I am waiting on getting a longer SATA 3 cable to try the 4th HDD bay.
Side note: Can I connect two SATA III cables together to make a longer cable?
Beegood
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May 17th, 2020 18:00
finally, I was able to resolve this. It seems you *MUST* plug the SATA III plug into #6 per the link below (SATA 6 Gbps drive connector (SATA1)
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/19/alienware-aurora-r9-desktop/alienware-aurora-r9-service-manual/system-board-components?guid=guid-238de792-1e85-4294-891f-ec985c8470ab&lang=en-us
Every single time I tried the #7 or #8 SATA slots, it would impede perforamance for the NVMe to 800mbs...
Now, the NVMe rreading 3500mbs and writing 3000mbs , the 2.5 in SSD is reading 562mps and writing 531.
redxps630
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May 12th, 2020 06:00
Did you install Samsung NVMe driver for the 970 evo?
r72019
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May 12th, 2020 14:00
My CrystalDiskMark benchmarks using Samsung 970 Evo:
r72019
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May 12th, 2020 14:00
It may just be a software issue with the Magician benchmarking software. You can double check the results with Crystal Disk.
Also, no need for a longer SATA cable. The physical location of the drive is not relevant. It's the data cable that matters. So if you think there's an issue with the header to that drive caddy, you can just move the SATA data cable connected to the motherboard header to a different SATA header. It's the same as moving it to a different caddy. You don't say what PC you have, but usually the SATA headers are all lined up in a row right next to each other about .5 cm apart each.
Beegood
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May 12th, 2020 14:00
Yes.
Oddly, the PCIe NVMe changes interface in Samsung magician when the 2.5 SSD is plugged in, which I assume is causing the issue.
I'm still waiting on a longer data cable to try the 4th HDD bay
Beegood
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May 12th, 2020 15:00
This is an R9 BTW.
Is that with another 2.5 SSD plugged in ? If so, I'd love to get more info.
I tried re-routing the cable, which coincidentally was already plugged into the '4th' SATA slot. After I plugged into the 3rd SATA slot,Support assist said that I had a failing drive, and wouldn't load windows, which is odd. So I tried unplugging the SSD altogether and same issue. Eventually, I had to plug the 2.5 SSD back into the 4th SATA slot for it to appropriately load the OS.
SupportAssist is terrible.
Without the 2.5 SSD
With the 2.5 SSD
NVMe
2.5 SSD
Beegood
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May 12th, 2020 16:00
I've actually read that before (Thanks for your info BTW, it is much appreciated..)
At this point, I'm coming to the conclusion that there is some sort of shared resources involved with the SATA III port and the M.2 slot on the motherboard.
I may end up selling this and going for a setup similar to yours.
r72019
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May 12th, 2020 16:00
Also, I can't see your photos yet (need to be mod approved) but if the results are bench-marking both drives simultaneously vs. one drive at a time, the reduced speed may be a product of the bench marking software and/or utilization of system resources with that software.
Here's my post about installing the drives if interested:
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Installing-3-x-1TB-M-2-Samsung-PCiE-NVME-Drives-in-Aurora-R7-8/m-p/7474557
r72019
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May 12th, 2020 16:00
If you cannot remove the 2.5" ssd then windows was installed incorrectly accross both drives. It sounds like windows probably put a hidden boot partition on the 2.5 ssd and is looking for it at boot. You need to remove all drives except the OS drive (970 evo) when you install windows. Otherwise stuff like this happens.
I have 4 drives (three samsung nvme, and a 2tb toshiba sata hdd) and an internal dvd drive.
Beegood
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May 12th, 2020 16:00
For some reason it adjusted the boot priority options, which I had to readjust with Windows boot manager at the top.
I just formatted the second drive, and has no files on it.
Also, when I reinstalled windows, I formatted both drives, then actually had to format the second for it to show under my PC. Do I still need to reinstall windows with only the NVMe?
r72019
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May 12th, 2020 17:00
Ah, sorry to hear it didn't work out with the drive. Good luck!
r72019
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May 18th, 2020 18:00
Interesting, I have a SATA drive connected to BLUE #5 without issue. That is the SATA header that Dell uses when the Aurora ships stock with an OEM 3.5" HDD.
TAN #6 header is a carryover from the R7/R8. Those systems also use the z370 board from the R9, except they have the option for an optical DVD drive. When the system was sold stock with an OEM drive, it would be connected to the TAN #6 SATA header.
I've never tried using the BLACK #7 or #8 headers on the mobo. Thanks for the heads up. Good info and troubleshooting!
mako64
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May 19th, 2020 06:00
Well done !!! I'll be adding an 860 EVO 1TB this weekend. Thx for the post and like r72019 said ...good work and Troubleshooting.
Take Care !
mako64
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May 19th, 2020 07:00
Wait #6 says sata 2 the tan one. is this the ill be connecting too? #5 is sata 1 which im guessing a 3.5" HD would go ... right?
r72019
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May 19th, 2020 08:00
The blue one is where dell connects the 3.5" drive. He connected his 2.5" drive to the blue one (which has historically been used for a dvd drive but is unused now since the r9 doesn't have a slot in the outer facia for a dvd drive. So yea, try it out.