Alienware 15 m.2 ssd : PCIE or SATA?

Umm. It says SATA as interface though it's not mentioned whether it's for 2.5 or M.2, maybe we've to assume it's for both, much more clarity would help. Thanks for the link though.

I'm thinking of trying out a SM951.

Good luck

Good luck

I can see your update in my email, not here in the forum, weird, happens again and again. (Dell Team - fix this issue).

Thanks for testing SM951 from your HTPC in AW M.2 slot, brings to the conclusion that it doesn't work As of NOW :) You know, my M.2 PM851 was giving very low speed, until I update the BIOS, to get a boost in Write speed, but, still slot. My point is, is there any chance in future BIOS update they could enable this or is there a way we remove the back and check whether M.2 is connected to PCIe or SATA III interface ? I can try that, maybe one last way to double/triple confirm it.

But, your testing of SM951 almost proves AW doesn't support PCIe x4 3.0 yet, maybe in future models. I don't think any of the laptops (gaming one's) do support PCIe with 2-3 slots of it (not just 1 slot). Need to wait till 2015 end I think.

How big is your PM851? The 128 is slow, 256 is better and bigger is faster too in this lineup for some reason.. Just a cheap model. If your getting really slow speeds, you may need to swap it. Or try removing Intel Rapid Storage, it can cause issues if your OS is on the SSD since its not using the cache feature of Intel Smart Response.

Also, PCI.e M.2 isn't popular yet. Most gaming grade motherboards only have 1 slot.. Some have an adapter, but you loose a PCI.e slot. :(

I just bought xp941 but is not compatible ... you know if this ssd (SSD 250GB Crucial MX200 M.2 Type SS [CT250MX200SSD4]) is compatible with my alienware 15 ??
this is better than samsung ssd?

www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_1;qid=1429960841&sr=8-1&keywords=CT250MX200SSD4

thanks

i use 2 samunsg 850 evo m2 ssd

Can you post CrystalDiskMark speed test of this 860 EVO M2.

BTW, are you using RAID 0 ?

i cant be able to use raid 0...  i boot windows 8.1 in 9 seconds.... great performance AHCI mode enable

i cant be able to use raid 0...  i boot windows 8.1 in 9 seconds.... great performance AHCI mode enable

Tx for that. But, I used 3.0 CDM, looks different than your 4.0 version. Where's 4kQD32, I believe it's more imp. for SSD's rt ?

Hi and thanks for the pictures they are very helpful. [:)]

I have an Alienware 15 on order and plan to upgrade it as you did.

I have a couple of questions that I hope you can help with.

Did the screw to hold in the drive come with the Alienware 15 or did you have to buy it separately?  On Amazon the reviews say the screw doesn't come with the ssd drive (the screw is described by Amazon reviewers as an M.20X3MM) so I'm hoping it's in the laptop as delivered.

Also did you reinstall Windows from scratch on your new drive or did you do a clone of the original hard drive?  Any suggestions or links on this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

i re-install windows 8 with the alienrespawn recovery. it install all the drivers too, is amazing.

the screw dont come with the lap and dont come too with the ssd. you need to buy it. In my case i went to a place where people reapir laptops and buy 2 (easy) and i dont have to wait.

i make another answer showing how i do it

i hope it help you.

I forgot to thank you for the great pictures and instructions, they worked very well. [:D]

For others attempting this I would add:

• The screws holding the back cover have a restraining fastener on the back side to they don't totally unscrew, just back them out then you can then pop the lid up with a plastic pry tool like you showed.
• The back cover was tricky getting off, but I bought a small toolkit that had a small suction cup with it which made 'popping' the back cover off much easier to me.

As for the screws I found a specialty store in my home town that sold many different kinds of screws and they had the right kind and gave me a few as a free sample, I was lucky!

alineware 13,15,17,18 all the models dont support xp941 or sm951 PCIE M.2 SSD. alineware mother bord has only sata m.2 ssd  slots you can try samsung 850 evo m.2(500gb)