22 x 80 x 2.4mm are the size of my Samsung PM851's that came with the machine. The actual data sheet is available at this link. The model in my machine is MZNTE128HMGR. Compatibility is still unknown other than what Dell ships as a lot of users aren't upgrading the M.2 SSD's just yet.
Just FYI, I installed x2 of these: (slots 1 and 2 of the M.2 slots)
Crucial MX200 CT250MX200SSD4 M.2 Type 2280SS (Single Sided) 250GB SATA 6Gbps
Working well so far, standard read/write speeds (480-550 MB/s range), the EVO 1TB 2.5" I tried has comparable speeds around 500-550 MB/s Read/write (not in rapid mode).
I want to try a RAID, but I will have to wait to see if they make a BIOS update that enables that.
I believe they make a 128 and a 500 GB model.
Once they enable RAID, I'm going to give it a try and will update here again.
That's the drive Dell installed when I got my AW17 R2 (2015). I checked the sticker for the exact model of the drive and looked it up from there. If you go this route, get at least the 256GB version. The write speed is doubled that of the 128GB. The 512GB is even faster. I would go with the biggest as I realized after receiving my machine, the engineers have disabled the Intel RAID, but its available there in the BIOS.. Just can't enable it and it's hidden. :(
Oh, well that's good to know, I'm glad I ordered only one for testing (when my laptop gets in). I ordered a Crucial MX200 250GB SATA based M.2 CT250MX200SSD4 - Similar to the PM851, even the power Volt and amps.
I guess there are two types of M.2 based interfaces, SATA and PCIe (PCIe is faster -double to triple speed). I'm sticking with SATA based for testing due to the fact it came with a SATA based PM851. In another post I found someone wants to try to install a Samsung XP941 which is a PCIe based interface...so I'm not sure how that will go.
Thank you for the RAID info, I was curious about that...well at least I only ordered one for now to make sure it works first anyhow. I will update the post with what I find out.
Your right. The m.2 cards in our machines only support SATA. The PCIe cards need double the amps and the Specs manual for these machines show SATA. You shouldn't have issues with the Crucial MX series.
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E120BW M.2 120GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E250BW M.2 250GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E500BW M.2 500GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version
Newegg says they'll be available on 4/8/15 -
I'll stick with the Crucial's until they fail probably, just letting others know, looks like Samsung is going to start selling consumer available m.2's.
I just received that very rig and I am using it now with an m>2 raid0. You must use the hard drive set up to set up the physicle partition and then format it as a raid. This is different for such drives because of the many ways that it can be sold for. A regular drive also needs this but since they are only sold for being regular drives and used that way the manufacture already does this step for you. Now this can be done under control panel security section for setting up drives. The thing that I have found though is that even with a m.2 RAID my 1tb Samsung 850 pro drive is faster. you would be best to use just one of those and be 5 times faster!
Just to add to the thread, I've got 2 new 850 EVO M.2 running fine.
My Configuration:
Alienware 17 2015 (ordered base model)
16GB Kingston HyperX 1866 DDR3L
-256GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Slot 1 - OS (I used Macrium Reflect to clone factory to this)
-256GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Slot 2 - Data (Games/VS/Code/Virtual machines)
-1TB - Storage spindle in the 2.5 it came with
I disagree with SGTBADBOB that the EVO 850 M.2 is that much slower than the 850 pro. I've got an 850 pro in my monster desktop and it feels about the same to me. I game and run visual studio/resharper/sql management etc and it all feels great...not one complaint with speed. I admit I don't look at benchmarks as much anymore though they can provide a good baseline...I go by my day to day and how the computer responds with all of the applications I use.
Can you tell me if you had to flash the BIOS or change any settings to get your M.2 drives to run at full speed? I installed a crucial M500 M.2 drive in Slot 1 but I'm only able to get half speeds no matter what I try.
I Just received mine so it already has the latest bios. Also I do not be leave that you can use a RAID0 to install an os on this computer. The RAID controller is not that sophisticated and so a RAID is only good for large files. Also I did upgrade to 4 Crucial MX200 CT500MX200SSD4 M.2 Type 2280SS (Single Sided) 500GB SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) Micron 16nm MLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) from newweg.com. The resulting RAID0 drive is 2TBs
LordZog
109 Posts
0
February 15th, 2015 19:00
22 x 80 x 2.4mm are the size of my Samsung PM851's that came with the machine. The actual data sheet is available at this link. The model in my machine is MZNTE128HMGR. Compatibility is still unknown other than what Dell ships as a lot of users aren't upgrading the M.2 SSD's just yet.
Lorenzo C.
13 Posts
0
February 25th, 2015 20:00
Just FYI, I installed x2 of these: (slots 1 and 2 of the M.2 slots)
Crucial MX200 CT250MX200SSD4 M.2 Type 2280SS (Single Sided) 250GB SATA 6Gbps
Working well so far, standard read/write speeds (480-550 MB/s range), the EVO 1TB 2.5" I tried has comparable speeds around 500-550 MB/s Read/write (not in rapid mode).
I want to try a RAID, but I will have to wait to see if they make a BIOS update that enables that.
I believe they make a 128 and a 500 GB model.
Once they enable RAID, I'm going to give it a try and will update here again.
Alienware 17 r2 2015 BIOS A01 - i7 4980hq GTX 980m
LordZog
109 Posts
0
March 10th, 2015 00:00
I can confirm the Intel 530's work also.
Slowpoke_Stephe
5 Posts
1
July 15th, 2015 22:00
Okay, Computer Management then Disk Management and create a Mirrored Array. Hopefully this will work after the upgrade to Windows 10
LordZog
109 Posts
0
August 4th, 2015 21:00
Yes, you can.. I am using the same drive (Evo850 Pro) to replace the 1TB 5400rpm that I got from Dell..
Lorenzo C.
13 Posts
0
February 15th, 2015 20:00
Thank you for your quick response Zog, so you actually got that Samsung PM851 M.2 in the unit you ordered?
Your info is very helpful and thank you for the link as well.
LordZog
109 Posts
0
February 15th, 2015 23:00
That's the drive Dell installed when I got my AW17 R2 (2015). I checked the sticker for the exact model of the drive and looked it up from there. If you go this route, get at least the 256GB version. The write speed is doubled that of the 128GB. The 512GB is even faster. I would go with the biggest as I realized after receiving my machine, the engineers have disabled the Intel RAID, but its available there in the BIOS.. Just can't enable it and it's hidden. :(
Lorenzo C.
13 Posts
0
February 16th, 2015 06:00
Oh, well that's good to know, I'm glad I ordered only one for testing (when my laptop gets in). I ordered a Crucial MX200 250GB SATA based M.2 CT250MX200SSD4 - Similar to the PM851, even the power Volt and amps.
I guess there are two types of M.2 based interfaces, SATA and PCIe (PCIe is faster -double to triple speed). I'm sticking with SATA based for testing due to the fact it came with a SATA based PM851. In another post I found someone wants to try to install a Samsung XP941 which is a PCIe based interface...so I'm not sure how that will go.
Thank you for the RAID info, I was curious about that...well at least I only ordered one for now to make sure it works first anyhow. I will update the post with what I find out.
LordZog
109 Posts
0
February 16th, 2015 13:00
Your right. The m.2 cards in our machines only support SATA. The PCIe cards need double the amps and the Specs manual for these machines show SATA. You shouldn't have issues with the Crucial MX series.
Lorenzo C.
13 Posts
0
March 10th, 2015 10:00
That's good to know, so we can build the list.
New m.2 's to keep an eye on coming up:
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E120BW M.2 120GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E250BW M.2 250GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version
SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-N5E500BW M.2 500GB SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version
Newegg says they'll be available on 4/8/15 -
I'll stick with the Crucial's until they fail probably, just letting others know, looks like Samsung is going to start selling consumer available m.2's.
sgtBadBob
3 Posts
0
March 26th, 2015 06:00
I just received that very rig and I am using it now with an m>2 raid0. You must use the hard drive set up to set up the physicle partition and then format it as a raid. This is different for such drives because of the many ways that it can be sold for. A regular drive also needs this but since they are only sold for being regular drives and used that way the manufacture already does this step for you. Now this can be done under control panel security section for setting up drives. The thing that I have found though is that even with a m.2 RAID my 1tb Samsung 850 pro drive is faster. you would be best to use just one of those and be 5 times faster!
jrosine77
11 Posts
0
April 3rd, 2015 23:00
Just to add to the thread, I've got 2 new 850 EVO M.2 running fine.
My Configuration:
Alienware 17 2015 (ordered base model)
16GB Kingston HyperX 1866 DDR3L
-256GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Slot 1 - OS (I used Macrium Reflect to clone factory to this)
-256GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 Slot 2 - Data (Games/VS/Code/Virtual machines)
-1TB - Storage spindle in the 2.5 it came with
I disagree with SGTBADBOB that the EVO 850 M.2 is that much slower than the 850 pro. I've got an 850 pro in my monster desktop and it feels about the same to me. I game and run visual studio/resharper/sql management etc and it all feels great...not one complaint with speed. I admit I don't look at benchmarks as much anymore though they can provide a good baseline...I go by my day to day and how the computer responds with all of the applications I use.
Lord Dedede
2 Posts
0
April 4th, 2015 08:00
Can you tell me if you had to flash the BIOS or change any settings to get your M.2 drives to run at full speed? I installed a crucial M500 M.2 drive in Slot 1 but I'm only able to get half speeds no matter what I try.
sgtBadBob
3 Posts
0
April 4th, 2015 11:00
I Just received mine so it already has the latest bios. Also I do not be leave that you can use a RAID0 to install an os on this computer. The RAID controller is not that sophisticated and so a RAID is only good for large files. Also I did upgrade to 4 Crucial MX200 CT500MX200SSD4 M.2 Type 2280SS (Single Sided) 500GB SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) Micron 16nm MLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) from newweg.com. The resulting RAID0 drive is 2TBs
jrosine77
11 Posts
0
April 4th, 2015 19:00
On A02 I get speeds I expect for the 850 EVO (M.2), here they are (Samsung magician benchmark)
Sequential Read: 546 MB/s
Sequential Write - 526 MB/s
Random Read (IOPS) - 95,417
Random Write (IOPS) - 81,415