Hi @DanL58 thank you for sharing your update. It is good for users to know that the Dell warranty works and in your instance Dell provided an upgrade to an Alienware m15 R3. This has Three M.2 slots, Two M.2 2230/2280 and One M.2 2230 slot for solid-state drives (see image).
If you have a single fast or ultra fast PCIe NVMe card as your OS (C:) drive, there are no home user gaming discernible performance benefits in having two NVMe drives in Raid 0 configuration. Raid 0 shares information between two drives and it is not possible to replace a single drive of this pair, when for example: reached end of life, want to increase storage capacity, etc. Raid 0 complicates disaster recovery. Having received a new notebook, now is the time to think about your disaster recovery plan. It is recommended that a clone of the OS (C:) is created, so that in the event of a serious drive fault, the clone drive can be swapped-in within minutes.
Put msinfo32 into Search (bottom left hand of screen) and open the System Information application. This information will include what drives are installed in your m15 R3. Are these three M.2 drives fast or ultra fast NVMe? The two OS(C:) drives in Raid 0 configuration must have identical specifications. The third Drive is storage and if ultra fast NVMe, Windows 10 could use this as Virtual RAM. The m15 R3 has Physical RAM soldered onto the mainboard, msinfor32 will tell you how much RAM is installed and if it is slow or fast RAM.
You mention a spare 1TB M.2 drive, but do not say what it is. If this is a fast or ultra fast NVMe OS (C:) drive, I would remove the two OS (C:) drives in Raid 0 configuration and install the single OS (C:) drive. You are under no obligation to accept this recommendation.
OK, some information to consider. Take your time to decide how you want to use your m15 R3, is it general, performance, gaming, etc. and select the configuration option that is best for you.
Thank you very much for all the information. All 3 drives in this r3 are NVMe. The extra 1TB drive that I said I had i am not sure about.
You mentioned that the smaller 512GB SSD could be used as virtual RAM for Windows. Is this something that I need to setup or should I even worry about it. By the way, this r3 currently has 32GB physical RAM.
Hi @DanL58 thank you for sharing your response and the additional information. It will take time for you to become familiar with and decide how to use the m15 R3. Kind regards.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
January 2nd, 2021 12:00
Hi @DanL58 thank you for sharing your update. It is good for users to know that the Dell warranty works and in your instance Dell provided an upgrade to an Alienware m15 R3. This has Three M.2 slots, Two M.2 2230/2280 and One M.2 2230 slot for solid-state drives (see image).
If you have a single fast or ultra fast PCIe NVMe card as your OS (C:) drive, there are no home user gaming discernible performance benefits in having two NVMe drives in Raid 0 configuration. Raid 0 shares information between two drives and it is not possible to replace a single drive of this pair, when for example: reached end of life, want to increase storage capacity, etc. Raid 0 complicates disaster recovery. Having received a new notebook, now is the time to think about your disaster recovery plan. It is recommended that a clone of the OS (C:) is created, so that in the event of a serious drive fault, the clone drive can be swapped-in within minutes.
Put msinfo32 into Search (bottom left hand of screen) and open the System Information application. This information will include what drives are installed in your m15 R3. Are these three M.2 drives fast or ultra fast NVMe? The two OS(C:) drives in Raid 0 configuration must have identical specifications. The third Drive is storage and if ultra fast NVMe, Windows 10 could use this as Virtual RAM. The m15 R3 has Physical RAM soldered onto the mainboard, msinfor32 will tell you how much RAM is installed and if it is slow or fast RAM.
You mention a spare 1TB M.2 drive, but do not say what it is. If this is a fast or ultra fast NVMe OS (C:) drive, I would remove the two OS (C:) drives in Raid 0 configuration and install the single OS (C:) drive. You are under no obligation to accept this recommendation.
OK, some information to consider. Take your time to decide how you want to use your m15 R3, is it general, performance, gaming, etc. and select the configuration option that is best for you.
Please share an update. Thank you.
DanL58
6 Posts
0
January 3rd, 2021 02:00
Thank you very much for all the information. All 3 drives in this r3 are NVMe. The extra 1TB drive that I said I had i am not sure about.
You mentioned that the smaller 512GB SSD could be used as virtual RAM for Windows. Is this something that I need to setup or should I even worry about it. By the way, this r3 currently has 32GB physical RAM.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
January 3rd, 2021 07:00
Hi @DanL58 thank you for sharing your response and the additional information. It will take time for you to become familiar with and decide how to use the m15 R3. Kind regards.