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Adding NVMe SSD to XPS 8910
I just ordered an XPS 8910 and I want to add an SSD as a bootable drive. I'm looking at the MyDigitalSSD 480GB (512GB) BPX 80mm (2280) M.2 PCI Express 3.0 x4 (PCIe Gen3 x4) NVMe SSD - MDNVME80-BPX-0512
I'm trying to confirm that this will work before I purchase it. I found a thread that discussed XPS 8900 M.2 specs and had instructions for the Samsung 950 pro.
It said that even with an M.2 slot, a PCIe adapter (like the Asus Hyper M.2 X4 PCI-E Mini Adapter Card or Lycom DT-120) was needed to get the speed advantage of the NVMe because the M.2 on the 8900 uses SATA.
The specs on the 8910 do not list an M.2 slot, but later on in that thread someone posted:
"just thought I would mention the 8910 M.2 slot uses 4 lanes and I am using the Samsung 960 Pro without issues."
Can anyone verify if I the XPS 8910 has an M.2 slot and if I would need an PCIe adapter to get the speed advantage even if it does have an M.2 slot?
Thanks,
Marcia
ManyDimensions
1.3K Posts
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January 18th, 2017 10:00
Let us not confuse the names and architectures.
NVMe is available in both PCIe and M.2 architecture format.
SSD is also available in these two format.
To answer your question specifically. I have used the Intel NVMe, PCIe version in the XPS 8910. I have also used a Samsung 850 EVO 256GB M.2 in the available slot as a boot drive.
Should you decide to use any NVMe PCIe version drive, be absolutely sure it is installed into a 16x PCIe slot otherwise it will not perform as intended.
I have NOT tried using an NVMe M.2 form factor drive in the available Dell slot because I was not able to determine how many lanes it had dedicated to the processor.
DELL-Ravi Ch
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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7.1K Posts
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January 18th, 2017 16:00
Hi,
Dell XPS 8910 has 1x Socket 3 (SATA/PCIe x4) for M.2 SSD. You can upgrade to he hard drive specified.
speedstep
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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January 19th, 2017 09:00
M & B Keyed units are NOT PCI-E. Which is why universal adapters have SATA and PCI-E X4.
the samsung 850 is B keyed the 950 is M key only.
Both are "NVME" but one is SATA AHCI and one is PCI-E AHCI
speedstep
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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January 19th, 2017 09:00
M & B Keyed units are NOT PCI-E. Which is why universal adapters have SATA and PCI-E X4.
the samsung 850 is B keyed the 950 is M key only.
Both are "NVME" but one is SATA AHCI and one is PCI-E AHCI
Koeven
140 Posts
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January 19th, 2017 18:00
I'm adding a Samsung 960 Evo 1TB NVMe to my 8910 tomorrow. I ran the Intel Rapid Storage Tech tool and it shows that the OEM shipped NVMe drive has a PCIe Link Speed = 4000 MB/s and a PCIe Link Width = x4. If you use the internal M.2 NVMe slot you won't need a 3rd party PCIe adapter to get the full speed advantage of the card.
DellMD
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January 19th, 2017 21:00
Thanks for the comments. After I edited the post yesterday for typos and clarification, it disappeared. I was getting email copies of replies but I couldn't access the post to reply. I went ahead and ordered the drive after receiving Ravi's response. I wasn't 100% sure I didn't still need the adapter but Koeven's response confirmed it.
Both the computer and the SSD are supposed to arrive Mon. Hopefully my husband can get it all put together for me soon. He's in charge of the computers. I was just doing the research because he is swamped right now at work.
Thanks again.