XPS 8900 M.2 Specs

Do you guys had some confirmation already if the M.2 port can support PCIe x4?

I have had a ticket open with Dell for over a week, asking them to confirm but so far they are unwilling or unable to publish the capabilities of the M.2 port in the XPS 8900.  But all signs point to it being PCIe 3.0 x1.  In particular, someone installed a Samsung 950 Pro in theirs and said that the Magician software reported the M.2 interface at x1.

Oh its their motherboard so lets just say unwilling. I asked my sales contact the specs before the machine was delivered weeks ago and no response but crickets lol Very last time I deal w dell :-)

I just got the XPS 8900 today and installed the 950 Pro and can confirm that the Samsung Magician utility reports it as PCIe 3.0 x1, not the x4 I need.

Might have to return this computer and get another one if nothing changes soon

I just got the XPS 8900 today and installed the 950 Pro and can confirm that the Samsung Magician utility reports it as PCIe 3.0 x1, not the x4 I need. Might have to return this computer and get another one if nothing changes soon

Any update?, I am about to return my XPS 8900 to Costco if the only way to use the 950 pro is the PCIe slot expansion adapter.

You can use the M.2 slot, though you will only get around 800 MB/s throughput using that since it's only showing up as an PCIe x1 slot. With an adapter you would get 2,500 MB/s and 1,500 MB/s since it's an PCIe x4 slot.

Hi.

This is not a solution but I have the same "problem".  I am now planning on using one of the 2 available PCIe slots with an adapter such as the Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter.

I know it will use up a slot and while my preference is for the motherboard to handle the 950 pro with 4 lanes... I thought the adapter was a good "work around" since the price on the Costco unit was very good.

I understand the Costco DELL PC has a 90 days return policy... which is part of the reason I purchased from them.

Thanks

George

Wonder if both M.2 slots can be used for SSD's?  The one I'm looking at comes with 256Gb SSD but I need at least 500Gb.  Thought I'd ditch BT/Wi-Fi and put the 250Gb there?

wazoo197 I just got the XPS 8900 today and installed the 950 Pro and can confirm that the Samsung Magician utility reports it as PCIe 3.0 x1, not the x4 I need. Might have to return this computer and get another one if nothing changes soon Any update?, I am about to return my XPS 8900 to Costco if the only way to use the 950 pro is the PCIe slot expansion adapter.

I've replaced the C: drive in my XPS-8900 with a Samsung 1TB 850 EVO and it works fine. Not as fast as the 950, but plenty fast for my purposes and I had one on hand.

Magician chides me because it's not running as AHCI, but it seems to be working just fine; SSD performance is about the same as for the one I installed in my 2011 MacBook Pro. And I got the machine for the fast CPU, since I have some very CPU-intensive apps. Drive speed is less an issue for those apps, but it sure boots and loads apps faster than the original 7200 RPM HDD!

Also bought from COSTCO at $799, a very good price for such a machine.

Wonder if both M.2 slots can be used for SSD's?  The one I'm looking at comes with 256Gb SSD but I need at least 500Gb.  Thought I'd ditch BT/Wi-Fi and put the 250Gb there?

I think they are keyed differently and only one will be usable for an SSD.  If I were shopping for a desktop, I would not spend more to get the 256 GB SSD. I'd buy the cheapest, stripped down XPS 8900 I could find [EDIT] with the core i7 [/EDIT] and try to get it for as close to $600.

I'd drop in a 500 GB SATA III Samsung Evo 850, as boot drive, reformat the 1TB spinner for data.
I would replace the PSU with something much, much, much better.
And I'd put at least a GTX 960 in, and if I were gaming a GTX 970.

I'd take the savings on the "special edition" and invest:
$140 for the SSD.
$ 80-$100 for the power supply
$ 200 to $350 for a graphics card.

My graphics card is the NVIDIA GTX 745 which is good enough for me (NOT a gamster). PSU is speced at 480 W. which seems enough; why would you upgrade the power supply?

1) if upgrading the graphics card. ( main reason )
2) if the noisy fan and vibration bothers you.  
3) if you want one that is more efficient ( minor point )

And, no complaints on the 1TB SSD, except the price point hasn't fallen like the 500GB has.

I'd drop in a 500 GB SATA III Samsung Evo 850, as boot drive, reformat the 1TB spinner for data. I would replace the PSU with something much, much, much better. And I'd put at least a GTX 960 in, and if I were gaming a GTX 970. I'd take the savings on the "special edition" and invest: $140 for the SSD. $ 80-$100 for the power supply $ 200 to $350 for a graphics card.

Agree on the EVO 850, Dan -- though I had an 850 1 TB so used that. I pulled the supplied 1 TB drive and keep it pristine in case I want to return the machine (90 days is nice, and I've had it only three weeks). I did add a 1 TB Seagate HDD from a computer I had retired, one with little use on it. And I have a 4 TB USB3 drive I archive on.

My graphics card is the NVIDIA GTX 745 which is good enough for me (NOT a gamster). PSU is speced at 480 W. which seems enough; why would you upgrade the power supply?

CPU is the i7-6700 (not 6700K) but the speed difference is not all that much.  Maybe the i7-6700K would want a larger PSU, though.

Phil

w7ox My graphics card is the NVIDIA GTX 745 which is good enough for me (NOT a gamster). PSU is speced at 480 W. which seems enough; why would you upgrade the power supply? 1) if upgrading the graphics card. ( main reason ) 2) if the noisy fan and vibration bothers you.   3) if you want one that is more efficient ( minor point ) And, no complaints on the 1TB SSD, except the price point hasn't fallen like the 500GB has.

On 2): I'm 79, deaf in one ear and the ringing in my ears drowns out noisy BD drives (two), fans, etc. :emotion-1:

No, I don't see how you can use the second M.2 slot for an SSD.  It doesn't have the clearance.  Only very short cards can be put there.

As of Revision 2.0.3, the BIOS does not seem to support NVME in legacy boot mode.