Add a second hard drive to an XPS 8910 SE

Question

I have ordered a Dell XPS 8910 SE with an SSD and a 2 TB HD. The manual doesn't show how to add a second hard drive although it appears the SATA connections are on the mother board. However, the location to install any secondary drives is not shown. The primary HD shows a clam shell around it. If this is necessary for other drives how is this ordered?

DELL-Akshatha M · Answer

Hi JCELLIS,

Thank you for reaching out to Dell Community Forum.

XPS 8910 supports the following Hard drive configuration:

* SATA 6 Gbps - 3.5 inch Hard drive

* M.2 slot

There is an additional SATA 6 Gbps for Optical drive (which is optional)

Was this system purchased with an optical drive?

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sfogden · Answer

Hello, I just ordered an 8910 SE which should be delivered within a week. I do want to add a couple of hard drives to the system. The system I ordered has the 512 M.2 ssd and the 2TB interna and an optical drivel. I do have a couple of 7200 rpm hd (one is 3.5' 1tb, the other is 2.5' 512 mb) that  planned to use. Your reply to the previous question made me wonder if I could add additional drives or if I should cancel the order and get a more expandable system. If I can add these drives, what cables, cages, etc shall I order?  Thanks for your reply

JCEllis · Answer

I wound up talking to Dell Premium Support on another issue and asked about the extra drive. I have now ordered the second 2 TB drive identical to the original. They will have Dell tech support help me with the installation and I have been assured it will be under the same warranty as the 8910 is. I would assure yourself that is the case if you order one of their drives. If the drives you may add are not from Dell they are not covered.

To avoid heartburn I would suggest you cancel your current order and order one that has an HD identical to the original installed before shipment. That way there can be no doubt that you are covered. It is more $$ but less trouble in the long run.

Good luck with whatever you decided,

John

sfogden · Answer

Thanks for the information. When I ordered my unit, there was no option to add a 2nd drive. They must get a lot of them ready so that all they have to do is add the graphics card, optical drive, and OS. There were very limited customization options, didn't even have option to buy more memory. How did you get in touch with the senior support person, I want to order the HDD & whatever cable is required. Thanks!

Delltron · Answer

I have recently purchased an XPS 8910, with optical drive and 2TB seagate as the primary HD. I went to add an older seagate 1TB HD which was immediately recognized by my computer. Then it disappeared, I cannot see it in my computer and cannot see in bios. Ive tried different cables as well as different SATA slots on Motherboard (s3 and s4) with no luck however when powered by my computer the drive is spinning.

The drive is only a SATA 3 Gbps drive, would this be the issue or could there be a bios issue with the motherboard? This drive worked in my old desktop and I would like to move it.
Thanks!

Storage, Drives & Media

Add a second hard drive to an XPS 8910 SE

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