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October 28th, 2013 08:00
Dell XPS 2720, Which Sata Mode to Choose? How to Clean Install OS with Sata Mode RAID?
Hey,
I just bought a Dell all-in-one machine this weekend, love it. (Dell XPS 2720, i7 processor, 8 gb memory, 32 gb ssd, 2 tb hard drive).
Whenever I got a new machine, I prefer to perform a clean install, so I was working on my new toy this weekend.
First Reinstall: the bios is set to UEFI(seems that I can't change that setting, but it is not the problem). And SATA mode is RAID, when I went to the command prompt under BIOS, with this mode I can only see 2TB HDD, can't see SSD, I removed all partitions there and installed Windows 8 on it successfully, the machine boot/reboot is really quick.
Second Reinstall: Then I began to think where is the 32 SSD? So I checked some information online, and I went to change the SATA mode to AHCI, this time, at command prompt, I see the SSD. Then I cleaned it there, boot from DVD, this time I selected the SSD to install the OS, and make HDD as D drive.
I do not feel the boot and reboot is faster or slower than the previous setting, but I began to worry about the size of this SSD(32 GB) is too small for the OS sooner or later, thinking about windows updates everyday!!!
So here is my question:
1. for this Dell model, XPS 2720, which SATA mode is better? RAID or AHCI?
2. When the SATA mode is set to RAID, why I can't see the SSD? So what is that SSD doing there under this mode? I heard some terms like caching, but not very clear about it, can somebody explain it?
3. 32 GB SSD is too small, if I go get a bigger SSD, can I change it myself, never opened an all-in-one before.
4. After I read http://forum-en.msi.com/faq/article/ide-sata-and-ahci-all-you-need-to-know, I want to reinstall OS with SATA mode set to RAID, can you help me with this? Is there any step-by-step instructions I can follow?
Please help, thank you very much!!!
Cici
osprey4
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October 28th, 2013 16:00
Hi Cici,
Congratulations on the new desktop!
For this model, the mSATA SSD acts as a cache to store frequently accessed files. This helps the desktop run faster, but the ideal situation is to have your operating system on an SSD. So one option is to replace the 32GB SSD with something larger. Your options would be a 64GB or 256GB mSATA SSD. Yes, you can change it yourself. The procedure can be found in your owner's manual.
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_xps_desktop/xps-27-2720-aio_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf
In order to use the cache as it is currently set up, you need to have the controller mode set to RAID.
There are other threads on this topic, such as this one. I suggest you search the forums for more ideas. I also have a link below to Philip's excellent OS installation guide.
Philip_Yip
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November 1st, 2013 05:00
See this document:
http://en.community.dell.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/telligent-evolution-components-attachments/01-07-00-00-20-08-79-33/Intel-Responsiveness-technologies-0.91.pdf
The 32 - 64 GB SSD should be used as a cache drive and is to small to comfortably install the OS.
If you upgrade to 120 GB or larger then install the OS directly on the SSD.