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XPS 8500, boot 32GB SSD to 1TB SSD, procedure?
My XPS 8500 Special Edition running Windows 10 Pro 1803 (April 2018 update) has the shipped configuration of 32GB mSATA cache SSD + 2TB main HDD set up to show as a single 2TB drive in Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST.)
I would like to replace the 32GB mSATA cache SSD with a 1TB mSATA SSD (860 EVO mSATA 1TB) as the boot, main OS drive, and use the 2TB HDD as storage.
1st question: will the mSATA SSD I linked to above fit? Specifically, I'm concerned about the thickness/height.
Update: it works just fine. Steps below.
From my reading, it seems the process for this is as follows:
- Disable the cache drive in Intel RST.
- Uninstall Intel RST (Combined with #1 above, this should get Windows 10 into the state of expecting only a single boot drive instead of 2 drives configured as 1.)
- Clone 2TB HDD (there will be far less than 1TB of files on it) to new 1TB mSATA SSD. I recommend using an HDD dock on a separate PC with MiniTool Partition Wizard free for this. Reason being Partition Wizard seems to choke on cloning when this particular drive is installed in the PC.
- Turn off PC.
- Remove GPU (AMD Radeon HD 7870) for access to 32GB mSATA SSD.
- Remove 32GB mSATA cache SSD.
- Install new 1TB mSATA SSD.
- Replace GPU.
- Turn on PC and boot into Windows as normal.
Would the above steps work, or is there something I'm missing?
That's the procedure.
One note: even though you're no longer using a RAID array, do NOT change the Boot Mode from RAID to AHCI in the BIOS settings as it will cause the PC to crash during boot.
jdrch
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June 1st, 2018 17:00
I Googled "Dell does not recommend or suggest installing Windows on an MSATA drive" and found these official instructions that show how to do it. Based on other support links I've found, it seems at the time the recommendation against doing so was based on contemporary mSATA SSDs having very low capacity (32 GB is too low for Windows updates, for example.) I think it should be OK with a 1 TB capacity; I just want to ensure the physical height dimension of the drive I picked is OK.
Cbarnhorst
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June 23rd, 2018 15:00
I have been booting my XPS 8500 from a 1TB mSATA card in the mSATA slot for five years. It is just a matter of installing the card, disconnecting the HDD drive, and installing Windows. No issues. The mSATA slot is a SATA 3 slot and you should get around 550/510 read/writes. With an SSD in the slot, no accelerator is needed since your accesses are already accelerated to the max using the mSATA SSD.
Mary G
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June 1st, 2018 17:00
The msata cache ssd slot cannot be used to boot. The boot drive must be the hard drive connected to Sata port 0. You have a mini ssd drive now for storing files that are used frequently. See the info from Dell below--
If you want to change your boot drive to a big ssd drive (not in the msata slot) see this-
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/want-to-make-ssd-primary-boot-drive-and-move-hdd/36af89a7-bcae-47f2-b7ad-b5619f5df81b
From Dell-- Dell ships systems that have mSATA Accelerators with the OS installed on the Main SATA drive instead of the mSATA. This is because mSATA is used as a cache drive to increase system performance. Dell does not recommend or suggest installing Windows on an MSATA drive.
jdrch
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August 30th, 2018 10:00
Finally did it last night! OP updated with full procedure and things to avoid. Thanks for your help :)
WHChuang
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September 5th, 2020 11:00
WHChuang
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September 5th, 2020 11:00
WHChuang
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September 5th, 2020 11:00
jdrch
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September 5th, 2020 14:00
Yes, that is correct.
> with a new license
I do believe Windows would pick up the license key that's in the BIOS automatically, but since the XPS 8500 shipped with Windows 8 and the free upgrade period is (officially, but not unofficially) over, you'd probably have to use a workaround. Google that if you want to got that route, as the method seems to change from time to time but Microsoft are just fine with it.
OTOH, if you upgraded from the SKU the XPS originally shipped with, e.g. from Home to Pro, you should just boot into the new installation and activate Windows using your Pro upgrade key. If that doesn't work, then call Microsoft directly (I think the contact number is in the license settings and they can remotely activate it for you.)
> Wouldn't you have to pay for another Windows 10 license then?
Only if none of the above methods work.
> how do I "Disable the cache drive in Intel RST?"
Go to the notification area in Windows. Find the RST icon and open the RST app using it. You should see config settings there that allow you to use the SSD as a cache drive. Disable the cache drive functionality and then reboot. The PC will now using the HDD only and the cache SSD will show up as a separate disk in Windows Volume Manager (check that this is the case.) Then you can clone the HDD to the SSD. Install the SSD as directed in my OP, then uninstall RST.
> Do I do that in BIOS setting or??
You can switch between RST and ACPI boot modes in the BIOS but if you do so and try to use the cloned Windows installation the OS will fail to boot.
If you want to change the BIOS boot mode to ACPI you have to change it and then do a clean Windows installation (see above.) But otherwise, changing the boot mode is unnecessary to disable RST within the OS itself.
> to another separate computer, THEN do the cloning between these two drives. Is this correct?
That's possible, but it's not necessary. All you need to do is put the new mSATA SSD into an mSATA to 2.5 in adapter, then put that into an HDD dock. You can definitely use a 2nd computer, but you don't absolutely have to.
> What if I don't have another PC that has mSATA slot?
See above.
> How can I clone the two drives?
You're only cloning the source 2 TB HDD to the target 1 TB mSATA SSD. Only 1 drive is being cloned, not 2.
> what's the performance gain you get after switching from the 7200 HDD to mSATA SSD (in terms of Windows 10 boot time and game loading time, etc.)?
Booting, updates, restarts, app launches, app installations, app uninstallation ... just about everything that uses the C:\ drive is MUCH faster. However, I have noticed the speed gain is *slightly* lower than moving to a 2.5 in SSD. Despite Sony's lies *ahem* hype, SSDs only make your game assets load faster, they don't affect how fast the game runs once it's in memory. I do believe the XSX storage tech that Microsoft will be bringing to Windows requires NVMe SSDs, which of course the XPS doesn't support.
I'd definitely max out the RAM to 32 GB if you haven't already.
TL,DR: it's not reasonable to expect 1st class gaming on an XPS 8500 in 2020. Will you get something acceptable? Sure. Are you gonna be able to match benchmarks with a PC with an NVMe SSD + Ryzen 3900X + RTX3? Probably not. As long as your expectations are reasonable for the hardware, you'll be happy.
Vic384
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September 5th, 2020 15:00
@jdrch wrote, "If you want to change the BIOS boot mode to ACPI you have to change it and then do a clean Windows installation (see above.) But otherwise, changing the boot mode is unnecessary to disable RST within the OS itself."
I think you are referring to SATA operating mode in the BIOS. The modes are either RAID or AHCI. You do not have to do a clean Windows installation to switch the Windows installation from RAID to AHCi, you can run the following procedure: http://triplescomputers.com/blog/uncategorized/solution-switch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/
In step 4 of the procedure is where the SATA operating mode in the BIOS is changed.
jdrch
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September 5th, 2020 16:00
Correct.
TIL on the rest, thanks for the info. FWIW IIRC the people who told me I'd have to reinstall were on Intel's support forum, Microsoft Answers, and Reddit.