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November 14th, 2019 21:00
XPS 8500, use PCIe SSD for data, not OS or boot?
The Subject line says it all: Can the XPS 8500 take a PCEe SSD for data and application programs, not OS or boot? It would be in addition to the hard drive and the mSATA SSD already in the box. Any crucial specs to put on my checklist?
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Techgee
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November 15th, 2019 09:00
I don't see any specs from Dell on the PCIe slot speeds in the XPS 8500 - whether PCIe 2.0 or 3.0. So, I'll assume based on at least the Intel i7-3770 processor it was sold with that the PCIe x16 slot is 3.0. And, based on its Intel H77 Express chipset, I'll assume all (3) x1 slots are PCIe 2.0.
Assuming the above, the (3) PCIe 2.0 x1 slots would be slower than SATA III, besides that fact that they're not the PCIe 3.0 x4 that NVMe wants to maximize its performance.
Assuming the graphics card slot is PCIe 3.0 x16, and you run with integrated graphics on the CPU only (no discrete graphics card in the x16 slot), you could probably put a PCIe to M.2 PCIe SSD adapter card in there. Of course, this excludes ever adding/having a discrete graphics card.
I'd just get a good SATA 2.5" SSD and make sure it's connected to the one SATA III port the XPS 8500 (other 3 are slower SATA II). The mSATA slot is also SATA III, so that gives you two faster SATA III ports.
See also my comments on same topic elsewhere on Dell's forums here.