1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
1013
XPS 8900 or 8910, which do I really have?
I bought a couple of XPS-8900's several months apart many years ago.
The service tag when added to My Products shows BOTH as an XPS-8900.
Cleaning the inside today on one unit I noticed the M.2 slot on the MB where I have a full length M.2 SSD. The service manual for the XPS-8900 does not show that. The service manual for the XPS-8910 does.
I just recently (going strictly by service tag) installed the latest BIOS (2.9.1) without any difficulty. Now I notice the 8910 has 1.1.12.
I'd like to think the BIOS update would KNOW what systems it is compatible with, but now I'm afraid to try the 8910 BIOS.
The store receipt shows XPS-8900.
Hard to believe the service tag on each would be inaccurate.
Oddly, the 8900 BIOS (Feb 2021) is newer than the 8910 (Aug 2020)
JOcean
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
12K Posts
2
September 28th, 2021 16:00
The specs for the 8900 do in fact indicate that the desktop has an M.2 slot. Those specs are here. Go by the service tag and if both are shown as 8900s then believe that. I would surely not try an 8910 BIOS. There are plenty of forum posts about the correct BIOS update that went wrong. So why poke the bear and attempt a BIOS update that very possibly is the wrong one. I have advised before that unless the BIOS update fixes a specific problem you are having then leave it alone. Nothing good can come of an update that fails to install correctly.
redxps630
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
10.3K Posts
1
September 28th, 2021 17:00
Re: The store receipt shows XPS-8900.
the two models have subtle but distinctly different chassis design on the outside.
8900 chassis looks like 8700/8500/8300. front bezel has a slight back sloping.
8910 chassis looks like 8920/8930. front bezel is straight.
inside case psu layout completely different.
Dell refreshed the case design in 8910 putting in the swing arm or clam shell design of PSU. In 8900 Dell was using the same classic or traditional PSU in upper left corner design of 8700 etc.
8900
8910
redxps630
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
10.3K Posts
1
September 28th, 2021 18:00
both 8900 and 8910 have M.2 slot for ssd, however, 8900 M.2 only supports sata ssd. 8910 M.2 supports sata/PCIe ssd.
rh310
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
163 Posts
0
September 28th, 2021 17:00
Ah, thanks. Turns out I failed to READ the description on page 16 of the service manual. Since it showed no SSD installed, I assumed I was looking at a plug and not a slot for M.2 SSD.