XPS 8930, Upgrades, CPU cooler, PSU, SSD

Hi Criminalu,

It sounds like you've ordered a great 8930!  I've seen all of the other 8930 postings, but not everyone is having all of those problems.  I have had the i7-8700 (non-k) processor in the standard black case (standard fan and cpu cooler) since November and have had no problems with fan noise, cpu overheating, storage upgrades, etc.  I have had problems with the bios upgrade to 1.0.5 and also a problem with upgrading the GPU.  I upgraded my power supply as part of the trouble shooting process with the GPU.  I put in a 650W power supply.  I have 3 storage devices, I boot from a Samsung 960 EVO 1TB PCIe NVME drive and then have two other standard HDDs for additional storage.  Upgrading to the Samsung took about an hour, including the time it took to update all of the Windows 10 downloads that came in after using the recovery drive.  The Samsung is incredibly fast and highly recommended and mine runs at the full read/write rates (3272/1905) and bus speeds.  I found a GPU that works great - EVGA 1070ti.  I couldn't ever get my older Gigabyte 1070 to work in this PC.  I still swear that it was a bios issue causing those GPU issues.

Hi Koeven,

Thanks for the reply. I believe I already read all your posts before writing mine, hence I was aware of your issues.
I did post in the thread about the BIOS upgrade if you care to see it here.
Maybe the issue will be solved before my machine arrives. As for the Samsung evo, hope not to run into issues, as this will not be my OS drive, it'll be used as a secondary scratch location for video editing. As for GPU sorry to hear what you went through, I read the entire thread (feel bad for that experience). I'm happy with the GTX 1080, given the fact that there is nowhere to buy it - bi*tcoin digging rigs users bought them all and it's a shortage on the market.
All the best!

@Koeven wrote:

Hi Criminalu,

It sounds like you've ordered a great 8930!  I've seen all of the other 8930 postings, but not everyone is having all of those problems.  I have had the i7-8700 (non-k) processor in the standard black case (standard fan and cpu cooler) since November and have had no problems with fan noise, cpu overheating, storage upgrades, etc.  I have had problems with the bios upgrade to 1.0.5 and also a problem with upgrading the GPU.  I upgraded my power supply as part of the trouble shooting process with the GPU.  I put in a 650W power supply.  I have 3 storage devices, I boot from a Samsung 960 EVO 1TB PCIe NVME drive and then have two other standard HDDs for additional storage.  Upgrading to the Samsung took about an hour, including the time it took to update all of the Windows 10 downloads that came in after using the recovery drive.  The Samsung is incredibly fast and highly recommended and mine runs at the full read/write rates (3272/1905) and bus speeds.  I found a GPU that works great - EVGA 1070ti.  I couldn't ever get my older Gigabyte 1070 to work in this PC.  I still swear that it was a bios issue causing those GPU issues.

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Hey Koeven!
Quick question here: did you install the Smasung 960 Evo directly on the motherboard or you put it on the PCIe X4 slot?
I would leave for the time being the 256 GB NVMe drive where it is in the build for the OS, and add the new one on an adapter on the PCIe x4 empty slot on the MB. You think it will still work at the intended speeds like you mentioned?
Appreciate it!

I installed it in the single M2 slot on the motherboard.  I believe the only other slot on the motherboard is the one for the wifi adapter.  I understand that it should not be used for an NVMe drive.  Are you thinking of purchasing an adapter for the NVMe drive and using an empty PCIe slot?  I don't know of anyone in the forum who has done that, so I don't know what speeds you'll get.  Theoretically it should work.  Maybe someone has done it on an 8920 or 8910.

Tried to post a reply 4-5 times.. it doesn't show up... :(

Will try to break the message in 2 parts see if it works ...

Thanks man. This is a bit weird. My assumption was that the OS shipped by Dell would reside on the 256 ssd on the motherboard they ship it with, and not on the HDD. That would be kinda lame in my oppinion, as you want the OS to be on a fast drive. Anyways, I will see about this when I get the system.
To answer your question: - Yes, I got an adapter. After doing some research about the 8930 motherboard and the I7 8700 cpu PCIe lanes and how they work, it's safe to say that using the PCIe X4 slot no.15 - we get the proper speed for an NVMe drive like the 960. The adapter I got is a slim form factor, so hopefully I won't have issues with the chassis on top of it. Will update on all of this once I get all setup next week sometime (gotta get the system delivered first). There is yet however the option of using the Samsung 960 with a different SATA 6 adapter, but that would mean to cut down on the other SATA lanes in order to have the proper speed.

Anyways, ideally I would have for begginers two NVMe drives (one for the OS and apps, and one for scratch project files) and a third large one for storage. Later on, I can add more drives on the SATA drives as desired.
For now that PCIe slot uses the CPU lanes and not the motherboard ones, so it's the processor computing the lanes used, not the chipset on the motherboard (long discussion here)
This is the card I got.
This is the motherboard with the PCIe 4X where the card goes along with the NVMe drive.
By the way, is there any room to install an extra fan in that case? Just wondering.
Will keep this topic open in the meantime.

Hi Criminalu,

I ordered the same system. Where would you add the Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD as a third storage device cause? Some photo would help? 

I only have 2x8GB DDR4 that are installed in alternate slots, there is an empty slot between them,

and would like to add 2x16GB DDR4. Should I move them next to each other, or to have 2x16GB interleaving the 2x8GB would have better performance?

Thanks,

Matthew

Hi ejsm,
I installed the Samsung NVMe sdd on PCIe slot 4 with an adapter and worked from the first try, no messing around in BIOS.
To answer your question about RAM: - you ahve to make sure you will use the same kind of RAM as the one you have now, in order to be compatible. Move existing 8GB to be close together, either right or left, not in the center. So either slot 1 and 2, or slot 3 and 4. Install the new ram in the remaining 2 slots. There should be no issues as long as ALL ram is from the same manufacturer and has the same speed (2666 MHz - as example).

Koeven,
I finally got the machine. It shipped with BIOS 1.0.0.5.
Installed the NVMe with no issues on the adapter card and put it in PCIe x4 slot. It works at faster speeds than the one shipped by Dell, that is installed on the motherboard.
Drive S is the Samsung drive on PCIe x4, and drive C is the SSD shipped by Dell. There are 2 tests, one for a 1 GB, and a second one for 50 MB.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U1pWqOKPys1LleCb1f2F2VMJ0haweB7L/view?usp=sharing

Hi Criminalu. I have the same desktop and recently bought a 860 EVO with a PCIe x4 adapter, but I'm unable to get it working. Were there any steps you had to take besides just slotting the adapter in the PCIe slot?

Hi ejsm,

There is an error in the service manual. Memory should be installed in pairs that have similar colored securing clips (either white (DIMM1 & 2) or black(DIMM3 & 4)).  These paired slots are not adjacent to each other (see the picture of the motherboard in the service manual). Note also in the service manual the Table 2 (Memory configuration matrix) has the columns labeled incorrectly. The Note above the Table is also incorrect. 

I posted here about my experience of upgrading the CPU cooler - it has made a huge difference to the noise levels from the PC when under load. The key issues are that you are very limited in choice of CPU cooler and you have to remove the motherboard to do the upgrade:

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-How-I-Fixed-the-Noise-Issues/td-p/5650372

On my 8930 the OS was installed on the 256GB SSD. I wanted more SSD space and was originally going to replace the 256Gb with a 500Gb NVME. However, in the end I decided to go with a second SATA 3 connected Samsung 860 500Gb. That way i got the most SSD storage for the least cost.

I now have the OS and MS Office installed on the 256Gb and all my other software, such as games on the 500Gb drive.

In theory a m2 PCIe NVME drive is much faster than a SATA 3 connect SSD - but in practice I don't notice any real world difference in app start times etc.

Hi Dezful,

I did not have any issues. It was just plug and play pretty much.
What exactly is the issue you are having?
This is what I bought:
Samsung Evo
M.2 Adapter
After I put the NVme on the adapter, I just placed the adapter on the PCIe slot, turned on the PC, went to BIOS and it was listed. In windows you have to manually enable and format the drive in Disk Management. Did you do that?
Let me know what's wrong...