XPS 8930, can't enable Optane Memory

What does "unable" mean? Does "unable" = "disable"?

The Intel Optane memory status is already disabled.

Are you getting an error message or where do you see "no Intel Optane memory modules were detected"?

Did you order this PC with Optane memory?

You might want to read page 26, here.

Hi Ron

Thanks for replying. 

No error, just the "no Intel Optane memory modules were detected" message.

I thought that every XPS-8930 by default already have Optane memory.

Reviewing my order, my machine came with two disks:

1 -    KXG50ZNV256G NVMe TOSHIBA 256GB

2-     ST2000DM001-1ER164 SEAGATE 2TB

Thanks,

Renato Battaglia

I used a 16Gb Optane Memory module in a XPS 8930 to speed up the slow performance. The big problem was the stock 1Tb Toshiba drive, receiving a Passmark Disk score of 733.9m a 39% percentile result. Overall the stock XPS 8930 had a Passmark score of 2,501, at 55% percentile.

After installing the Optane memory, the Passmark Disk score changed to 1,821, 54% percentile, and overall to 3,499 at 72% percentile.  This is a very effective speed tool.

I have an Inspiron 7586 with pretty much the same setup as the one above, 256gb SSD + 2tb HDD. I'm gtting the same message, "It appears that your system...no modules detected." The "Enable" button is greyed out. I went into my bios and it is set on the RAID setting. However upon reading this, am I to understand fully that it isn't any good because my OS is on the SSD and the Optane wouldn't benefit the system? This would mean that my PCIe 2.0 NVMe would be faster without it and that it isn't made to have any benefit to an SSD C: drive and that it won't work with the D drive HDD?  So optane is only beneficial to a C: drive HDD? Thanks for any clarification on this.

Are you sure you have Optane memory in your Inspiron 7586? It appears that this laptop only has a single M.2 2280/2230 slot and if you have an M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD then you don't have Optane memory. Yes, it is true that Optane memory is most beneficial for an HDD.

By the way, this is a Desktop/XPS forum. For more help, you may wish to post to the Laptop/Inspiron forum.

@DellRayRay No need to apologize for posting to the wrong forum; I only suggested the other forum because there may be more participants familiar with your laptop.

A PCIe 2.0 NVMe SSD goes in the M.2 slot. Since there is only one slot that is where your C: drive is and therefore no slot for Optane memory. Also, there is only one location for mounting an internal HDD, It may help to look at the Setup and Specifications and the Service Manual.

Yes, thanks. I also got the correct info from intel forums as well. I think I'll just leave it the way it is. Maybe put a bigger SSD in the future, but for now, it's good. Thank you for the reply.

Any idea if an SSHD would be beneficial in the SATA slot? It's just a curiosity question, for future reference.

An SSHD is definitely faster than an HDD, but I am not sure if an SSHD is worth the extra expense versus investing the difference in a larger SSD especially if you plan to upgrade to the larger SSD in the future.

What if my OS is NOT installed on the SSD?   When I received my 8930, the OS was installed on the 1TB drive and the service tech that I talked to said that the 250G SSD "wasn't big enough for Win 10" - which I say is BS!

How do I enable Optane Memory when "enable" is grayed out?

@Flashtimes  - If you have a 256 GB SSD installed in the M.2 NVMe slot, even if the OS isn't installed on that SSD, you don't and can't have Optane memory. So "Enable" should be grayed out for Optane.

You should clone your HDD with something like Macrium Reflect (free) and migrate everything over to the SSD. When you're sure PC boots from the SSD and your personal files are available, re-initialize the HDD with diskpart and move your personal files back onto the HDD. Then be sure to tell Windows to move its default folders to the HDD and configure all your installed apps to save their files on the HDD too.