XPS 8930, swap second drive for an SSD

Probably the same as my 8920 and I assume you are talking about the NVME one which I couldn't get to work. Check compatibly first. 

Ok thanks - I will definitely talk with the Dell people before we buy then, as it seems sad if you cannot put a quality SSD in such a machine

Ok thank you & very good to know "real life" usage!

I know, but the Samsung rep said it's not compatible. Some people in here have claimed to do it after jumping though many hoops though. I sent my 970 M.2 MVME card back to Amazon and got an 860 EVO sata 2.5" drive for it.

There's your hoops...………..good luck

---

@Peachtree55 wrote:

Hi,

We are thinking of replacing our old Dell desktop with an XPS 8930.

1. I would want to put in a Samsung 960 Evo M.2 1TB instead.

2. Obviously I would want the 960 Evo to be able to read/write at its full 3200/1900 MB/s, and not be "throttled" by connecting to a slower connection)

 

---

It works fine.

https://dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-clone-and-upgrade-PCIe-M-2/m-p/6108714#M13425

2. Not sure if XPS-8930 will hit that speed, but it should be faster than SATA. I know my Aurora-R6 is pretty close:

https://dell.com/community/Alienware-General/Aurora-R6-Hard-Lockup-and-crash-while-gaming-SOLVED/m-p/5504121/highlight/true#M6097

It works great - I installed a Samsung Evo 960 1TB when I first bought my XPS 8930 last November.  The last time that I ran CrystalDiskMark my read speed was 3341.8 and write speed was 1925.2 - no throttling.  I do recommend using the Samsung NVMe driver to get the best speeds.

I just was looking at the deals today and you can get the 960 1 TB for $299.99.  That's a great deal.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help when you get it.

---

@Koeven wrote:

I just was looking at the deals today and you can get the 960 1 TB for $299.99.  That's a great deal.

 

---

Yeah, I bought an Samsung 830 256gb for $225 back when they were the current model (actually, still using it daily).

At these prices, I'm thinking no more use for spinners at all. Only 4gb-8gb will be spinners (like in NAS).

Great to hear this - I do already have a question! Did you replace the Toshiba SSD with the Samsung, or did you keep the Toshiba for start up & replace the HDD?

Thanks so much for the links & info.:Yes:

I see that this involves replacing the Toshiba SSD entirely with the Samsung. Is there any disadvantage with keeping the Toshiba SSD for Boot up & just replacing the HDD with the Samsung?

Yes, I replaced the shipped drive and just put it in a box as I didn't really have another current use for it.  I know that I can buy a PCI card and use it that way, but didn't have the need as 256gb is kind of small in today's world.  I have also ended up giving away PCs to family members and thought I could put it back in when I give it away in a couple of years.