Aurora R7, upgrade M.2 SSD

An M.2 drive is simply a term to describe the physical form factor of a drive. M.2 drives can use protocol like NVMe and SATA.  you can get an M.2 drive that uses either SATA or NVMe.

The R7 manual mentions 

• One U.2 drive 
• One M.2 2280 solid-state drive

The U.2 Drive is for NVMe protocol. PCIe NVMe up to 32 Gbps.  The U.2 drive uses M.2 form factor.

The M.2 2280 drive is for SATA protocol.  AHCI.

Thanks that's what I thought or think I did!

However saw this thread with suggested to someone upgrading the M2 drive to get an PCIe drive.  

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R7-with-M2-SSD/td-p/7346458

And bios screen showing m2 pcie ssd

I have an R7.  The motherboard's M2 interface is M Key (PCiE NVME).  Here is a photo of the NVME controller, and of the motherboard, or you can look at your own PC to confirm there is only 1 single notch on the left side. 

. 

@r72019 is correct.  I think the manual is bit confusing in wording.  

On motherboard there is only one M.2 ssd slot which can accommodate either NVMe or SATA drive.   There is a separate M.2 slot on board for wireless card only.

I would think Dell designed the board that way so user who could not afford one or more NVMe ssd has the option to use the less expensive M.2 sata for the on board M.2 ssd slot.

My post about it here:

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Installing-3-x-1TB-M-2-Samsung-PCiE-NVME-Drives-in-Aurora-R7-8/td-p/7474557

Re: saw this thread with suggested to someone upgrading the M2 drive to get an PCIe drive.  

You can install additional M.2 NVMe drive on a PCIe adapter which has gold teeth that inserts into a PCIe slot.  This is separate from the M.2 sata slot built in the motherboard.

https://www.amazon.com/EZDIY-FAB-NVME-Adapter-Express-Support/dp/B07NY25LRD

@r72019 showed a picture of how he did it.

I have an M2 NVME pcie ssd installed on the motherboard.  You can see it in the first photo.  

Okay, I`ll have to have another look at my mobo to see whether the M2 slot is sata or PCIE NVME. However, just by looking at the bios and googling the current SSD drive in that slot, I can see that it is an M+B keyed SSD, and the bios states it is connected via SATA.

So the question is, if I do have an M+B keyed SATA sSD in that M2 slot, is it possible that that same M2 slot  can accommodate an M keyed PCIE NVME SSD? Or are they not interchangeable ie. you need a M keyed slot for a M keyed PCIE NVME SSD, and an M+B keyed slot for an M+B keyed SATA SSD?

it seems the M.2 slot on R7 motherboard is M keyed.  It can accommodate

M.2 SATA SSD, B+M-keyed (can fit in B-keyed and M-keyed sockets)

and 

M.2 NVMe SSD, M-keyed (for PCIe 3.0 x4 lane, can only fit in M-keyed socket)

Okay so in that case it is plausible that i have an m +b keyed SATA (I do cos I checked online that this is what it is) plugged into an m keyed slot?

And if that is the case, why does the aurora r7 spec sheet that I linked to in an earlier post state that the M2 slot is SATA? If it is a m keyed slot then surely that means it is PCIe nvme as per your last post. 

it seems the M.2 slot in R7 provides both SATA and NVMe interface.  This has been proven that both M+B keyed sata ssd and M keyed NVMe ssd work in that slot.

the manual spec mentions only sata interface for M.2 and puts NVMe interface elsewhere, quite confusing.  I do not want to pull my hair out for Dell.

I have zero authority on this topic.  @r72019 has attested his successful install of NVMe ssd w M key (Samsung PM981) in the M.2 slot, and he has posted actual speed of this ssd. read his benchmark https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Installing-3-x-1TB-M-2-Samsung-PCiE-NVME-Drives-in-Aurora-R7-8/td-p/7474557

NVMe SSD's using the PCIe x4 bus (very fast SSD's) use M-keys since it's the only one that supports PCIe x4 lanes. https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln301626/how-to-distinguish-the-differences-between-m-2-cards?lang=en

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@redxps630 wrote:

it seems the M.2 slot in R7 provides both SATA and NVMe interface.  This has been proven that both M+B keyed sata ssd and M keyed NVMe ssd work in that slot.

the manual spec mentions only sata interface for M.2 and puts NVMe interface elsewhere, quite confusing.  I do not want to pull my hair out for Dell.

 

 

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I quite agree regarding the pulling hair out for dell!. However it is frustrating, as before I drop the extra money on a m2 NVMe SSD, I would like to be certain that 

a) the m.2 slot will take a m.2 NVME ssd

b) the interface is there to take advantage of that extra speed

So if anyone with absolute authority on this issue can confirm this that would be great

Yep, and also I found this video, posted by a dell forum user.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoOIBJYYvGE&feature=youtu.be

And it clearly shows him taking out a SATA (b+M keyed) SSD from the M.2 slot, and replacing it with a NVMe M keyed SSD. 

So based on this and your helpful comments I am going to take the plunge and buy an NVMe SSD for the M2 slot.

Cheers