Hi @AceKiller welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
Alienware 13 R3 Install Solid-State Drive image says there are two M.2 2280 slots and Storage says each slot is capable of accepting either the slow SATA III or the ultrafast PCIe Gen3 x4 drive. Although Dell anticipates users changing the drives, the Alienware 13 R3 Documentation is very poor, but the crucial database supplies the "missing" drive information. Crucial database says the 13 R3 will accept up to 2TB fast and ultrafast M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe drives.
It is pointless installing a slow SATA III OS(C:) boot drive or installing an expensive PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe drive, that will only run at PCIe Gen3 x4 read/write speeds.
Advocate that you install a 1TB or 2TB 2280 ultrafast Samsung PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe drive as your OS(C:) boot drive. Data storage drive could have a lower specification, but Samsung drives provide data encryption protection capability, should your laptop get stolen.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
Any standard M.2 2280 SSD that will physically fit (you may want to look for single-sided drives, unless you can verify that a double-sided drive will physically fit) will work.
Sorry for asking over and over again. I'm currently residing in Asia for business purpose and availability of such components is not ample. And after I buy any ssd it'll not be possible to change if my laptop does not support. So I wanted to make sure whether its compatible. Initially, I wanted to buy Samsung 970 Evo plus but that I saw has issues and is not recommended for my system. Thanks again.
The ultrafast M.2 2280 Samsung 970 Evo plus interface is PCIe Gen3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 and is suitable for installation in Alienware 13 R3. Please give forum users the source of why Samsung 970 Evo plus has seemingly previously unknown technical issues and is somehow not recommended for installation in Alienware 13 R3.
The fast M.2 2280 WD_BLACK 500GB SN750 interface is also PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe, but does not have the full data protection integrity options compared with the ultrafast Samsung 970 Evo plus. There are also other economy brands that are suitable for installation in your Alienware 13 R3.
Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
2
June 19th, 2021 06:00
Hi @AceKiller welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
Alienware 13 R3 Install Solid-State Drive image says there are two M.2 2280 slots and Storage says each slot is capable of accepting either the slow SATA III or the ultrafast PCIe Gen3 x4 drive. Although Dell anticipates users changing the drives, the Alienware 13 R3 Documentation is very poor, but the crucial database supplies the "missing" drive information. Crucial database says the 13 R3 will accept up to 2TB fast and ultrafast M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe drives.
It is pointless installing a slow SATA III OS(C:) boot drive or installing an expensive PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe drive, that will only run at PCIe Gen3 x4 read/write speeds.
Advocate that you install a 1TB or 2TB 2280 ultrafast Samsung PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe drive as your OS(C:) boot drive. Data storage drive could have a lower specification, but Samsung drives provide data encryption protection capability, should your laptop get stolen.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from user that is not employed by Dell. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
A51-06
5 Practitioner
•
3.1K Posts
0
June 20th, 2021 07:00
In simple words. Anything that is NVMe and is Gen3 will work in that system but it has to be below 2Tb.
mattpres
10 Posts
1
November 10th, 2021 04:00
Just adding my 2 cents....I installed a Samsung 970 Evo Plus on my 13 R3 and it is working great.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.7K Posts
1
June 19th, 2021 04:00
Any standard M.2 2280 SSD that will physically fit (you may want to look for single-sided drives, unless you can verify that a double-sided drive will physically fit) will work.
AceKiller
2 Posts
1
June 20th, 2021 00:00
Western Digital Black SN750 500GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
Will this work?
https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-SN750-500GB-Internal-Gaming/dp/B07MH2P5ZD?th=1
Sorry for asking over and over again. I'm currently residing in Asia for business purpose and availability of such components is not ample. And after I buy any ssd it'll not be possible to change if my laptop does not support. So I wanted to make sure whether its compatible. Initially, I wanted to buy Samsung 970 Evo plus but that I saw has issues and is not recommended for my system. Thanks again.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
1
June 20th, 2021 04:00
Hi @AceKiller thank you for sharing update.
The ultrafast M.2 2280 Samsung 970 Evo plus interface is PCIe Gen3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 and is suitable for installation in Alienware 13 R3. Please give forum users the source of why Samsung 970 Evo plus has seemingly previously unknown technical issues and is somehow not recommended for installation in Alienware 13 R3.
The fast M.2 2280 WD_BLACK 500GB SN750 interface is also PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe, but does not have the full data protection integrity options compared with the ultrafast Samsung 970 Evo plus. There are also other economy brands that are suitable for installation in your Alienware 13 R3.
Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.7K Posts
1
June 20th, 2021 04:00
Yes, the WD Black 750 will work fine with that system.