16X Aurora AC16251, SSD thermal shield

I had the 16x that came with a 2tb 2280 ssd on the right side. Not sure about the warrenty part, but the empty ssd slot on the left side had a double screw ( a silver screw that screws on top of the black bottom screw ). I used these screws to keep my new 2230 ssd in place. Hope this helps.

Hope this helps. No thermal shield needed. 2x 1TB NVME Drives running in RAID 0. One is 2230 the other is 2280

Thanks for the responses.  @KwFromNj was right about the double screw, although for some reason there's no screw present at the other end, so I still need one to hold the shield in place.

Monitoring the temperatures I probably don't need a shield.  If it helps anyone else, it turns out those for previous models are compatible.

I'm in the process of waiting to get through to the Canadian Dell sales team that has been unavailable for some time and technical support also stated what is probably in the the manual to me as well. I am willing to use a heatsink instead of the thermal pad if it fits and don't really see any other option as the Dell Sales department here is unreachable by phone. The online inventory has also not been updated yet to include the AC16251 parts or upgrades.

@nanojack71​ Can you provide links or part numbers to the shields that you found were compatible please? Or what previous models are you referring to?

@hollisl45896

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Memory part number is:

CT2K32G56C46S5

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr5/ct2k32g56c46s5?srsltid=AfmBOorKvXDZdGfwwyPITgzGFEOM7WvaHohoyRzk7WQ-7ve3p8_Izeq2

Crucial states what models are compatible using their online compatibility checker as well if you would prefer a single stick or different size kit of 2.

SSD part number is:

WDS200T2X0E

https://shop.sandisk.com/en-ca/products/ssd/internal-ssd/wd-black-sn850x-nvme-ssd?sku=WDS200T2X0E-00BCA0

The Dell manual states to only use an additional m.2 NVMe 2280 or a m.2 NVMe 2230 depending which one yours was manufactured with. I have seen someone use both sizes in the same laptop and I am as well however the manual also states to use a thermal shield(with thermal pad). The part number for the 2280 size is: 0DGKXP. I'm using the 0K3RRF which was for the Alienware M16 R1 and M18 R1 models, because it was significantly cheaper and it fits. The eBay seller also shipped it with two M1.6 x 2.9mm screws.

The thermal shield(with thermal pad) was not directly available through the online dell store and only one was in stock from their warehouse upon calling the sales team. They did not have any m1.6x2.9 screws in stock either which was why I bought one off eBay instead.

@JWH3501​ Extremely helpful info, thank you!

@hollisl45896​ sorry the I have not seen in the manual that the additional SSD you add needs to be the same form factor as the one you bought it with however I if I remember correctly it was on another thread in the Dell community and/or one of the sales reps told me. If it says in the manual would be good to know. I have seen on a European website, from the one specific website, that this model actually supports up to 96gb of Ram with two sticks of 48gb. They have a short explanation of why. The manual does in fact state the maximum supported is 64gb dual channel, non-ecc, non-xmp up to 5600mhz. I have read that the JEDEC speeds for ddr5 is only 4800mhz and anything above that is an overclock maybe even an XMP? I don't know about memory timings and speeds in relation to an XMP and am just letting you know what I've read. There is a lot of information on the internet and some may not be true. The Dell Support is pretty helpful I have found in general though.

@hollisl45896​ I purchased this one 

I recently also bought the Aurora 16X and wanted carry over a 2280 I had. According to customer support, it seems like they haven't made any thermal shields yet.

@MarcsterSK​ I use the (WD black)sn850x 2 TB SanDisk one. It has been very helpful and I use the Thermal pad on the Dell shield I ordered off eBay. The Dell spare parts inventory is limited I hear if they had one it may be in there.