17 R5, SSD upgrade

Hi @SilverEve welcome to this free user-to-user Alienware laptop discussion forum. 

M.2 Storage slots are SSD-1 M.2 2242, SSD-2 and SSD-3 are both M.2 2280. 

The Crucial System Advisor database is a good source of information, Alienware 17 R5 | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial.com.  

For the other questions, please consult my posts in 15 R3, upgrade my SSD - Dell Community.  

Ah so because 980 pro can be used. But it also says in the manual that it's up to 1TB. If I were to get a 2TB. would that also work? Cause they're on a crazy sale right now. I just want to make sure before I do anything stupid.

Hi @SilverEve the 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD provides excellent performance, response and encryption protection in my Alienware 17 R5. It is rare for Dell to update their system support documentation, although they do expect users to upgrade Memory and Drives. Crucial test their evolving products and their System Advisor database is a good source of information. However, the Alienware 17 R5 is internally designed to use DDR4 RAM Memory and M.2 PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD. The 2.5" bay is designed to use slow SATA III HDD or SSD up to 4TB. 

The 2TB Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD and the 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD are both backward compatible to run at PCIe 3.0 speed in the Alienware 17 R5. 

I thank you for your assistance. But I still have a few questions. On the 980 pro I see there is an option for a heatsink, it doesn't matter for the computer correct? Also for the m2 2242 I see there are some with two notches and not one.

Hi @SilverEve thank you for sharing question. 

When new, the Alienware 17 R5's M.2 drives have the Dell heatsink. Additional Dell M.2 drives do not have the heatsink Dell P/N JV98R, example: Amazon.com: Deal4GO 2280 M.2 SSD Heatsink Hard Drive Cover 03N3W3 JV98R for Dell G5 5587 G7 7588 Ali.... For a high power and/or games user, the M.2 drive will get hot and installation of the low profile Dell M.2 heatsink is prudent. Many retail heatsinks are not designed to fit within the Alienware 17 R5's M.2 drive bays, please undertake physical measurements.  

The CPUID HWMonitor will capture system heat sensor information, including drive temperatures. HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID.  

The two notch M.2 2242 usually designates a slow SATA drive. The single notch M.2 2242 usually designates a fast or ultrafast NVMe drive. How to distinguish the differences between M.2 cards | Dell US.  A slow SATA M.2 drive is not advocated for internal installation. 

Ah. Thank you for the info. I also apparently found out that my SATA 2.5" hard drive seems to be dying, if you have any suggestions or recommendations I'd greatly appreciate it.