m16 R2, BIOS storage setting when adding 2nd SSD

Question

I've got an Alienware m16 R2 laptop. It came with one SSD drive with Windows 10 Home installed. I plan on adding a second SSD drive to store user files.

My laptop shipped with the BIOS storage "SATA/NVMe Operation" setting set to "RAID On". I read online that other people (but with older Dell laptops) changed their setting to "AHCI/NVMe". I checked with Dell technical support and they said that even though I plan to use my 2nd SSD independently of the 1st SSD (i.e. I won't be using RAID 1 or anything), I could leave the BIOS setting to "RAID On". Is this the setting that others with this same laptop but 2 SSDs use?

randyman · Accepted Answer

I looked into this issue more online and spoke to Dell tech support as well. From what tech support said as well as some other online threads, the practice of changing RAID to AHCI was more important in the 'old days' with SATA hard disks  and is not needed with the latest SSDs.  In fact, RAID setting (unintuitive when one isn't even using RAID), offers slightly (not much, just slight ) better performance.

Chino de Oro · Answer

No, while users with untouched settings would leave it with RAID ON, many users changed operation mode to RAID OFF when they reconfigure the storage for upgrade or expansion. To change from RAID to AHCI/NVME without reinstallation of operating system, follow these steps:

Click the Start Button and type cmd
Right-click the result and select Run as administrator
Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal (ALT: bcdedit /set safeboot minimal)
Restart the computer and enter BIOS Setup
Change the SATA Operation mode to AHCI/NVME from RAID
Save changes and exit Setup and Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode.
Right-click the Windows Start Menu once more. Choose Command Prompt (Admin).
Type this command and press ENTER: bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot (ALT: bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot)
Reboot once more and Windows will automatically start with AHCI/NVME drivers enabled.

iRiz · Answer

@randyman​ Hi, my goal is to have an extra drive for other files and I don't want to lose my factory main drive. Does this mean it's as simple as plug and play? Just install 2nd SSD and it will work as an extra drive?

randyman · Answer

@iRiz​ You should order the Dell Thermal Shield to put on the new NVMe. You can order the Dell Thermal Shield directly from Dell. It’s basically a heat shield. Of course, you’ll need to format the NVMe after installation.

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m16 R2, BIOS storage setting when adding 2nd SSD

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