m17 R3, new SSD

Question

Hello! Sorry that I’m not very good with computers but I wanted to upgrade my laptop storage. I have previously added one to my old laptop and thought the new Alienware laptop would be the same. When I opened the back of the laptop to add the extra SSD card, I noticed that there are actually 2 x 512gb SSDs already. But I only have 1 drive of 1TB in my computer.
I have just looked at my order and I bought

1TB (2x 512 PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0

does this mean that I won’t be able to change 1 of the slot to the new Samsung 970 EVO plus 1TB to one of the slots as the 2x 512gb are connected ?
I also see that there’s a SSD 3rd slot buy much smaller size?

thank you in advance

BobbyAtk · Accepted Answer

Thank you.

ejn63 · Answer

The system is configured with a RAID0 array - striped across two drives.

You can replace one drive, but will lose everything on both drives, so be sure you have a verified backup made before you start. You can break the RAID0 array (link below) and install the new drive in place of one of the existing drives, configuring it as a single, standalone drive. Then reload Windows onto that drive and you can use the other original drive for storage purposes.

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000132392/how-to-configure-raid-on-a-dell-pc

(the same setup schema is used to break the array as to create one).

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Daniinad welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.

Dell Support for Alienware m17 R3 Storage says there are three slots, One M.2 2230 and two M.2 2280. All three support PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe, but not SATA drives. There is no performance benefit in having two M.2 drives in RAID 0 configuration, and it is not possible to remove one of these drives, because data is shared 50 50 across both drives. If one of the two identical RAID 0 drives fail, both have to be replaced and creating a two drive RAID 0 standby copy requires an external dual drive USB enclosure, as part of your disaster Recovery Plan.

Please note that the RAM is onboard, soldered onto the motherboard and not user upgradable. So the NVMe should be a conventional drive, and not a Samsung 980 DRAM-less NVMe drive which wants to use your motherboard's RAM.

A single 1TB or 2TB M.2 ultrafast OS(C:) boot drive is the best configuration for this gaming laptop. The ultrafast 1TB M.2 2280 Samsung 970 EVO Plus, PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4, NVMe 1.3 with Read/Write speeds up to 3,500/3,300 MB/s is an excellent choice. (Note: PCIe Gen 4.0 will only run at PCIe Gen 3.0 speeds in this system.)

To clone the two RAID 0 (C:) boot drive onto a single drive, purchase an external single drive USB enclosure for your new M.2 2280 and use Macrium Reflect Free as your cloning application. Ensure that new OS(C:) boot drive partition format is GPT (not MBR). When installing your new single NVMe (C:) boot drive, check that BIOS boot list option UEFI is Enabled so that GPT enhanced features are used.

You now have the option to install a M.2 2280 data drive in the other M.2280 slot.

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.

crimsom · Answer

Alienware m17 R3 with base cover removed

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Daniinad did you get a suitable user-to-user response? Is this thread status closed with solution?

Alienware

m17 R3, new SSD

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