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Precision 3630 M.2 Questions
Precision 3630. I will be replacing the SATA drive with an M.2 SSD using the slot on the system board. If i wanted to do a Raid 1 mirror set up, can i add a second M.2 drive to the 3630? It looks like when configuring a 3630 you can add a second M.2 drive which is an Ultra-Speed drive...and from what i can tell is just a M.2 drive installed in a PCIe imposer card ( Dell Ultra-Speed Drive Duo PCIe SSD x8 Card.) Can a PCIe card be added and supported in the 3630 and also support Raid 1?
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Techgee
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Posted November 14th, 2019 12:00
The Dell Precision 3630 has 2 PCIe physical x4 expansion slots. Since the slots don't have more than x4 lanes, there's no point in trying to use any PCIe cards with more than one M.2 NVMe SSD on it, since M.2 NVMe SSDs need x4 lanes to get their peak performance. Assuming both slots are electrically x4 lanes and PCIe 3.0 for max performance, you could potentially add 2 more M.2 NVMe SSDs via (2) add-in PCIe cards in addition to the M.2 slot directly on the motherboard.
I'd just get a cheap PCIe to M.2 NVMe SSD adapter(s) for this. Something like this (I/O CREST SI-PEX40110), also available here branded as SYBA SI-PEX40110. Combine with a heatsink like this (2-pack, single here). My experience with this combo here. Or, choose from the myriad of other offerings.
Whether you could combine the NVMe SSDs with RAID, I wouldn't know.