Yes, I've already done that. I've added 1TB Sata SSD and made it the primary boot drive where windows is installed. I've also made other upgrades like adding another 8GB of memory and replacing the wifi card with 802.11ac so that it now works with 5GHz signal. I've even added a USB card using the PCIe x1 slot so that I have USB3.0 at the back.
My question is just to gauge if it has been done before I try it
I understand that you cannot boot from PCIe slot but might still try it just to compare the speeds.
Well, you can try and let everyone know what happens...
It probably depends on whether BIOS can accept anything other than a video card in that slot. I suspect it won't accept anything else, so PC may fail to boot, even though the SSD in the x16 slot isn't the boot drive...
Sounds like you are thinking the PCIe x16 slot cannot be used for a SSD m.2 adapter card SATA or NVme?
I had hoped that there was some kind of Dell response to the possibility of
1. Using PCIe x16 slot for this
2. If yes does the 3250 recognize a NVme PCIe M.2 SSD?
3. Booting from this SSD drive.
I find my PC to be VERY slow booting up, loading programs, etc..
My hope was to significantly improve these issues. I have the latest bios for the PC. I'm not super technical.
My hope was to avoid having to deal with plugging in extra data and/or power cords, modifying the current hard drive arrangement and use a more simple card slot solution. Clone drives. Maybe not possible.
This is mainly a user-to-user forum with Dell employees serving as moderators, so it's rare that any of them will respond to questions posted here.
@ejn63 agrees the x16 slot can't be used for anything except a video card. That's typically the way Dell sets up their systems.
Let's go back to your performance issues...
Which CPU do you have in this PC, i3, i5 or i7?
How much total RAM do you have now? And do both BIOS and Windows recognize all of it?
Do you have an add-in video card or only onboard Intel HD Graphics?
Have you scanned thoroughly for malware recently? Malwarebytes (free version) is useful for this.
Is Fast Startup enabled or disabled in Windows? (Open Power/Sleep screen, click Additional Settings, click Change what power buttons do, and see if Fast Startup is checked or not on last screen.)
How much unnecessary junk is running in the background? Look on Startup tab in Task Manager for a first indication of what's loading at boot...
Which CPU do you have in this PC, i3, i5 or i7? i3
How much total RAM do you have now? And do both BIOS and Windows recognize all of it? 4 Gb
Do you have an add-in video card or only onboard Intel HD Graphics? No
Have you scanned thoroughly for malware recently? Malwarebytes (free version) is useful for this.
Did this. Found 2
Is Fast Startup enabled or disabled in Windows? (Open Power/Sleep screen, click Additional Settings, click Change what power buttons do, and see if Fast Startup is checked or not on last screen.)
Was enabled
How much unnecessary junk is running in the background? Look on Startup tab in Task Manager for a first indication of what's loading at boot...
Low start up stuff
I defragged the drive and switched to Chrome brower from Firefox (hating to but...times change)
All of this seemed to help. I am hoping to do the following:
In looking at my 3250. I have 2 SATA ports (1 blue, 1 black) on the board the hard drive is plugged into the blue port.
Is it possible to use the black port for an internal SSD drive? I realize there is no room in the drive slot. I can fabricate a bracket to hold the SSD within the PC case. Looks like, if possible, I would need to get a splitter type power cord off the existing cord to the hard drive.
I would clone the existing hard drive and set up the SSD drive as the boot drive. Wipe the existing drive and use as a storage drive.
I would add 4 Gb memory. I checked Crucial for compatible.
Part of your performance issue is the i3 CPU which isn't a great CPU.
4 GB of RAM is way too low for Win 10.You need at least 8 or more GB
And -if I understand correctly- you only have onboard Intel Graphics, which will hog a fair amount of that 4 GB of RAM, and make that pokey i3 CPU run even slower, since it also has to process the Intel Graphics.
If you have an internal optical drive, you could disconnect its SATA data cable (#11) in the motherboard diagram and use that data port for a SATA drive. Problem is, I only see one drive power connector (#9) in the diagram. So I don't know where the optical or a second HDD (SSD) gets its power. If you have the optical drive now, you could use its power and SATA connections/cable. There also may be a splitter power cable, but you'd have to search for that.
Once you've cloned the HDD onto a new SSD, you should disconnect the HDD and connect the new SSD to that blue SATA data port which is where the boot drive should be connected. Then you'd have to connect the HDD to #11, initialize it (ALL FILES DELETED!) so you can use use it for storage, assuming you find a way to power it.
Only you can decide whether to put money into this PC or save it for a more powerful PC with an i5 or i7 CPU, more drive bays and one that uses standard SATA power connections, etc.
I have 2 sata ports on the mother board. The hard drive is plugged into the blue sata port. The black sata port is unused. I plan using it for cloning to the ssd drive. Then switch to plug in the new boot drive to the blue sata port.
What video card do recommend, to help off load use of the i3 processor.
Yes, you have 2 SATA data ports on the motherboard, but where do you connect the new SSD (or the OEM optical drive) for power?
Like I said, above, I only see one "drive power cable connector" labeled in the motherboard diagram. There must be a way to power both drives, but I don't see how to do it.
As for a GPU that should fit inside this small case and work with its small power supply, read this thread and this thread .
Is it possible to get a "y" cable. 2x 15 pin connector end to two 2x 15 pin connector off the hard drive end of the cable that feeds the hard drive while leaving other leg off the existing power cable that feeds the optical in place.? I know they make "y" splitter cables (1. Feed to 2 feeds) from the mother board plug in to 2 hard drive plugs.
I used to dabble with simpler pcs a few years ago with things like this.
Or
Next dumb question
I have an unused Pcie. X1. Slot. Do they possibly make an adapter card for a power feed via it.
Based on your thread regarding power supply, looks like video card fit and power requirements make it a no go.
Maybe my thoughts regarding adding an SSD drive and keeping the existing hard drive with this small power supply are unrealistic. If that is the case then I need find a way to clone the harddrive and just go with the single SSD drive. If this is the case then a temporary "y" splitter power feed to power both. Clone the SSD as a boot drive. Eliminate the hard drive.
All things considered is that a more realistic approach consider the small power supply?
There has to be a way to power a second drive since this PC model can have a HDD and an optical drive. I just don't know how the second drive is connected for power.
If you have an ODD now, trace the cables back and see where they connect to the motherboard. One of the cables will be the SATA data cable that goes to the gray SATA data port on the motherboard. The other one would be for power.
You'll have to browse the net to see if there are suitable power Y-splitter cables for that 6-pin SATA motherboard power connector.
I pinged my Dell tech contacts for info about the power source for the second drive, so lets see what response we may get this coming week...
Keep in mind that SATA SSDs can connect to a PC using a SATA>USB cable for cloning, if it comes to that...
OK3250
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October 8th, 2020 05:00
I have the same question. Any help appreciated?
RoHe
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October 8th, 2020 12:00
Why not just install a 2.5" SATA SSD, for example? This PC can support two 2.5‑inch drives or one 3.5‑inch drive.
You'd need the right M.2>x16 adapter, but will you be able to boot from an SSD in that slot?
Joan Rey
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October 8th, 2020 13:00
Yes, I've already done that. I've added 1TB Sata SSD and made it the primary boot drive where windows is installed. I've also made other upgrades like adding another 8GB of memory and replacing the wifi card with 802.11ac so that it now works with 5GHz signal. I've even added a USB card using the PCIe x1 slot so that I have USB3.0 at the back.
My question is just to gauge if it has been done before I try it
I understand that you cannot boot from PCIe slot but might still try it just to compare the speeds.
RoHe
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45.2K Posts
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October 8th, 2020 15:00
Well, you can try and let everyone know what happens...
It probably depends on whether BIOS can accept anything other than a video card in that slot. I suspect it won't accept anything else, so PC may fail to boot, even though the SSD in the x16 slot isn't the boot drive...
YRMV!
OK3250
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October 10th, 2020 06:00
Sounds like you are thinking the PCIe x16 slot cannot be used for a SSD m.2 adapter card SATA or NVme?
I had hoped that there was some kind of Dell response to the possibility of
1. Using PCIe x16 slot for this
2. If yes does the 3250 recognize a NVme PCIe M.2 SSD?
3. Booting from this SSD drive.
I find my PC to be VERY slow booting up, loading programs, etc..
My hope was to significantly improve these issues. I have the latest bios for the PC. I'm not super technical.
My hope was to avoid having to deal with plugging in extra data and/or power cords, modifying the current hard drive arrangement and use a more simple card slot solution. Clone drives. Maybe not possible.
thanks for trying to help with this. Ideas?
ejn63
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30.7K Posts
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October 10th, 2020 10:00
The only PCIe x16 slot in the system is hard wired for a video card - no, you can't install any other PCIe card in that slot.
RoHe
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45.2K Posts
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October 10th, 2020 11:00
This is mainly a user-to-user forum with Dell employees serving as moderators, so it's rare that any of them will respond to questions posted here.
@ejn63 agrees the x16 slot can't be used for anything except a video card. That's typically the way Dell sets up their systems.
Let's go back to your performance issues...
Which CPU do you have in this PC, i3, i5 or i7?
How much total RAM do you have now? And do both BIOS and Windows recognize all of it?
Do you have an add-in video card or only onboard Intel HD Graphics?
Have you scanned thoroughly for malware recently? Malwarebytes (free version) is useful for this.
Is Fast Startup enabled or disabled in Windows? (Open Power/Sleep screen, click Additional Settings, click Change what power buttons do, and see if Fast Startup is checked or not on last screen.)
How much unnecessary junk is running in the background? Look on Startup tab in Task Manager for a first indication of what's loading at boot...
OK3250
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October 12th, 2020 05:00
Thanks for trying to help Ron.
I will go through the very helpful list you provided.
OK3250
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21 Posts
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October 17th, 2020 07:00
Let's go back to your performance issues...
Which CPU do you have in this PC, i3, i5 or i7? i3
How much total RAM do you have now? And do both BIOS and Windows recognize all of it? 4 Gb
Do you have an add-in video card or only onboard Intel HD Graphics? No
Have you scanned thoroughly for malware recently? Malwarebytes (free version) is useful for this.
Did this. Found 2
Is Fast Startup enabled or disabled in Windows? (Open Power/Sleep screen, click Additional Settings, click Change what power buttons do, and see if Fast Startup is checked or not on last screen.)
Was enabled
How much unnecessary junk is running in the background? Look on Startup tab in Task Manager for a first indication of what's loading at boot...
Low start up stuff
I defragged the drive and switched to Chrome brower from Firefox (hating to but...times change)
All of this seemed to help. I am hoping to do the following:
In looking at my 3250. I have 2 SATA ports (1 blue, 1 black) on the board the hard drive is plugged into the blue port.
Is it possible to use the black port for an internal SSD drive? I realize there is no room in the drive slot. I can fabricate a bracket to hold the SSD within the PC case. Looks like, if possible, I would need to get a splitter type power cord off the existing cord to the hard drive.
I would clone the existing hard drive and set up the SSD drive as the boot drive. Wipe the existing drive and use as a storage drive.
I would add 4 Gb memory. I checked Crucial for compatible.
Sound feasible?
Thanks for your help
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 17th, 2020 14:00
Part of your performance issue is the i3 CPU which isn't a great CPU.
4 GB of RAM is way too low for Win 10.You need at least 8 or more GB
And -if I understand correctly- you only have onboard Intel Graphics, which will hog a fair amount of that 4 GB of RAM, and make that pokey i3 CPU run even slower, since it also has to process the Intel Graphics.
If you have an internal optical drive, you could disconnect its SATA data cable (#11) in the motherboard diagram and use that data port for a SATA drive. Problem is, I only see one drive power connector (#9) in the diagram. So I don't know where the optical or a second HDD (SSD) gets its power. If you have the optical drive now, you could use its power and SATA connections/cable. There also may be a splitter power cable, but you'd have to search for that.
Once you've cloned the HDD onto a new SSD, you should disconnect the HDD and connect the new SSD to that blue SATA data port which is where the boot drive should be connected. Then you'd have to connect the HDD to #11, initialize it (ALL FILES DELETED!) so you can use use it for storage, assuming you find a way to power it.
Only you can decide whether to put money into this PC or save it for a more powerful PC with an i5 or i7 CPU, more drive bays and one that uses standard SATA power connections, etc.
OK3250
1 Rookie
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21 Posts
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October 17th, 2020 15:00
Thanks Ron
I plan on adding 4 Gb memory
I have 2 sata ports on the mother board. The hard drive is plugged into the blue sata port. The black sata port is unused. I plan using it for cloning to the ssd drive. Then switch to plug in the new boot drive to the blue sata port.
What video card do recommend, to help off load use of the i3 processor.
Thanks for your help.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 17th, 2020 18:00
Yes, you have 2 SATA data ports on the motherboard, but where do you connect the new SSD (or the OEM optical drive) for power?
Like I said, above, I only see one "drive power cable connector" labeled in the motherboard diagram. There must be a way to power both drives, but I don't see how to do it.
As for a GPU that should fit inside this small case and work with its small power supply, read this thread and this thread .
OK3250
1 Rookie
•
21 Posts
0
October 18th, 2020 01:00
Is it possible to get a "y" cable. 2x 15 pin connector end to two 2x 15 pin connector off the hard drive end of the cable that feeds the hard drive while leaving other leg off the existing power cable that feeds the optical in place.? I know they make "y" splitter cables (1. Feed to 2 feeds) from the mother board plug in to 2 hard drive plugs.
I used to dabble with simpler pcs a few years ago with things like this.
Or
Next dumb question
I have an unused Pcie. X1. Slot. Do they possibly make an adapter card for a power feed via it.
Thanks for helping. Novice on patrol here.
OK3250
1 Rookie
•
21 Posts
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October 18th, 2020 01:00
Based on your thread regarding power supply, looks like video card fit and power requirements make it a no go.
Maybe my thoughts regarding adding an SSD drive and keeping the existing hard drive with this small power supply are unrealistic. If that is the case then I need find a way to clone the harddrive and just go with the single SSD drive. If this is the case then a temporary "y" splitter power feed to power both. Clone the SSD as a boot drive. Eliminate the hard drive.
All things considered is that a more realistic approach consider the small power supply?
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 18th, 2020 20:00
There has to be a way to power a second drive since this PC model can have a HDD and an optical drive. I just don't know how the second drive is connected for power.
If you have an ODD now, trace the cables back and see where they connect to the motherboard. One of the cables will be the SATA data cable that goes to the gray SATA data port on the motherboard. The other one would be for power.
You'll have to browse the net to see if there are suitable power Y-splitter cables for that 6-pin SATA motherboard power connector.
I pinged my Dell tech contacts for info about the power source for the second drive, so lets see what response we may get this coming week...
Keep in mind that SATA SSDs can connect to a PC using a SATA>USB cable for cloning, if it comes to that...