M6600 Mulitple HDs

Just a quick question. If you purchase the Dell M6600 with just the one SSD HD can you add two more at a later date without too much hassle?

I know many recommend to buy the cheapest Dell HD and then remove it to insert a SSD bought elsewhere, but I just need to know if I do get a M6600 with a SSD, is it possible and simple to buy one or two more later from newegg or wherever and insert them?

Also do we know the performance boost between the Quadro 4000M (336 CUDA cores) and 5010M (386 CUDA cores). There is a substantial price difference but will it speed up rendering etc dramatically?

Thank you.

 

You may purchase a second hard drive and an MSATA drive, but the M6600 only supports two hard drives.

 

Well, 2 2.5" drives in a normal config.

I have a sata III SSD disk on order.

My setup will be:
2 500GB 2.5" sata II disks used for OS and non performance VMs
1 256GB SSD disk for virtual machines in the CDROM Bay using This
1 3TB e-sata connected disk via the dock for storage.

I'm building/destroying VMs on a regular basis for a project

 

Thanks msjgriffiths. Are they easy to install even if you only choose one SSD iii at the time of purchase from Dell? All the posts I have read seem to indicate it would be simply a case of removing the back and slotting in the secondary HD, but always best to check.

RXWatcher - Thanks. Seems like the newmodeus caddys are popular and a cheaper option than Dell's.

What about the 5010M vs 4000M. There is a massive price jump but from what I read there are some advantages such as more CUDA cores, ECC, better 64-bit integration or something etc. But how would the two differ in real-life rendering?

Or should I just get the 4000M and then upgrade later when the 5010M is cheaper. Is that even possible?

Thanks.

 

Two more questions regarding the HDs. If I purchase the 500GB Serial ATA (7200Rpm) Hard Drive from Dell. Can I then buy a 256 or 512 GB SSD from newegg or wherever and use that as primary and then use the 500GB Serial ATA (7,200 Rpm) as secondary/data back up etc? And will it be easy to transfer windows and all the drivers etc from the 500GB to the new SSD?

Thanks.

 

It's ridiculously easy. Dell & HP particularly are moving towards "easy to maintain PCs" (it's part of their front-line advertising on the M6600 product page) and that includes upgrading HDs/memory/etc.

If you don't know, you probably don't need the power...

But.

Always check the manufacturer documentation:

Features and Benefits

The only things that caught my eye was "Fast 64-Bit Floating Point Precision" and ECC memory.

Do note that the 5010M has 4GB memory, whilst the 4000M has 2GB memory. That's not double the performance, by any means, but...

 

You are right but I have not seen any real life tests. For example the difference in between the 3000M and 4000M is around 1 30/40% improvement with the latter.

As the 5010M is very new to the M6600 there are not many comparisons around so while we all know it will be faster, especially with the 4GB memory, I was just wondering whether it warrants spending the extra "new" high prices.

Anyway, I think I have decided on the M4000 and will get the 5010M when prices drop if there is sufficient difference in rendering speed.

Two more questions regarding the HDs. If I purchase the 500GB Serial ATA (7200Rpm) Hard Drive from Dell. Can I then buy a 256 or 512 GB SSD from newegg or wherever and use that as primary and then use the 500GB Serial ATA (7,200 Rpm) as secondary/data back up etc? And will it be easy to transfer windows and all the drivers etc from the 500GB to the new SSD?

I ask this as on the Dell config pages it does not allow me to select two different drives.