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    Checklist for moving to an SSD?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by MegaTherion, Nov 5, 2011.

  1. MegaTherion

    MegaTherion Notebook Consultant

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    I'm going to pick up a 120GB SSD this morning. I know updating the firmware straight away is probably the most important thing especially with these Sandforce 22xx controllers. I do have some questions for those of you who have done the move, and looking for any roadblocks, etc I may run into.

    Here's my checklist so far -
    1. Create linux USB boot media with firmware flashing stuff
    2. Install SSD in the Secondary SATA port
    3. Change BIOS SATA mode from RAID to AHCI
    4. Flash SSD firmware from USB boot utility
    5. Move SSD to Primary SATA port
    6a. Use AlienRespawn recovery media to reimage system
    or
    6b. Reinstall a fresh copy of Windows 7
    1. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html
    2. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ook-feel-after-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

    Wondering what you all have done when you changed over to an SSD drive? I know my system has the Intel RSD software installed from the factory and I believe we don't want that on these SSD's if we are just running AHCI mode in the BIOS?

    Trying to get my ducks in a row ahead of time. Any helpful tips or suggestions would be much appreciated! Thank you all for your time~
     
    MegaTherion, Nov 5, 2011
    #1
  2. TostitoBandito

    TostitoBandito Notebook Evangelist

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    When you change the BIOS to AHCI, also change your boot order so the secondary hard drive is first, otherwise it will boot off the other hard drive, or at least try to.

    Do not move the SSD back to port 0 (where your original HDD was). Leave it in the second port, port 1. Port 0 does not consistently achieve full SATA3 speeds.

    I would vote for a fresh reinstall as opposed to respawn. When I did this I formatted my old drive and did a fresh OS install on the SSD. It worked fine and was pretty quick actually.

    There's no point in installing the Intel RAID software since you are set to AHCI and RAID will not work, so just leave it out.
     
    TostitoBandito, Nov 5, 2011
    #2
  3. MegaTherion

    MegaTherion Notebook Consultant

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    Wow, well I just finished installing windows, all drivers, windows updates, alienware stuff. I used the AW Win7 DVD and that was quite nice, it put me back up with the AW splash screen at login and backgrounds :)

    All I can say is, this drive is amazing so far. Just a little story, and a shout out to the guys at Microcenter for taking such good care of me.

    I've been shopping around for an SSD for a while, and all the deals that I've seen haven't been either a) the drive that I want, or b) the size. I'd love a 240GB drive but that's just too rich for my blood. Maybe one day! So, after chewing it over long enough, I decided I didn't want to wait any longer and setup an In-Store Pickup for a Vertex 3 120GB drive.

    I went down there not long after they opened up this morning, and gave the guy at the counter my paperwork for the pickup. He came back and said that they had a substitute drive :confused: , he was holding a Vertex Plus+ 120GB, he pointed to the price, assuming I would be ok with that in which I told him that wasn't going to work, those drives aren't even in the same class. I told him the only other Vertex drive that they had was a Max IOPS drive that would be even remotely comparable. So the guy went back to their stock room for about 10 minutes and came back out with another substitute drive, it was the 120GB Max IOPS. He said that was all that they could find aside from the Vertex Plus+, but the pricetag on the drive was $309. I told him that I wasn't going to pay that price for the drive, and he said that he is going to give it to me for the $189 pricetag that I was getting the Vertex 3 drive for. Talk about customer service, and I even got a $20 rebate off of it too! :)

    Great day for me and the M17x R3! This system is screaming fast, and got a hell of a deal to boot. :)
     
    MegaTherion, Nov 5, 2011
    #3
  4. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    i left mine in RAID and my speeds are as fast as anyone out there. So AHCI isn't required for the M4

    but don't follow anything too rigidly...you may have to deviate and it wil probably be fine
     
    SlickDude80, Nov 5, 2011
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  5. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    Vertex 3 max iops is a great drive! The new firmwares pretty much resolve all the issues that were first reported. You have a smoking machine now.

    The only thing is, try using a regular computer now without an SSD. I can't anymore. The wait just kills me :D
     
    SlickDude80, Nov 5, 2011
    #5
  6. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    congrats on your new SSD hope it works well for you :)
     
    bigtonyman, Nov 5, 2011
    #6