Does the m17x R3 A12 Unlocked support Sata III?

I am about to install an Crucial M4 256 GB into the the R3. But I did install the latest A12 Unlocked from [M17x R3] - BIOS A12 'unlocked' & 'SATA tweak'.

1. If I just install the new BIOS and then place my SSD in ACHI, does that mean I am automatically running in SATA3 in bay 1/middle one?
2. Are there some additional settings to do? Any BIOS settings to actually enable SATAIII?
3. Should I reinstall A08 (which one if so)?

Expensive laptop and am a little scared to take risks.

Thanks!

 

I have the exact same laptop and ssd like you have.

To answer your question, you need to put the SSD on the module 0 so it would run at SATAIII.

for a detailed explanation, its not worth it.

It is not worth it to enable SATAIII because it has issues and DELL disabled them for a reason.

On my experience, the SSD would get undetected on first boot. Also the performance on SATAIII is extremely poor on real world(there is noticeable lag on responsiveness). If you ran HD Tune benchmark while on SATAIII, although the max would reach 400+mbps, it would drop to 0mbps 50% if the time.

I tried different bios even the early ones and its the same thing.

I suggest you don't flash the bios with sata3 hack and just use the stock bios or use the a10 unlocked bios without the sata3

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Totally agree with this. I had the same issue with my R3. Large file copies would slow down and speed up after I used an unlocked/sata fix bios. Only added a couple of seconds to win load after going back to sata2.

 

I have my SSD installed with the unlocked SATA III bios and Haven't had a single issue at all. I don't have a second SSD though so I only need one slot to be SATA III.

 

i have the unlocked A12 BIOS and don't have any issues with speeds dropping out. Stays consistent throughout , im using a Vertex4 drive though.

 

HDD bay 1 (middle) should be for sata III.
Have my SSD (Samsung 840pro 128gb) there and works as it should without any issues. Have the A12 unlocked bios.

 

I never experienced any issues with SanDisk Extreme SATA3 SSD. I only have single SSD drive.

 

I think it depends on which kind of SSD you have.

 

So are you saying that HDD bay 0 does not support SATAIII or both support SATAIII?
Does one need to adjust any settings on the A12 bios to get it unlocked?

 

Two of the ports will support SATA III on the machine, no more.

 

thanks Meaker +1

 

Didn´t dell say that they had a problem with getting the SATA 3 working with port 0 and thats why the did not add SATA 3 support ?. Might be just me but the SSD im using works better in port 1 then port 0.

 

I have the stock A04 BIOS.
I didn't upgrade it because my system works well (specs in my firm).

If I put the unlock A12 BIOS (without overclocking), will it improve performance?

 

Try to do as many updates in between as possible. (i.e. A09, A10 then A12)

If you want to add SATA III compatibility (BIOS A08 or any unlocked BIOS with 'SATA tweak' released after this) you must know that your SATA III drive must be installed on port HDD 0.

In my opinion it's not worth the hassle, you won't even notice the difference between SATA II & III interfaces unless you transfer big files or several files simultaneously on a daily basis.