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    Donut question. Can you add an SSD in addition to HDD & Blu-Ray drive?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by shapala, Jul 25, 2012.

  1. shapala

    shapala Notebook Guru

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    Hi all. Long time lurker. I've just bought an M17x R3 off the outlet, and I want to add a 128GB SSD, in addition to the 750GB HDD and also keep the Blu-Ray drive. Is this possible?

    If so, could I install a Samsung 830 SSD? Finally, what do I need to do once I've installed the SSD....anything in BIOS? Apologies for noob questions but I'm hopeful one of you may be able to answer. Many thanks, guys.
     
    shapala, Jul 25, 2012
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  2. Antipathy

    Antipathy Notebook Consultant

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    It's possible, and the Samsung 830 is a great choice. I assume you are going to reinstall the OS on the SSD, correct? Before doing anything, you should probably create a set of restore discs.

    I would verify that SATA operation is set to AHCI in the BIOS, and if it isn't, I would change it. Then, put the SSD into the primary slot, which is probably where the HDD is currently, and put the HDD into the secondary slot. That's not exactly necessary, but it is a good practice.
     
    Antipathy, Jul 25, 2012
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  3. jinda

    jinda Notebook Evangelist

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    If its an R3 then I wouldn't advise this if you want Sata3 speed on your SSD. The primary drive for R3 is unstable in using Sata3. You can put your SSD on secondary and your HDD on primary and adjust your boot sequence from the BIOS to boot first from secondary. You also need A08 bios for Sata3 speed. I think it doesnt matter whether its AHCI or RAID.
     
    jinda, Jul 25, 2012
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  4. shapala

    shapala Notebook Guru

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    Ok, thank you so much. That's very helpful. Yes, I'm going to create recover disks, then reinstall Windows on the SSD.

    Can you tell me if AlienRespawn is the same as creating recovery discs? If it is, I'll do a copy of that using a USB flash, then install Windows on the new SSD. That should make the laptop fly.
     
    shapala, Jul 25, 2012
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  5. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    Antipathy is right on except for where to put the SSD. You wanna put the SSD in the middle slot (slot 0 I believe). You wanna put it there because the r3 had a problem with the other slot switching between SATA III and SATA II. You also wanna make sure you are running the A08 bios because the A10 bios limited all the drive bays to SATA II. Hope this makes sense :)

    Edit: Jinda Beat me to the punch :p
     
    bigtonyman, Jul 25, 2012
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  6. Antipathy

    Antipathy Notebook Consultant

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    Whoops! I have read that, but wasn't thinking about it. Thanks for the correction.
     
    Antipathy, Jul 25, 2012
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