Installed SSD. Speeds?

I finally got an SSD for my m17x R3 and it is really fast.

Have a question about the "SATA transfer Rate"

I went to my Intel Rapid Store technology and the SATA transfer rate for my SSD shows at 3 Gb/s. I heard you can run it at 6 Gb/s (According to the youtube video) -> Youtube Video

I updated my bios to the latest but my Transfer rate is still at 3gb/s. Is there a way to change it to 6gb/s or is it even necessary?


Thanks

 

HI, I had the same problem with my R3. Dell had a lot of problems getting sata 6gb/s working and dropped it from the specs. Later BIOS's dropped support altogether. You will need to track down a bios that states 'sata fix' BUT, when I fixed mine the difference was hardly noticeable. Maybe 1-2sec off boot time and I could not see any difference in-use.

If you had an older bios that supports sata 3 you might find that simply swapping over the drives (and changing the boot order) might fix it. When it worked usually it was only on one drive port.

I do not recommend rolling back to an older bios though, I have seen a couple of machines brick solid without even power up - new MB time

HTH

 

You can have 6GB/s link speed if you use Dell's stock A08 BIOS, but you have to put the SSD in Port 1 for that to work (Port 0 is limited to 3GB/s). You can tell which ports your drives are in by going into the Intel Rapid Storage Technology program and looking at the info associated with each drive. Here's the unlocked A12 BIOS with SATA fix, which enables you to use the latest BIOS, but a user (svl7) has tweaked it to allow for 6GB/s connection (but only on Port 1, just like A08). (Dell's stock A12 BIOS does not allow for 6GB/s full stop).
[M17x R3] - BIOS A12 'unlocked' & 'SATA tweak'

That's the BIOS I use, no issues so far, and no issues with the SSD at 6GB/s. I've had it like this for about 1.5 yrs. Be careful with some of the settings in the A12 unlocked BIOS as it exposes new settings, but you don't need to mess with the settings in the BIOS in order to get 6GB/s anyway - so shouldn't be an issue.

 

From my quick google search, the m17x r3 might have a sata 2 connector and not sata 3. Therefore, you are unable to get the full 6gb/s.

 

From my 2 years with this laptop I can say that it does have 6GB/s capability, because I see it with my own eyes - it reports it in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology program! Sequential read speeds of 500MB/s in CrystalDiskMark also prove the 6GB/s capability.

 

Okay dell had problems with their sata 3 speeds being buggy in the system so they completely disabled in port 0 and port 1. The two hard drive slots. To get past this you need and unlocked bios or the older bios was suggested. In the unlocked bios you can just hit f2 on boot and turn sata 3 back on. Also Micky was slightly incorrect in his response you will not be looking for a "vbios" that is a video bios for your graphics card, we are looking for a system bios with the unlocked sata 3 option. The poster who says they are sata 2 slots is dead wrong and is giving you false google info.

 

Thanks, fixed typo

 

Yes, this is the case, except I didn't need to enter the Unlocked A12 BIOS to enable SATA 3, it is already enabled by default on mine. Perhaps that is because I upgraded from A08 which had it enabled, but to me I see it as being SATA 3 enabled by default. Useful to know that it can be toggled on and off in the settings within the BIOS though, for users that don't end up with it being enabled by default after flashing the A12 Unlocked BIOS that I linked in my earlier post.

 

First, there is no such option to 'DISABLE/ENABLE' SATA III

- Main drive 'SSD' Port 1
- Secondary drive Port 0
- Download M17x R3 BIOS A12 - unlocked & 'SATA fix'
- Plug power cord/ unplug everything else.
- Alienware_M17x_R3_BIOS_A12_[unlocked]_&_'SATA_fix' folder -> right click/run as administrator InsydeFlashx64.exe
- Enter the BIOS/F2 -> F9 Load optimal Defaults -> F10 save&exit
- Again enter the BIOS -> keep RAID or set AHCI -> Change boot order -> F10 save&exit.

 

Argghh, the internet...and I thought this thread was over by Post #3!

 

Thank you so much Robo!! I finally get that 6GB speed . Mods please close this thread. Thank You

 

Ah, that's OK, glad it's working for you!