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Is Samsung 970 EVO Plus compatible with Precision 3541?
I want to upgrade my internal SSD, which is currently a Dell branded "M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen 3x4 Class 40 2280 Solid State Drive - 256GB". This is my boot drive for Windows 10.
This Samsung SSD on the Dell upgrades site,
Samsung Solid State Drive 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 1TB -MZ-V7S1T0B/AM, is not shown in the compatible drives list for my Service Tag.
Can someone explain why? Is it truly not compatible, or is it just that Dell isn't showing it because it's not Dell branded?
The Dell SSDs that are shown as compatible for my laptop are about $100 more than this Samsung, for the same 1TB.
I just want to know why - and if I can use the Samsung in my Precision 3541.
Thanks.
Chino de Oro
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March 10th, 2024 15:35
That is correct for the reason Dell says why they shipped their systems with IRST drivers. However, when you change storage controller to AHCI, Microsoft will provide a standard driver, you will then replace it with Samsung storage driver which will allow to take benefits of Samsung Magician software to boost performance, firmware update, and TRIM function.
One must follow proper process for changing from RAID to AHCI without reinstalling operating system. Or the system won't boot. Many of Dell newer systems are changing BIOS settings option to include the wording AHCI/NVME.
Chino de Oro
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March 11th, 2024 02:28
There is no problem to change from RAID to AHCI. All drives will function as normal. All the process does just adding an AHCI driver to boot drive.
It's the other way around, a system with mixed drives may run into issue if changing from AHCI to RAID. It will require a registry change and set HDD to non-RAID.
Chino de Oro
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March 9th, 2024 22:43
Yes, you can use the Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD in your Precision system. Dell could only provided drivers for the products they sold. No computer makers is going to provide every drivers for every products in the markets. You will have to source the product's manufacturer driver or using Microsoft driver for a third party product.
Note, in order to use Samsung driver, set your storage controller driver to AHCI.
erastus1897
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March 10th, 2024 00:05
@Chino de Oro Thank you for the reply. Your last point is what I have been reading about for the past couple hours.
First there's the problem of doing the switch from Raid to AHCI without losing my ability to boot. I see various info on how to do that.
Next there's the question of SHOULD I change driver / change to AHCI? Some people are saying their SSDs perform better with AHCI. Dell says it performs better with Intel's RST. And I read somewhere else that turning off RST causes the "TRIM" function not to work, and is not recommended.
If you have any additional comments, that would be great. Thanks.
(edited)
erastus1897
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March 10th, 2024 22:35
Thank you for the explanation!
One more question:
Is there a problem with changing to AHCI if I have an SSD and an HDD in my laptop?
The SSD contains the OS and the HDD is for data. I read somewhere yesterday that you can't mix SSD and spinning drives with AHCI driver.
(edited)
erastus1897
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March 11th, 2024 02:31
Thank you for all your assistance, Chino!