XPS 8920, M.2 options, Optane and Windows/SSD mutually exclusive?

Thank you. That is really valuable to know. 
Would I be better off with a regular-sized SATA SSD? I have two HDDs already but it looks like a 3rd could be supported. Or would I still have to disable Optane?

@QuakerWildcat A 2.5" SATA SSD would be slower, about 600 MB/s. I think a 2.5" SATA SSD of the same capacity as a M.2 SSD is slightly less expernsive, but the cost savings will be offset because you will need a SATA cable and maybe a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting adapter. I am not sure you have to disable the Optane but the advantage of the Optane mostly goes away because your OS and programs will be on the SSD. In my opinion, the Optane will just complicate your setup. 

If XPS-8920 supports a NVMe SSD, you definitely want that for c-drive ...

because they are 4 times faster than even a fast  2.5inch SATA-3/600 SSD and 8 times faster than a spinning-platter HDD.

I think you will like using SSDs for not only Windows, but as scratch/work drives.

So with the limits of PCIe 3.0 x2, I'm guessing something like the WD Blue 2280 for $35 would be more than adequate?

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@QuakerWildcat wrote:

So with the limits of PCIe 3.0 x2, I'm guessing something like the WD Blue 2280 for $35 would be more than adequate?

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No. That is an older SATA SSD (in a 2280 form-factor).

The manual says XPS-8920 supports Optane and NVMe: PCIe NVMe 3.0 x2

So, you want a NVMe SSD like this one.

And PCIe 3.0 x2 is crazy fast. It was the gold-standard until very recently. There is really no bottleneck.

And finally, now-days, for a C-drive ... I would go with 512gb minimum (but 256gb will work if you just must save an extra $20 on it).

@QuakerWildcat @Tesla1856 is mostly correct about wanting a M.2 NVMe SSD vs a M.2 SATA SSD but according the Setup and Specifications, the M.2 slot supports both SATA and PCIe/NVMe as well as Optane.

If you plan to clone your HDD to your new SSD there are some things to be aware of.

First, after you clone the drive and before you boot the SSD disconnect the HDD. Your HDD is your backup if something goes wrong and you need to clone again.

Second, some SSDs prefer SATA operation in the BIOS be set to AHCI. Your XPS 8920 is probably set to RAID, whcih is the Dell default setting. You cannot just change the BIOS setting if you clone because the Windows installation needs to be changed. Fortunately there is a procedure to change the Windows installation to AHCI on the cloned SSD. Note that is the procedure the BIOS setting is not changed until step 4. If you decide to reinstall Windows, you can just change the BIOS setting and reinstall Windows. If you reinstall Windows, disconnect all but the drive to are installing to before starting the installation.

And last, if you plan to use the HDD for additional storage, connect the HDD, and boot the computer from the F12 Boot Menu and select to be from the SSD. Then use this DiskPart procedure to reinitialize the HDD, When using DiskPart, make sure to identify the HDD using the 'list disk' command and select the HDD to initialize using the 'select disk' command.

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@Vic384 wrote:

 

@Tesla1856 is mostly correct about wanting a M.2 NVMe SSD vs a M.2 SATA SSD but according the Setup and Specifications, the M.2 slot supports both SATA and PCIe/NVMe as well as Optane.

 

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The manual must be wrong. While the XPS-8920 machine itself still supports SATA drives, it's the 2.5-inch ones (not the 2280 form-factor ones that fit in this M.2 slot).

If you think about it, you will agree because the M.2 SATA and PCIe/NVMe "Slot Keying" is different. No way a M.2 slot can support both. 

Finally, remember that NVMe SSD is 4-5 times as fast as a SATA-3/600 SSD. There is no reason to buy a slower M.2-2280 SATA-3/600 SSD, when the M.2-PCIe/NVMe ones are the same cost.

The only reason M.2-2280 SATA-3/600 SSD are still sold is because some older (but still good) laptops use them (that was the smallest/fastest SSDs they had back then).

Thanks for your time and for the warnings. I have to parse through all these steps, and have a couple of questions:

If I am reading this correctly, you are assuming that I have 1 HDD that I will completely clone to the new SSD, after which I'll wipe the HDD clean. Unfortunately, I have 2 HDDs in this PC that I'd plan to keep using, and they have a ton of media files and many times the capacity of the SSD. Which leads me to these new questions:

1. I'm assuming (please confirm) that if I get those media files onto the HDD that currently doesn't contain the OS, then I don't have to mess with that drive (no re-initializing)? I could then just re-initialize the one that had the OS on it.
2. Would disabling optane backfire with regard to continuing to use those drives? For example I'll have photo editing software on the SSD but would be accessing media files from the HDD sometimes.

Beyond those questions, let me try to parse out the steps and order of operations:

1. Disable Optane using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology application.
2. Follow these 8 steps to change SATA operation in the BIOS from RAID to AHCI.
3. Clone the boot drive to the SSD (I have AOMEI Backupper which makes that easy).
4. Shut down the PC.
5. Disconnect the current boot HDD (and the 2nd HDD for good measure?).
6. Remove the 16GB Optane drive and replace it with the new M.2 SSD.
7. Turn on PC and go to Bios. Change the boot order to SSD first.
8. Boot up and make sure everything's working.
9. Shut down PC and reconnect the HDDs.
10. Use the DiskPart procedure to reinitialize the first HDD using "List Disk" command.

The Setup and Specifications for the XPS 8930 also says the same thing, M.2 SATA and PCIe/NVMe. The M.2 slot can physically support both because Optane memory has the exact same keying as M.2 SATA (B+M) keys. 

@QuakerWildcat 

1. You are correct, you only need to be concerned about the HDD with the OS, the bootable HDD. Just re-initialize the OS drive.

2. Disabling the Optane only stops caching the HDD and making sure that data in the cache, if updated, is written back to the HDD if necessary. Most likely the only HDD being cached is the OS drive. I am guessing you added the second HDD later but did not change the caching setup. Caching does not affect the media files, only allows faster access if the files are available in the cache.

Concerning the steps using your numbering, I would do 1, 6, install the SSD, 3, 4, 5, 8, 2, 9, boot the PC using the F12 Boot Menu, and select booting from the SSD, 10.

Here are my reasons:

1. Clone the SSD by installing it in the M.2 slot, no need for a special USB or PCIe adapter for the SSD. I am not familiar with AOMEI Backupper, but depending on the SSD you decide to purchase some provided cloning software as a free download. You can also use Macrium Reflect Free Edition. Be sure you clone all the partitions, not just the OS partition. There is also one or more Recovery partitions and an EFI partition. 

2. Don't change from RAID to AHCI until everything is working with your SSD, remember your bootable HDD is your backup. Changing from RAID to AHCI early as you planned will make the change in the HDD. If everything is working, you won't need your backup anymore and if something goes wrong with changing from RAID to AHCI it only affects the SSD which can be cloned again from the HDD.

3. There is no need for step 7. With a UEFI BIOS, Boot Option #1 is Windows Boot Manager which handles boot priority. This is also why when you re-install the HDD with the OS you will have two boot drives, the SSD and the HDD, so this is why you have to use the F12 Boot Menu to select the boot drive. 

Better than cloning is creating an image-file of the individual drives (with Verify After Creation ON), or the  entire system at once.

For the C-drive swap ... you:

- Temporarily, only new C-drive SSD installed
- Booting Macrium Recovery USB
- Do a "bare metal" restore of C-drive. It's fast and easy.

The files on these other drives (or the entire drives themselves) should be "backed up" since it sounds like they are important to you. Whether the (data) drives D and E "just work in the end" or you have to re-create the formatted drives and restore the files (maybe you made some fundamental change in the BIOS) ... there is little-to-no chance you would ultimately lose the files.

Cloning software I have used allows expanding a partition (like the OS partition) in the event the target drive has a larger capacity than the source drive. When imaging you should image each partition of the source drive separately and restore them one at a time in the same order. By restoring the partition separately you can expand a partition before restoring the next partition. If you image the whole drive you don't have that option and you cannot expand a partition (like the OS partition) if there is a partition after the partition you wish to expand. You can only expand a partition if there is free space after the partition.

Thanks. About to order the SSD so I'll be giving this a try. I'm more experienced with cloning than imaging, so I'm fine going with this as my solution. Recapping:

1. Make sure all data is backed up
2. Disable Optane using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology application.
3. Remove the 16GB Optane drive and replace it with the new M.2 SSD.
4. Clone the boot drive to the SSD (all partitions).
5. Shut down the PC.
6. Disconnect the current boot HDD (and the 2nd HDD for good measure?).
7. Boot up and make sure everything's working.
8. Follow these 8 steps to change SATA operation in the BIOS from RAID to AHCI.
9. Shut down PC and reconnect the HDDs.
10. Use F12 Boot menu to select booting from SSD
11. Use the DiskPart procedure to reinitialize the first HDD using "List Disk" command.