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How to Install an Intel Optane M.2 NVMe Accelerator into your Existing Dell OptiPlex, Inspiron, Precision, and Alienware Computers

Summary: Installation of the Intel Optane M.2 form factor NVMe accelerator into your existing Dell OptiPlex or Alienware computers with Windows 10 and a Kaby Lake processor.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

No symptom information

Cause

No cause information

Resolution

Pre-Requisites

To add an Intel Optane accelerator to your existing Dell or Alienware computer, you must ensure that it meets the following requirements:

  1. The computer has an Intel seventh Generation processor (Kaby Lake) or later CPU.
  2. The computer Operating System (OS) is Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Redstone 1 (RS1) Version 1607 or later.
  3. The computer has a single SATA 3 hard disk drive (HDD) or single SATA 3 solid-state drive (SSD). NVMe drives and RAID arrays cannot be accelerated with Optane.

Installation

Once you have verified that you have the required hardware and OS for Optane. The next step in the installation of Optane is to ensure that you have the latest BIOS installed on your computer. The list below details the minimum BIOS versions required for these select computers:

Model Minimum BIOS Version
Alienware Area 51 R4 1.0.0
Alienware Area 51 R5 1.0.0
Alienware Area 51 R6 1.0.0
Alienware Area 51 R7 1.0.0
Alienware Aurora R6 1.0.5
Alienware Aurora R7 1.0.5
Alienware Aurora R8 1.0.5
Alienware M15 1.0.0
Alienware 15 R4 1.0.0
Alienware 17 R5 1.0.0
Inspiron Desktop 5680 1.0.0
OptiPlex 3050 1.4.4
OptiPlex 5050 1.4.4
OptiPlex 7050 1.4.4
OptiPlex 3060 1.0.4
OptiPlex 5060 1.0.2
OptiPlex 7060 1.0.2
OptiPlex 3050 All-in-One 1.4.3
OptiPlex 5250 All-in-One 1.4.2
OptiPlex 7450 All-in-One 1.4.2
OptiPlex 5260 All-in-One 1.0.0
OptiPlex 7460 All-in-One 1.0.0
OptiPlex 7760 All-in-One 1.0.0
OptiPlex XE3 1.0.2
Precision 3420 2.1.2
Precision 3620 2.1.2
Precision 5720 All-in-One 2.1.2
XPS 8920 Tower 1.0.5
XPS 8930 Tower 1.0.5

You require the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) Driver and Management Console User interface (UI) version 15.5.Xxxx or later. Download the driver from the Dell Support Website, Drivers & Downloads, Serial ATA section after entering your service tag or selecting your computer model manually.

Installation Steps:

  1. Ensure that the BIOS is in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Mode (REQUIRED for OPTANE OPERATION).
  2. Disable Legacy Option ROMS in the BIOS (REQUIRED for OPTANE OPERATION).
  3. Update the system BIOS if the BIOS version is not at least the minimum required version that is listed above.
  4. Install the Optane module in the M.2 slot of the computer motherboard. You can find the drive installation steps for your specific computer in the User Manual on the Dell Support Website, Manuals, and Downloads section.
  5. Boot the computer into Windows.
  6. If your computer has the Dell Factory image of Windows 10. Download the Partition Tweak Script for Optane (Partition Tweak Script A02.zip) from the Dell Support Website. Applications section, then extract the batch file from the .zip file, then run the FreeSpaceFromLastRecoveryPartition_Disk0_V15.bat batch file:
    1. Run the batch file by right-clicking the file that you downloaded from the Dell Support Website (FreeSpaceFromLastRecoveryPartition_Disk0_V15.bat) then select the "Run as Administrator" option.
    2. You may get a User Account Control (UAC) prompt to approve running the batch file, if you see this open, Click "Yes."
    3. You see a Command-Line window open. Then several commands that are performed as the batch file reallocates space from the recovered partition to allow the Optane setup to install correctly.
      Note: Custom Windows 10 installations that do not contain the Dell Factory Recovery partition do not require this step.
    4. Once completed and you confirm that the process was completed, close the Command Prompt Window if it does not close automatically.

  7. Open Programs and Features in the Control Panel and uninstall the existing version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver and Management Console. Restart the computer.
    Note: This only uninstalls the USER INTERFACE, you get an open informing you the driver is loaded and cannot be uninstalled in Windows.
  8. Run the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) Driver and Management Console User interface (UI) installation. Again, you may get a User Account Control (UAC) prompt to approve running the batch file, if you see this open, Click "Yes."
  9. Once the installation is completed, you are prompted to restart the computer.
  10. Open the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) UI from the start menu tile (Figure 1).
    Intel Rapid Storage Technology Status Menu
    Figure 1 - Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) opening screen.
  11. Click the "Intel Optane Memory Button" to access the Optane configuration options (Figure 2).
    Intel Rapid Storage Technology Status Menu Optane Option
    Figure 2 - Selecting the Optane Memory tab
  12. Click the "Enable" hyperlink in the IRST interface to pair the Optane module with the SATA 3 drive (Figure 3).
    Intel Rapid Storage Technology Menu Intel Optane Memory Option
    Figure 3 - Starting the Optane Array Creation on the Optane Memory tab
  13. You see a display showing the Optane device and the computer drive that the Optane device pairs with, then click "Yes" (Figure 4).
    Intel Rapid Storage Technology Enable Intel Optane Memory
    Figure 4 - Clicking YES to pair the drives and create an Optane Array.
  14. Once the pairing is complete, click the "Reboot" button to complete the Optane configuration. You also see that the SATA Drive, and the Optane device are now shown as an "Optane Memory Array" (Figure 5).
    Intel Rapid Storage Technology Reboot
    Figure 5 - Completing the Optane setup.
  15. After the computer restarts, you can open the Intel Rapid Storage Technology application from the top of the start menu. If you click the Intel Optane Memory tab, you see that the hyperlink option is now "Disable," indicating that Optane is enabled (Figure 6).
    Intel Rapid Storage Technology Intel Optane Memory Enabled
    Figure 6 - Optane setup is completed.

If you have further questions about this article, contact Dell Technical Support.

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Affected Products

Alienware 15 R4, Alienware 17 R5, Alienware Area-51 Threadripper Edition R3 and R6, Alienware Area-51 R4 and R5, Alienware Area-51 Threadripper Edition R7, Alienware Aurora R6, Alienware Aurora R7, Alienware Aurora R8, Alienware M15, Inspiron 5680 , OptiPlex 3050 All-In-One, OptiPlex 3050 Tower, OptiPlex 3050 Micro, OptiPlex 3050 Small Form Factor, OptiPlex 3060 Tower, OptiPlex 3060 Micro, OptiPlex 3060 Small Form Factor, OptiPlex 5050 Tower, OptiPlex 5050 Micro, OptiPlex 5050 Small Form Factor, OptiPlex 5060 Tower, OptiPlex 5060 Micro, OptiPlex 5060 Small Form Factor, OptiPlex 5250 All-In-One, OptiPlex 5260 All-In-One, OptiPlex 7050 Tower, OptiPlex 7050 Micro, OptiPlex 7050 Small Form Factor, OptiPlex 7060 Tower, OptiPlex 7060 Micro, OptiPlex 7060 Small Form Factor, OptiPlex 7450 All-In-One, OptiPlex 7460 All-In-One, OptiPlex 7760 All-In-One, Optiplex XE3, Precision 5720 AIO, Dell Precision Tower 3420, Dell Precision Tower 3620, XPS 8920, XPS 8930 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000132484
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 19 Sept 2024
Version:  11
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