[Research] Good/Best SSD for AW?

Hi guys, me again

Well, in my AW15R3 i have a regular HDD 7200 rpm, and yesterday i went to my friends house, who also has a an AW15R3, but with a nice SSD, and OMFG! His computer is way faster than mine. At least, it seems that way.

I talked to @illuMinniti in a private talk (where he helped me a lot with undervolt and stuff) and he also said that SSDs are incredible... it takes like 30s or so to startup and load all programs, and the performance while gaming is also much better (i saw this yesterday).

So, this is a topic where i would like to research good brands and reliable ones.

Note 1: I saw that AW slots for SSD appears like RAM slots, but in the web i found some SSDs (Example: Kingstom, Samsung) that have the same format as a HD. So, i think, i would have to replace it where my HD is located right?
By the way, if anyone knows the difference between the types (SSD like memory stick ram and SSD like HD) it would be great.

Researching at our good old friend Mr. Google, i've found nice models/brands in some articles of SSD. I myself im thinking about 500gb or 1tb SSD (i have to see my budget first haha)

An article of cnet, their list contain the Samsung SSD 850 PRO and 850 EVO (which, for me, seems the best choice), Crucial MX 300, SanDisk Extreme PRO, and others.
Another website mention the Kingston HyperX Predator and Corsair.

Again, If anyone knows about the subject and have a little time to write a few words, i would appreciate that very much. Once again, thanks guys and thanks for this great community

 

So the first easy thing to tackle is that there are two interface types for drives that can go into your Alienware. Sata and nVME/PCIE. Sata SSDs will max out around 550 MB per second read and write. nVME/PCIE drives will max out around 2000-3000 MBs.

The drives that look like ram drives are format/ shape called m.2. In that format/ shape you can get either SATA drives or nVME/PCIE drives. SATA are cheaper (Crucial), nVME are faster (Samsung 960 Pro).

Now you have a 2.5 inch drive. That's another format/ shape. You can get those in SATA interface but not nVME/PCIE to my knowledge. The 2.5 inch format is typically cheaper than the m.2 format. So if you aren't going nVME/PCIe then it may be most economical to get a 2.5 inch SSD.

Samsung has EVO and Pro lines. Pro has a longer warranty and faster performance.

Hope that helps

 

oh i see. So there are a lot of SSDs types haha.

For what you said, the SSDs nVME/PCIE (the ones that looks like RAM memories) are way too fast than the SATA. They can work as a primary hard drive, so i can play my games/ work/ install stuff, etc, right?


Now, about the SSD that looks like a HD (2.4 inch drive) are only SATA or they can be m.2 format? Between SATA and m.2, which one is faster (between those 2, because, according to what you said, nVME/PCIE are faster than this 2)?


About brands, what do you suggest:

1) If going to choose a nVME/PCIE? (samsung, crucial, crosair, kingstom...)
2) If choose the 2.5 inch SATA?

P.s: do you use SSD? if so, which type/brand ?

Thanks for the reply

 

SATA and m.2 are both connection types but SATA is also in interface which can be used on the SATA, ESATA or M.2 connection.

NVME is an interface that works over PCIE via an actual PCIE connection or M.2 connection ect. Alienware laptops have m.2 ports which are compatible with SATA and NVME interfaces.

You can therefore put a SATA or NVME m.2 device in the AW m.2 slots and your device will work.

NVME is much faster than SATA. Not all NVME drives are the same speed, IOPS latency ect.

Samsung is generally the choice for NVME and are the market leader, especially in the m.2 nvme space.


Personally I got a Samsung 1tb 960 evo for my m.2 nvme drive and a Mushkin 1tb reactor 2.5" drive for the sata port on the AW15R3.

Edited (I actually got a 960 EVO and I originally stated by a typo that it was a 950)

 

I run a 1TB Samsung 960 Pro and a 2TB Samsung 960 Pro in my AW 13 R3. But I need the speed for,video editing and post tasks. If you don't need so much speed, a 2.5 inch Samsung SSD would be great. You can get a 2TB for $650

 

@lokoroxbr: Samsung 960 EVO is cheaper than PRO version. Samsung 850 EVO is good too if you're looking more storage than raw speed. Do keep in mind that m.2 drives either SATA or NVMe are compatible with your model, so go for whichever fits your budget.

 

960 evo nvme

 

thanks for everything guys.
Here in Brazil, it is verey sad the all prices are too high...U$ dollar is 3.5x our current coin.

I've managed to found (after talking with @illuMinniti ) a nice SSD, which i guess it will do the job for me (as i only play games and do a little work)...

I found the Ssd M.2 1tb Samsung 850 Evo Mz-n5e1t0bw M2 3d V-nand Sata 3 > for aprox U$428 here (doing the conversion of coin).

 

Wait before ordering it. I want to make sure it will work because the slot on the laptop looks like its for a M.2 2280 slot, that's what I wanted you to make sure of with a Dell chat firstly . There is a 1TB mSATA like this https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820147412 which is the proper form factor I believe. They should be pretty much identical besides form factor.

Edit: Ok apparently that second little slot in the SSD doesn't matter. Idk what it even means tbh lol

 

It's not easy to find out if you are new to this (as it took me a bit of time) but basically there are 2 "m.2 2280" slots (this is pretty much the normal/defacto size now) and 1 "m.2 2242" slot in the AW15 R3.

Make sure it's m.2 and not mSATA.

Personally, I use a variety of SSD brands due to there being a different brand coming with my AW15 R3, vs the Samsung 850 Evo I bought myself, vs. the very limited choice available for 2242 sized drives (I had to buy a brand called "MyDigitalSSD").

Pretty much all of these will be significantly faster than the HDD. Unless you are rolling in cash, even an 850 (SATA-based) drive will still feel significantly faster than a HDD. The jump to NVMe drives isn't cheap yet if you want the maximum performance offered by the higher end drives, but you could potentially go for something like an Intel 600p which is similarly priced to the SATA based Samsung 850 range but with slightly better speeds. Yes the NVMe options are much faster on paper than the SATA, but in everyday use such as booting OS or running games, you probably won't notice much difference (it's like going from half a minute boot time to less than 10 seconds, and then potentially to 8 seconds). As mentioned above unless you need the read/write performance for say video editing, 960 Pro (NVMe) is overkill.

 

Good choice with that one - I personally found the 850 to be a great buy. I'm even thinking of buying another 1TB one rather than the Intel 600p equivalent for similar money.

 

I actually meant to say I got a 960 EVO. I corrected the typo.

 

if you are not a video editor or something like that, samsung 850 evo if you are going for m.2 drives and samsung 850 pro/evo if you want to buy it 2.5"drive

 

Guys, i've decided to turn on the fu*k button and import from Amazon to Brazil. Some questions i have i'll post here okay?

@Vasudev

man, about you guys said, the Samsung 960 EVO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW) is compatible with AW15R3 ??? Because i found this model at amazon, and really would like to know if it will work on my AW15R3 (compatible and stuff) >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXS4TY6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

so the Ssd M.2 1tb Samsung 850 Evo Mz-n5e1t0bw M2 3d V-nand Sata 3 is indeed COMPATIBLE with AW15R3?? I'll have zero problems?
Im also interested in this one i've found at amazon, thinking about importing it >> Samsung 960 EVO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW) >> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXS4TY6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Could you help me check if it is compatible with AW15R3? Thanks again for everything illumi



About installing the windows 10 to the SSD, where can i download a copy and flash to USB? Is it better to download the iso from Dell support or directly in Microsoft? At microsoft, where do i download and how it will be about the serial key and validation stuff (will the OS automatically recognize my key and validate it?)?

 

Yeah the 960 evo is compatible. The problem with the 960 Evo is it costs more and you might not see any noticeable benefit, or it will be a small improvement (with today's games and programs). In theory, it should be 5-6x faster than the 850 Evo. But there's probably something about videogame/program code or maybe a hardware bottleneck somewhere that prevents it. I'm not sure of the specifics there. When I checked it out for for game loading times, the difference between a 960 evo/NVME and a 500MBps SSD was very minimal.

You pasted the same link twice here, I assume you meant the 850 Evo? https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-Internal-MZ-N5E1T0BW/dp/B01G844PC0 Yes this one is compatible. Even had someone on Dell chat confirm it to make sure.

I believe this is the link. I guess it both downloads and installs the setup files to a flash drive. I remember using this process but I forgot if they were seperate downloads for ISO and the installer, but I guess not.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

@lokoroxbr: you might try this link https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php

 

thanks guys.

@Vasudev , this link is official windows?

@Vasudev and @illuMinniti what about the serial key/product? it will recognize auto? or i have to get somewhere?

 

It's built into the motherboard. Idk the specifics but it grabs the serial automatically

 

Best one is 850 Pro for the 2.5 bay, for the m.2 you can get a BPX nvme ssd for much less than a 960 Pro

bpx: http://mydigitalssd.com/pcie-m2-ngff-ssd.php

 

@D2 Ultima

 

Just see system info of your stock Dell OS image. See whether its Home Single Language or not? If its Home Single Language then you must download same OS for license to work.

 

Thanks for the reply mobius. So the BPX ssd is as good as 960 EVO right?

By checking at properties from My computer and at Dell's website (via my ticket code), my OS is: Windows 10 Home Single Language (PT-BR) 64 bits.

So it is better to download directly via dell's iso image, at drivers? Or via your link or at microsoft's?

 

Download Windows from the link I posted above( or from MS directly), choose correct language ie. Portuguese Brazilian. Stick with Anniversary update for now until Dell releases driver certified for CU.

 

there are a lot of builds. Which one you suggest? redstone 2 or 1? threshold?

 

If you want bleeding edge or latest and greatest W10, go for redstone 2. At the moment, I'm sticking with Redstone 1 aka Anniversary update.

 

The BPX is MLC NAND which is good, but apparently I have a report of one drive causing some problems with Windows 10; I am not sure if it's a bad drive or whether it's bad firmware and can be fixed.

Until it's sorted, I can't recommend it for the time being. I'd quicker suggest 850 Pro (over any other drive on the market, though).

 

thanks !!

Hey guys i have a quick final question, maybe you could help me up ( @illuMinniti , @Vasudev , @D2 Ultima , @kiomon ):

After i buy the 960 EVO or 850 PRO/EVO, i just have to install it in one of the ports, format, set as primary boot at BIOS and im fine?

Im asking because i saw some threads about the 960 EVO, that people had to "clone SSD to HDD"" (something like that), make a partition, use "Magician" (i guess this is the name), etc...... And those things i really have no clue haha

I guess my question is: I only want to use the SSD as my main. So i only have to install it, format, set as primary, and do a fresh windows install right? (even if that costs me to remove the HDD).

Once again, thanks for all your replies guys !

 

Put the new SSD in and just install Windows 10 on it. Cloning will give more headaches, so start anew.
As for m.2 Samsung 850, its actually EVO and not PRO. It is best to disconnect the HDD/SSD where Windows was installed so Windows Setup won't be confused about setting correct boot path.

 

big thanks

 

i also saw this link about the install (how to) the samsung SSDs > http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...up-your-samsung-950-pro-m-2-ssd-17-r3.787205/

 

950 pro is good but 960 EVO is marginally better if you want max R/W speeds.