How to install and set up your Samsung 950 Pro M.2 SSD [17" R3]

Installation:

1. Remove the bottom cover by unscrewing the two Phillips screws.
2. Locate the two m.2 slots on the bottom left (left of your hard drive - see pic below). It''l be marked 1 and 2. Pretty simple.
3. Disconnect the battery cable. You can't miss it as it is labeled.
4. Carefully slide your M.2 SSD into Slot #1 and use a (m.2x3mm) screw to hold it in place.
5. Plug in your battery cable.
6. Put your bottom cover back on, tighten the two screws and violla...


(Thanks bagpuss69 for uploading this under body shot from this thread.)

Trouble Shooting:

• How come my m.2 SSD doesn't even show up as a slave drive? (hw64 app says it's there though...) - Update: Solution found! See post #11
  
  
• I'm trying to install Windows on the m.2 SSD, but it doesn't show up during the installation process where I am prompt to choose the drive to install Windows to? - Update: See post #11
  
  
• In BIOS, should I keep it on RAID or AHCI? - Assuming that it is a brand new m.2 SSD, you'll actually need to change it to AHCI for the SSD to show up on the Windows Setup screen, when installing Windows. Otherwise, if you keep it on RAID, the SSD will not show up in the list on the window that says, "Where do you want to install Windows?" - BTW the option to change from RAID to ACHI is on the second page in BIOS. (Power on -> Tap F2 -> Now you're in BIOS, go to the second page, scroll down with the arrow keys and select RAID or ACHI.

• How do I RAID two m.2 SSD's together? - To Be Answered.

• How do I install a fresh copy of Windows on the m.2 to make it a boot SSD? - Update: See post #80

How to install Windows on your m.2 SSD:

This screenshot shows my Samsung SSD 950 Pro 512GB in the BIOS, because it was set to RAID. However, in order to install Windows, you'll have to set it to AHCI.

1. With the computer off or while you're in BIOS, insert the USB recovery flash drive into your computer -> spam the F12 key -> Select your USB drive -> Get through the first couple of windows and you'll see your m.2 SSD in the list of drives. -> Select the m.2 SSD and you're set.


How can I keep the m.2 SSD cool as possible? - See Post #12

How fast is the Samsung Pro m.2 512GB SSD? - See Post # 64 & See Post #18

Is it best to RAID two 512GB m.2's or wait until the 1TB m.2 releases? -

The AHCI and RAID are more so a step beyond the traditional protocol now....RAID doesn't mean fully (only specifically) for RAID purposes...

ACHI is an older protocol like BIOS for example where as RAID is like UEFI, if that makes senses.

RAID does not mean you have to run two SSD's.

---

Download the Intel rapid storage driver for your laptop, extract it and inside you'll see a bunch of folders.

Find the Windows 64x folder and you'll see a bunch of files inside.

Select all, except the application file.

Copy this into a folder on a USB flash drive.

During the Windows install when you get to that one window, insert the USB flash drive, and select load drivers.

Navigate to the USB and select the folder where the drivers are and load...

Then your m.2 NVMe will show...

---


Why is my Windows boot up time so slow on the m.2? - SOLVED! In BIOS make sure legacy option rom is disabled? (Thanks: @ sirleeofroy & @ zergslayer69)

(I figured this issue deserved some attention so here it is. The purpose is to create a string of Q&A for those who are walking into the m.2 territory. The two questions above are the issues that I am facing on my AW.)

 

Will be helpful when it's time for me to do this. Did you have any issues getting laptop to recognize the drive? In another thread people were saying you had to be in raid and that AHCI didn't work.

 

Not yet. I'm eager to install a fresh copy of Windows 8.1 Pro on there....

I've also seen it being mentioned about having to put it in RAID mode for it to work....I'm still looking into it. Will post / update the OP with any findings.

 

I forget, supposedly you need raid to see the drive but you need AHCI to use Samsung magician? There was some benefit in having it in AHCI but I forgot what.

 

Sounds familiar. We'll get to the bottom of this LOL....Looking forward to it...

 

fyi my 256gb pcie 951 ssd recently totally dissapeared from my system also.

I used to be able to see it during windows install - dissapeared from that

Doesn't show up in device manager

have got a case open with dell for a 951 replacement but i'm abroad so it will take time apparently

interesting you have the same issue - i may plug it back into my system to see if HWinfo picks it up.

Again - i see it in bios, but no where else - windows install, device manager, nothing.

I used to see it in windows install and device manager - dissapeared..

 

Hmmm...that's strange. How odd. I wonder if it's some kind of driver issue? I'm still looking into this...I've updated the OP a little with some findings....

 

I just installed the ssd again and it doesnt show up in hwinfo or device manager.

FYI not a driver issue. The drive was running fine for about 1 week after i got it, had windows booting off it and everything. Things went wrong ant some point and the drive just dissapeared from view even though it shows up in the bios as plugged in.

As an aside it gets super hot after about 5 mins of the PC being on so i'm willing to bet its a dud.

 

How hot we talking? I know the m.2 drives are notorious for getting hotter than your usual drive.

 

I was almost thinking the same.... heat or voltage issue? Hmm...

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I can see the m.2 SSD in HWiNFO64, but how come it doesn't show up as a slave drive? - (Answer is below...)



Update: (Once you install the m.2 SSD, it needs to be allocated...)

Finally figured it out. I can now see the Samsung 512GB m.2 SSD as a slave drive. Phew....

This PC (right click) -> Manage -> It'll open up 'Computer Management' -> Click on Disk Management -> You should see the m.2 SSD there.

Likely your m.2 SSD will have a black bar and say that it's unallocated.

You'll need to allocated the drive. I chose GUID.

Now the black bar will turn blue and it is now visible as a slave drive.

I'm going to now shut down and install Windows 8.1 Pro on the m.2 SSD, then install my Samsung 960 Pro 1TB to replace the stock 1TB rubbish spinner

I'll report back with some speed tests likely tomorrow.

Cheers.

 

For giggles, I'm gong to order up some ARCTIC Thermal Pad's and place them on the chip itself so that it touches a metal part of the mainframe. Still haven't mapped this out yet, but what ya think?

There are 0.5mm pads and 1mm pads. I'm thinking the 1mm pads would be best so that if need be, we can stack them eh?

Thoughts?

 

Lol that's an interesting thought! Is there a big metal surface area? If you could monitor the temps of the drive you can give it a spin and see if it helps.

 

I have an infrared temp gun that I can use to collect some temp data, unless there's an app that can monitor the m.2 drives specifically.

 

During the windows installation on the "Windows Setup," part, I've noticed that the Format and Partition options were greyed out and could not be selected. However...

Since I am wanting to dedicated this 512GB m.2 SSD for only Windows, Games and Applications, there is no need to make any partitions correct? It's okay to just have installed Windows without any partitions yes? (...since this is only my boot drive and not my 'everything' drive...)

I already have the Windows 8.1 Pro Recovery USB made, therefore, does it still need to be installed on it's own dedicated (~30GB) partition on the m.2 SSD? (...this would only need to be done on a traditional laptop where there is only one hard drive correct?...)

Since I couldn't select anything, but the entire 512GB SSD (listed as Drive 1), I've just proceeded with the windows install without creating any kind of partition, because I couldn't anyway.

Here is how I plan to run my set up:

Primary Boot Drive (m.2 4x slot #1): Samsung 950 m.2 512GB -> For only Windows, Apps and Games.

Storage Tank (eSata slot): Samsung 950 Pro 1TB -> Movies, Music, Photos etc....just a dump tank

Secondary Storage Tank: (m.2 2x slot #2): Samsung 950 m.2 512GB -> For....I don't know what....just extra real estate.

* I am not wanting to RAID the two m.2 SSD's due to it having no redundancy.

This set up will also keep things tight and clean, allowing me to jump ship at a moments notice.

Thoughts?

 

Personally I have no partitions on any of my drives. You have one drive for windows and all your games and programs. Everything else is dumped onto another drive. Considering ssds and m.2 drives are kind of small these days with how big games are, it makes little sense to make it into even smaller chunks unless you have a very specific OCD way of organizing your boot drive. But honestly whenever I format, I just back up games on steam, firefox bookmarks, and maybe documents folder for game saves and I can wipe the rest hassle free. Probably best practice not to have 500 icons on your desktop also.

 

Indeed. I am extremely OCD, but in a practical sense.

The only thing I can see myself doing in the near future is to create a few partitions for my VM's. Other than that I don't see any benefit really in partitioning the drive for my usage.

The 512GB m.2 drive is a bit overboard for just Windows, Games and Applications I know....which is making think of what I should utilize the rest of the space for? Hmmm....

I suppose once I put in the 2nd m.2 512GB SSD in slot #2, it'll become just another built in external drive in a way eh? At this point, 1.5TB is even excessive for me as most of my stuff is all backed up to my Cloud (NAS), then from there an off-site somewhere far far away LOL....

Do you usually keep your Allocation Size set to "Default?"

 

Holy Cow...

Just ran a speed test on my m.2 Samsung Pro 512GB. This is without Samsung Magician...just plain Jane, no software stuff...5 runs and...wow...

(Windows 8.1 Pro w/ Classic Shell.)

 

Yep, if you raid two of them the sequential write will be near 3 gig a sec. Shame the read stays the same if not slightly slower.

 

Gotcha. I think I'll wait until the 1TB sticks come out to RAID if anything. Gosh that's a lot of space LOL....

 

If you have as big of a steam backlog as I do, 512 is just adequate. Consider that games like x-plane are 60 gig and then you have texture addons that are like 100 gig, that 512 quickly starts to look mighty small =p. Then you have games like grand theft auto 5 that's about 60 gig. Etc etc.

 

Very true...it's best to be on the safe side / future proof as I know I'll be expanding my games library for sure....

I totally forgot about x-plane..man I love that simulator.

Which GTA is the best version? I like the total freedom stuff with good graphics....

 

Personally 5 is great. Latest in graphics department, native online. And there's a good use of color. 4 was too brown for me. And the older ones are definitely dated in graphics. I also recommend saints row if you want gta except on drugs. It's everything you wish you could do in gta.

 

My fav GTA was Vice City, mostly due to the 80's theme.

 

So, bringing the thread back on track, I noticed your first post said to put computer into AHCI mode to see a brand new m.2 drive for installing windows. Do you set it to raid after you've installed it and leave it in raid? Getting confused because other people are saying the computer doesn't see the drive at all if it's in AHCI.

 

Yes indeed....back on track

Correct, what I had to do was change it to AHCI in BIOS in order for the m.2 SSD to show up as Drive 1 during the Windows installation.

It is still set to AHCI as I only have one of the m.2 SSD's in at the moment.

When and if I decide to put in my second m.2 SSD, I will likely RAID the two sticks so then I would change it to RAID.

Note: Once you install a m.2, the drive will remain unallocated and if you're installing Windows on the fresh drive, you'll need to first allocate the drive per the directions in the OP, then in BIOS change it to AHCI for the drive to show up during installation. (...as Drive 1)

Hope that helps

 

Hi to all, if you like the temp of the 950 Pro, I put a couple of pictures.
I used AW17, for about 2 hours playing Stronghold Crusader 2: The Jackal and The Khan installed please on PC not on Steam, I do not think that commitments very cpu and gpu.





Ciao

 

As for the configuration of bios for the 950Pro:

If I put AHCI in the bios I do not see M.2, but on win10 I check with AIDA64 or HWiNFO both the temp that other parameters and install
Samsung NVMe Driver Installer - The software for this "950 PRO NVMe Driver Installation" only supports the Samsung NVMe SSD 950 PRO.

If I put RAID in the bios I see M.2, on win10 with AIDA64 or hwinfo does not make me see the temp, and when I try to install the Samsung NVMe Driver Installer, it returns an error that can not find the device.

This on my AW17, maybe it's me that I messed up when I moved the system boot disk (PM951) on 950Pro.

Ciao

 

I actually regret buying this ssd because this ssd CANNOT run in RAPID mode and I do not recommend anyone to buy this ssd. It also does not support optimizations provided by magician. Not to forget the myriad of problems this ssd poses.

For less than the money I spent, 850 evo gives following results in RAPID mode. 950 pro can never achieve this:



Screenshot taken from here: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers...0gb-benchmark-results-rapid-mode-enabled.html

And I do not recommend installing windows manually. It is just waste of time, energy and unnecessary to go through all these steps and precautions. Just use Macrium reflect and get the cloning done in 20 minutes like it is shown here: http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19659674.

 

Interesting link. The instructions are for moving the data from a mechanical to the 950. How would it be moving it from the 128 m.2 to the 950?

 

It was mentioned on another thread how RAPID is useless etc....

If the numbers are artificially inflated then I'm not interested in RAPID. I'm going to look deeper into the potential data loss that can occur from it as well. A lot of people along with myself that handle priceless content (clients weddings, special events etc...) can't afford to even consider adding in the element of a possibility of data loss.

So far my m.2 Pro SSD has been working flawless with more than fast enough speeds...(screen shots on OP)

 

Artificially inflated numbers eh, that wouldn't be the first time it happened. (Refer to Samsung making their phones run faster during benchmarks to get ahead on the scores). Due to the complaints on the 2.5" evo line I rather avoid that from now on and stick with the pro line. There haven't been any major complaints on the pro side.

 

It's all so very interesting...

I'm happy with the Pro Series and the perks that come with it...longer warranty, different enchanced architecture and higher read/write cycles, although extreme, the numbers do provide a point in respect to reliability as evidenced in the longer warranty that is offered.

Either way...Evo or Pro, you're getting the best of the best. I'll take either or any day.


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My thought is that I wouldn't bother. When anandtech reviewed the sm951's thermal throttling problems they used a heat sink that had larger surface area than what's cooling the cpu or gpu in these laptops and it still wasn't completely effective. The only thing that can keep these drives cool is an active cooling solution. What's below the M2 drives here is about as big as a memory heat spreader. It's worthless.

Honestly I really feel like the whole thing is pretty overblown. The kinds of testing done to achieve the thermal throttle are just not seen from even the most demanding users. if I had the pads around to do it, I might but I don't think I would go out and spend money on it.

That touches on another question I had on how many pice lanes the M2 slots can use. I had assumed it was 2 since that's generally the standard for a B slot format but apparently it's 4 if you can achieve 2.5gb/s, thanks for sharing, great results!

 

doublepost.

 

when using the USB Recovery Image, how do you get to the part when you can select what drive you want windows installed on? I've been having a lot of trouble getting this install to work on my 15R2.3

Add: also the computer becomes unresponsive when I connect the M.2 SSD and it will not let me load the BIOS set up

 

Storage Tank #1 & #2 - Backups!! Image of boot drive backup(s), file level backups, reinstall tools / drivers / configuration file backups

 

Indeed...I run a clone to back up my HD's to an external HD then that's backed up to my cloud (NAS) then that to my off site servers.


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What program do you recommend to back up a fresh install onto another drive (so I can image it back to the primary drive)?

 

Drive Image XML

Acronis

Macrium

I've used them all...all works flawlessly. Would just boil down to personal choice

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iunlock, here is my uninorfmed view of the data caching issue:

In Windows--IF YOU ENABLE WRITE CACHING--when you "copy" or "move" something it goes from the source drive to RAM to the target drive. The moment anything hits RAM windows counts it as copied, even though it hasn't been copied to the disk yet. If Windows crashes at the moment the data is in RAM but not yet writen to the drive, nothing happens if you've "copied"--you still have your source data.

However, if you "move" and there is a similar crash, you will lose some data bits, as windows "move" function copies the bit and then deletes the bit from the source. This can be catastrophic if the file is some sort of containerized or streaming media, such as a mov file. A one-hour mov file can be rendered useless by a single bit out of place.

If you go into drive properties you can see the option to enable write caching. By default window DISables this on USB or detachable drives, and ENables it for sys and internal drives. I leave it on for internal drives and I periodically check to make sure it is OFF on my USB farm, as I frequently move them into and out of my internal HD bay.

Samsung Magician is just doing more of what windows does with write caching enabled. For an internal scratch disk that I was using for editing, where all the elements had been backed up, I would definitely enable it, even though for extended sequential operations it becomes ineffective once you run out of RAM.

 

@john green, excellent explanation. Thank you.

Just to confirm, keep everything on default? (Windows ON, USB / External OFF)

Also, I'm still having a hard time comprehending the logic behind accepting the risk of data loss, only to have inflated/bloated numbers to show up on a speed test.

I'm happy with my Pro hitting 2.5GB read / 1.5GB write stock without any software. It's plenty fast enough for my mega video files.


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Finally installed my 950 pro.......doesn't feel any different from a traditional 2.5 ssd but I still love it!

 

It shines with large file transfers =) it's a sleeping giant that handles all normal tasks in its sleep.

Congrats!

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Here is my 512 950 pro. I have it partitioned to keep OS separate. This is with no additional drivers or Samsung controllers.

 

@Lobot, Excellent! Those look great....

How many partitions did you create? Just one for the OS? Or more...

 

On the original SSD that came with my AW it had partitions for OS and recovery. So I just moved the OS partition which was roughly 100gigs and formatted the rest to be drive E:

There are drivers and what not for the 950 I should install correct?

 

Negative ghost rider. From the looks of it, it's wise to stay away from any of the software's. It's good to go as is...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole RAPID and/or Samsung Magician software debate has been beat to pieces.

Verdict: There is no need for either one as the numbers are artificially inflated....

@Lobot, I'm just running it as is....flying natural without steroids.

 

Possible long post coming up.

Just installed the 950 pro in AHCI and used my usb drive that had windows 10 created from the media creation tool. Also downloaded the drivers on the dell site using my service tag. First up, most of the drivers won't install. Intel HD graphics keeps erroring out, thunderbolt driver doesn't install. Heck the alienware command center thing doesn't want to install either. Also noticed nvidia control panel has only 3 items on there. Normally should have a bunch.

Anyways, were you guys able to install all the dell drivers with a fresh windows 10 install?

Plan B was to use the usb drive that Dell graciously included with the outlet laptop. Plugged that in and tried to install from the stick and it wouldn't see the 950 pro in raid and AHCI mode. (throws a tantrum in my head). So I guess I have to reinstall on the included 128 and then clone it over with some software.

I'm open for better suggestions if there's any!

 

Hey mate,

Have you allocated the m.2 Pro yet and set it to GUID?

When installing the drivers from Dell, after entering in your service tag, filter by, "recommended" and install them in order.

Make sure the driver downloads are compete by matching up the md5 numbers. A corrupt / incomplete download can cause a circus.

Hope you figure it out....keep us updated.

Cheers

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