Can anyone positively confirm that m11xR3 supports SATA III?

SO..since this question is till a BIG unknown.....

With the m11xR3 being out in the wild for about a week, has anyone tried installing a SATA 3 SSD into it?

I have come down to my 2 choices based on ultimately reliability and speed. The Crucials and Vertex's may seem better value for the $$ based on performance and speed, and I would agree if just considering those factors, but I use my systems for mission critical work, and value reliability and compatibility over all else.

I have come to these 2 choices:

Intel 160GB 320 series(SATA II) or Intel 510 series 120GB(SATA III).

If the m11xR3 supports SATA II, I would go for the 510 series....if not the 320 series will be it.

Anyone can positiviely verify the ability for the m11xR3 to support SATA III?

The Sandy-Bridge 'credentials' make it seem that it will....but we need positive user proof!

 

According the the intel writeup of the chipset the M11x R3 uses, it supports sata 3. Intel QS67 Express Chipset - Overview

I would doubt they would add an extra sata controller to the system to downgrade it and provide sata 2. But, thats my opinion.

So unless Dell is using the Esata controller provided on the chip, it should be Sata 3

 

I talked to a dell tech and they said it only supports SATA II, but i dont think they really know because numerous other people have said they also talked to a tech rep and they said it does support SATA III

Just need someone with a SATA III ssd and m11x r3 to test it... Ill do it when i get mine, but that will be a while.

 

Talking to a dell tech was your first mistake.

They are not techs. The techs are in the US. You didn't talk to anyone in the US, you talked to someone who is simply paid to occupy you on the phone, and do nothing more than lead you in circles until you give up.

 

Couldn't agree with this more

 

All the information provided points in the direction of it supporting SATA 3 (Sandy Bridge chip set after all). The issue is that it is dell and so far seems to have been untested. I would like to also hear a definitive answer on this. It would be a complete annoyance if dell did bother to disable a perfectly amazing feature in the new series of processors. I think we will start hearing more answers once people start receiving their R3s most of them probably haven't gotten to their owners yet.

 

It wasnt by phone, it was a chat with a "person" just to see if they could answer a simple question, and it took all of a minute.

Anyway, no will know for sure until someone tests it...

 

I'd be quite excited if someone could have a rummage in their draws and see if they have an application that verifies the supported HDD controller.

Most HDD tools (HDTune, CrystalDisk) only report on the HDD installed and not the controller that supports them.

The OP question could then be easily verified.

If one can jumper an SATA 6GB HDD so that is emulates an SATA 3GB HDD, then there must be some sort of flag an application could pick up on in the controller interface.

I think there is something in this question for all of us.

 

I wasn't putting you down for attempting to use Dell's support for an answer. I was putting down Dell's support. It's unfortunate they are of little help.

 

I've used a few diagnostic programs, haven't had one come back telling what version the SATA port is. Pretty silly they don't.

Try Buy SIW Pro or Download SIW Freeware

I don't have the time to read through the results just right now, and I'll be honest I may not know if it's 3 or 6 unless it come's right out and says it - others may have more luck.

But SIW would be the program that would have the info, IMO

 

The R2's chipset also supports Gb ethernet, yet that didn't stop Dell from "downgrading" it to 10/100.

 

According to Sisoft Sandra the maximum SATA mode is G3/SATA600.

 

Is this finally the conclusive proof we need? Can we base this info to know for certain that if we plug in a SATA III SSD, it will work at published data bandwidth? If yes, than the m11xR3 can really utilize the new 6GB/Mbps SSDs to boost HD access performance!

This would also mean that together with the USB 3.0, and Gigabit ethernet in the m11xR3, I can finally rest easy using a smaller capacity SSD and use the USB 3.0 connectivity and Gigabit ethernet to ensure fast access/transfer times to external HDDs/networked drives that will house all the rest of my non-essential media and data. With my prior m11xR2, I was kind of hesitant going this route as the USB 2.0 and slow ethernet connectivity meant slow access times and data transfers for backup and access. That was the only disappointment I had with my m11xR2.

 

Well, hopefully someone who has ordered the m11xR3 and has also managed to purchase a SATA III SSD will be able to confirm this fact by plugging it IRL to the computer when he/she receives it.

 

Ok...I think I got an answer from a very good source that points to the fact that the m11xR3 DOES NOT support the newer SATA II SSDs. At least not 'at this time'.

I am not sure if what he meant was that it may be possible with future Bios updates. I think for now its safe to assume that it would be a waste to spend additional $$ on the newer SATA 3 SSDs. Although, it could be the case that 6 months down the road, a bios update may 'unlock' the SATA III feature and those that installed the SATA III drives would finally get their speed fix. Dissapointed as I am, I am still happy with the USB3.0 and Gigabit enhancements for my m11xR3 that will make having external HDDs and NAS's much more feasible.

I just dont understand why Alienware would choose this path to intentionally to go through the trouble to disable SATA III?

See below:

 

Thanks for the update!

 

So what would the rest of you m11xR3 owners do?

Will you:

1) Get a SATA III SSD now and hope that Alienware updates their bios someday to unlock the SATA III capability?

2) OR would you just get a SATA II SSD and be done with it?

 

I already have a crucial c300 256gb SSD, and that'll be straight in my m11x r3 as soon as it comes... which may take a while

 

using a sata 3 drive wont hurt the prices are not much different and even at the slower speed would more than likely be a touch faster then a sata 2 drive. it wont hurt anything. you can't go wrong with crucial ssd's

 

As you say.
I have a WD 1TB SATA III HDD on a SATA I (1.5GB) controller and it's better than a standard SATA I HDD.

 

I am not sure if a SATA III SSD plugged into a SATA II connection would perform faster than a regular SATA II SSD as it data rates would be limited by the SATA II 3GB/s bandwidth.

SO, you think that if I plugged in the intel 510 series SSD, it would perform faster than the intel 320 series SSD inside the m11xR3? I am not considering the rest of the brands due to potential reliability/compatibility issues.

Even if it is a 'touch' faster, I think it would not justify the price difference for installing a SATA III SSD into the m11xR3 UNLESS there is a strong possibility that Alienware decides to upgrade the Bios.

Given Dell-Chris's answer, it kinda leave that possibility hanging..... At this time, most likely I will pick the Intel 320 series 160GB as it is a 100% pure intel product with proven reliability compared to the Intel 510 series that is using a third party controller and no proven reliability(high probability of it being reliable though). I was willing to take the risk if the m11xR3 supported SATA III but now, with the strong uncertainty of SATA III support, guess not.

But than, by selecting the 510, I know that that it might be a potential for it to perform better, AND my 'next' machine would be able to use it compared to the 320 series that still will be bottle-necked at SATA II....arrgghh....so many things to consider.

Why can't Alienware by more clear and tell us if they plan to support SATA III in future for the m11xR3?

 

there may be no difference at all but it is designed to perform faster period AND... if you look on newegg a intel 320 sata 2 and the crucial sata 3 drives are the same price in the 160gb range.. I build systems for a living and as far as performance in ssd drive i'd pick the crucial hands down over the intel. This is my opinion based on many systems i've built.

 

Whoa, Crucial over Intel? Crucial has more benefit with SATA III, but also has a history of system freezes and other firmware update issues.

Intel has tried and true history, although these new ones are just as questionable as any of the other new ones. I'd choose Intel any day of the week over any other brand because of their history. I own Kingston, OCZ, Crucial, and three Intel G2 drives. I'll take Intel any day of the week. Unless you do lots of sequential transfers you won't notice a difference between any of these drives really.

 

Consider this:

You work for a company that provides HDD and SSD for your computers. Consumers want to know if your motherboards will support SATA III, but you only install SATA II.

Since you make money selling the SATA II's you want to push your SATA II's instead of having your customers install the smallest/cheapest SATA II's in their laptops and purchasing a SATA III drive from a secondary vendor!

So, you would be told by your superiors NOT to admit your motherboards support SATA III in order to push your SATA II's.

Something to think about! I plan to get a SATA III to find out for myself. But it will be sometime next month or the month afterwards. Unless someone beats me to it, I'll post what I find when I finally install one!

 

i also think that all ssd's are a gamble period all my critical machines use WD RE3 drives. I do also like the high end ocz stuff they flat out haul . i think another year or so and ssd's will be worth the price/performance. In my laptops i put WD black's. never had one fail EVER. You'll be hard pressed to get a straight answer from dell on this it will be a case of someone just trying it.

 

I'm with Nomad on this; I don't necessarily believe the guy from Dell. What can I say, I'm a born skeptic

I'm saving up for a SATA III SSD as well, but it's going to be at least another month before I can get one.

 

Just thought I would post that the M11x R3 does indeed support SATA III hard drives. Installed a 128 GB Crucial M4 SSD into my new Alienware M11x R3 and it is working like a dream. Boots to usable desktop on Windows 7 Enterprise in 15 seconds. Here is the benchmarking and interface information:

 

Cool, thank you for the information.

And such lovely big images too. One can do Alt-Print Screen to just capture a specific window.

There was a post open for this which may be a good place to contribute too as it completes the circle.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...itively-confirm-m11xr3-supports-sata-iii.html

 

Oh wow, found somebody who has the same SSD as me. I've had nothing but trouble with mine - lots of freezing and lock-ups, both when I cloned the original hard drive, and when I did a clean re-install. With the stock hard drive in place, haven't encountered any of this

EDIT: Ran the same test you did

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/576570-m11x-r3-positive-confirmation-sata-iii.html

Yay! finally confirmation that m11x r3 supports SATA III (6gb/s). Cant wait.

 

Proves that most reps don't know crap. You can't take something like that away when it's hardwired to the chipset. It would be like removing turboboost from the processor. One of the biggest advertised features of the sandy chipsets was sata 6.

 

Couldn't agree more...

 

just to finish my comments look here Intel QS67 Express Chipset - Overview its there therefore it exists.

 

w00t! Confirmed it's supported:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/576570-m11x-r3-positive-confirmation-sata-iii.html

Thanks, Purdyguy2287!

I knew it!

 

Just installed a 240gb vertex 3.

 

Anyone wana do a step by step tutorial for newbs that are scared to take apart their brand new r3?

 

Err sorry double post delete plz.