Installing SSD in desktop PC

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nightrain5150

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Aug 21, 2013
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I want to install a SSD in my desktop PC (Dell Studio XPS 9000 from 2010). If I hook the SSD up to the SATA daisy chain connector, can I just configure the new drive to be the boot drive through the BIOS? (I checked the BIOS options and there does seem to be a way to choose your boot drive) Does the physical order of SATA connections make any difference? Will it affect the alphabetical order of drives, i.e. I will be able to boot from the SSD but it will be E: or something? Right now I have two conventional HDDs in the system.

Thanks!
 
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game junky

game junky

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You will need to check BIOS to make sure AHCI is enabled (which it typically is) - you can either clone the hard drive (Norton Ghost, Samsung's drive clone utility, etc.) or...
You can reload your system with only the SSD connected, copy the documents over (not the program files - you will have to re-install), wipe your HDD and then connect it to your system. I recommend a clean load but that's just out of habit. Make sure if you do load your system that you do not have the HDD connected during the install process. Even if you're not installing windows to the hard drive, it will write files to that disk and if you remove it you will still get a BSOD.
 
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nightrain5150

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I plan to install it fresh - from what I've read on the subject, it seems that cloning the boot drive to a SSD can lead to more complications than it's worth (correct me if I'm wrong though)

Thanks!
 
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casper1973

casper1973

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Doesn't matter which port you connect it to. Some motherboards will a few SATA-II and a few SATA-III ports though. Make sure you use the faster ports if you have them.

A bit of advice to avoid errors - unplug all drives but the SSD during installation. I've seen countless threads where people installed to the wrong drive etc.

 
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nightrain5150

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How do I tell which ports are SATA-II and which are SATA-III?

Thanks for answering all my dumb questions ;-)
 
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nightrain5150

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It appears that my motherboard only has SATA 2 (3.0 GB/s) functionality. Will this severely undercut any performance boost I'm hoping to get by running Windows from the SSD?

 
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nightrain5150

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OK, so I've figured out that the motherboard in my Dell Studio XPS 9000 is model X501H. Is there any way to ascertain if the third, unused SATA port is SATA 1 or SATA 2? I can't find any documentation that has this information.
 
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