SSD Installment Requirements

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chaos_viper15

chaos_viper15

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I have a Alienware M18x R1. Looking to get an SSD and was wondering if I need a new Hard drive Connector inside my PC or SSD need no different connection/connector to install in this PC?

Any Help Appreciated.
 
Solution
nukemaster
2.5 inch SSD's and HDD's use the same SATA power and data connection as the desktop drives.

They only require 5 volts to run, but other than that they are the same.

The optical drive has its own slim sata connector, but again all these slim optical drives that operate on sata will be the same as well.
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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2.5 inch SSD's and HDD's use the same SATA power and data connection as the desktop drives.

They only require 5 volts to run, but other than that they are the same.

The optical drive has its own slim sata connector, but again all these slim optical drives that operate on sata will be the same as well.
 
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Solution
nukemaster

nukemaster

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Yes, you will have to install or clone Windows(and its boot partition most times called system reserved) onto the drive as well.

You have multiple drive support in that system so you can even keep the hard drive as a storage drive if you want to.

If you system has a secure boot feature it may need to be switched off to get the new drive to show in the bios, but I do not think your system has that feature.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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For setup, ensure your BIOS is set to AHCI mode
Yes, you can RAID 0 them, but don't. It provides zero performance benefit in normal use. Not worth the bother.
 
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chaos_viper15

chaos_viper15

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I RAID 0 them so I can have one Drive location and have everything needed (programs and videos and recording devices) on my desktop.

Is there a way to do that without RAID 0?

I use this laptop for gaming mostly I have over 50 games on here.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Programs can be installed wherever you want. Just select Advanced or Custom during the install.
Steam allows multiple locations for where games should go. Install, and tell it which place to go to.
Your Libraries can be easily redirected as to where they live.
Win 7 & 8: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1834397/ssd-redirecting-static-files.html
Win 8.1: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2024314/windows-redirecting-folders-drives.html


I find any of the methods to actually merge two drives into one are more trouble than they are worth.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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In the browser, you can designate a default download location.
In Win Explorer....Click on Downloads. It opens that folder, with whatever is in it. Windows does not care where it lives, as long as it is set up correctly.
Or, you can setup a shortcut to any folder on any drive. Put that directly on the desktop. Double click, poof...it opens. Just like opening if if it lives on the C drive.

In my system, I have 4 drives, and 4 other mapped drive letters that point to shared folders on other systems.
Click on my "M" drive, and there is all my movies. They just happen to live on a PC at the other end of the room.
My "S" drive is another shared folder on that same other PC, except that is the top level music folder. My music player of choice simply points to that drive letter. It does not know nor care what physical drive or PC they live on.
 
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