Dell XPS 8900 ... Can I stuff 10 Hard Drives?

[Davem88]

So, I finally bit the bullet and bought

DELL XPS 8900 i7-6700 8GB RAM 1TB HDD DVD-RW NVIDIA GT 730 WINDOWS 10
I also bought Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4 2133 to make it a total of 24gb ram.
Price paid = $630 (refurb)

I am curious to know what to do with multiple hard drives I have and will buy.

My inventory

1) 180gb Intel 330 Series Solid-State Drive 180 GB SATA 6 Gb/s 2.5-Inch
(will use this to run Windows and pretty much it)

2) 1TB Hard Drive that came with system
(files that do not need to have highest speed)

3) 2TB Hard Drive (my old drive that serves as backup)

4) 512gb SSD Samsung 850 PRO 512GB or Samsung 950 PRO Series - 512GB PCIe NVMe - M.2
(for video, photographs, adobe, all programs, etc)

Question is ... how much space does XPS8900 has for hard drives, ssd drives, etc?

Thank you.

 

[mnewsham]

I believe it has 3 hard drive bays.

The SSDs you can use without mounting them (solid state storage has no moving parts so it doesn't matter if it is secured or not particularly, though i tend to use velcro or tape to attach them on the side panel or similar places.

So that will leave you with 2 free and 1 occupied 3.5" drive bays for 2 additional hard drives.

 

[Davem88]

I believe it has 3 hard drive bays.

The SSDs you can use without mounting them (solid state storage has no moving parts so it doesn't matter if it is secured or not particularly, though i tend to use velcro or tape to attach them on the side panel or similar places.

So that will leave you with 2 free and 1 occupied 3.5" drive bays for 2 additional hard drives.

ok, i almost understood.
So, can I fit 2 standard HDs and 1 SSD in there? Without using the M.2 port.

 

[mnewsham]

ok, i almost understood.
So, can I fit 2 standard HDs and 1 SSD in there? Without using the M.2 port.

You can fit as many SSD as there are SATA connections, they don't need a drive bay.

For HDDs there are 2 drive bays open.

 

[Davem88]

You can fit as many SSD as there are SATA connections, they don't need a drive bay.

For HDDs there are 2 drive bays open.

So I can have a total of 3 drives in there? 2 HD or SSDs and one M.2 ?


Question now is ... for the SSD drive, do I stick with
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
or
Samsung 850 PRO 512GB
or
Samsung 950 PRO

Is it worth the extra cost to go pro? I'll be using HD for some image editing, photo viewing, 1080p video (rarely) and launching applications MS office, lightroom, browsers, etc. Nothing crazy.

I've been very satisfied with 180gb Intel 330 Series Solid-State Drive ... how do the Samsungs compare?

thanks guys.

P.S. For $200 can even get the 1tb SanDisk SSD drive?

 

[Ken g6]

If you're running out of SATA ports you can get an add-on card to add more. Example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1

If you do this I'd put only spinning drives on the card; put all the ssds on the mobo ports.

 

[Ketchup]

For running Windows and working with small (-ish) files, get a SATA SSD and get as much space as you can for the money. For working with larger file transfers, M.2 will be able to stretch its legs. Otherwise, you won't notice a difference.

Get Pro if you want the extra warranty (10 Years), vs the EVO (5 years).

 

[Davem88]

For running Windows and working with small (-ish) files, get a SATA SSD and get as much space as you can for the money. For working with larger file transfers, M.2 will be able to stretch its legs. Otherwise, you won't notice a difference.

Get Pro if you want the extra warranty (10 Years), vs the EVO (5 years).

In that case I can even get the SanDisk 960gb for $199 ? I know Samsung is more reliable, but...?
SanDisk Ultra II 960GB SATA III 2.5

If you're running out of SATA ports you can get an add-on card to add more. Example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1

If you do this I'd put only spinning drives on the card; put all the ssds on the mobo ports.

Oh, nice, so this means if I can fit it in there, I can have a total of 6 SATA drives running plus one M.2 right?

 

[Davem88]

bump?

 

[Ketchup]

If you can find one for $199, that would be a good price. The best price I could find was:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk...lack/1167009.p?id=1219470527603&skuId=1167009