Installing new m.2 drives

hi! So I bought the Helios 500. Came with 1 TB HD and a 250gb ssd. I purchased 2 Samsung 970 evo ssd’s With 256gb x 2 (512)gb total. At first I copied the partitions from the stock ssd onto one of
the new m.2 drives I got, then I took the stock ssd out and installed the second Samsung evo m.2 drive. In the bios I see both of the Samsung’s installed but when I open “this pc” in Windows it only shows 2 drives (c and d) and under C it shows I only have 230gb of space.. instead of around 500gb (2x256). Under the D I see 932gb I’m guessing that’s for the 1 TB stock hard drive it comes with. How do I get it to show both of the new m.2’s I installed and not just 1 of them.

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brummyfan2

Hi,
Could you please give me some more details:
1.If you want to have those two SSDs as one, you need to setup RAID0, do you want RAID0 setup? Like mine.
2. Could you please check the BIOS for any options to change the SATA mode(as in my snip). I have 2x128GB in RAID0.
3. What is the actual model name of the laptop? Is it PH517-51?
4.How did you transfer the original OS to the new SSD? Which program you used?

Nohtaram

Yea that is the model I have ph517-51. Yes I want them in raid 0. I used micirum reflect. And I transferred the partitions from my stock ssd to one of my new ones.

brummyfan2

Hi,
OK, now you transfer the OS and the contents of the new SSD(256GB) to the 1TB HDD, go to BIOS and change the Boot order to make HDD as your first boot device, reboot the laptop, now your OS is in HDD.
Then format the M.2 SSD, go to Intel Rapid Storage Technology(click start and expand Intel), select your two 256GB drives and click Create in Manage tab.
After creating the RAID0, you have to migrate the OS back to the RAID0 but I am not sure whether Macrium will do this as Macrium has a limited support for RAID setup.
So I would suggest you to use MiniTool Partition wizard, use the Migrate feature, it's a free program and I have used regularly and works well.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
https://www.partitionwizard.com/help/migrate-os-to-ssd-hd.html
To summarise:
1. Install MiniTool Partition wizard and run it.
2.Use migrate feature to transfer the OS from SSD to 1TB HDD.
3.Go to BIOS and change the boot order to make HDD as your first boot.
4. Reboot and make sure that you are booting with HDD and format the SSD, then open Intel Rapid Storage and create RAID0 with two 256GB SSDs.
5. Use migrate feature to transfer OS from HDD to the RAID setup.
6. Once you are happy with the setup and made sure everything has been done successfully, you can format the HDD and use it for storage.
Always keep the original copy of your OS backed up, if it's possible keep the original 250GB which came with the OS safe for future use.

PredatorHelios500

brummyfan2 said:

2. Could you please check the BIOS for any options to change the SATA mode(as in my snip). I have 2x128GB in RAID0.

Are those Intel Optane drives? Perhaps the 600p? What's your experience like with them? Do you notice the OS being much snappier?

brummyfan2

PredatorHelios500 said:

brummyfan2 said:

2. Could you please check the BIOS for any options to change the SATA mode(as in my snip). I have 2x128GB in RAID0.

Are those Intel Optane drives? Perhaps the 600p? What's your experience like with them? Do you notice the OS being much snappier?

I haven't used Intel Optane, Optane will make a system with spinner drive faster but I don't understand why we need it when we have SSDs.

PredatorHelios500

brummyfan2 said:
I haven't used Intel Optane, Optane will make a system with spinner drive faster but I don't understand why we need it when we have SSDs.

The Optane SSDs are pretty much the fastest drives currently out. And there reliability is off the charts compared to other drives.

brummyfan2

PredatorHelios500 said:

brummyfan2 said:
I haven't used Intel Optane, Optane will make a system with spinner drive faster but I don't understand why we need it when we have SSDs.

The Optane SSDs are pretty much the fastest drives currently out. And there reliability is off the charts compared to other drives.

Yes, I was talking about the Intel Optane cache disks(16GB & 32GB) not 600p or 900p drives, it's a personal preference and the needs of the individual, if one doesn't mind low write rates, Intel optane will do fine with good read speeds.

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