Anyone replace the HDD in XPS M1530 with SSD?

Question

I want to install a 500GB SSD and then a clean copy of Win 7. Due to HDD issue I can't log onto windows to update the BIOS. Current BIOS version is A09 (7-14-2008) Some say I need to first update the BIOS for the system to recognize the HDD, but Crucial customer support says otherwise, and only memory upgrades are of concern as far as BIOS updates on this machine. I want the speed and power saving gains from the SSD, but don't want to buy one if it won't install due to BIOS compatibility issues. If you think Crucial's answer was incorrect please state why.

XPS M1530 Orig HDD is Samsung HM320JI Currently running Win 10, installed on top of Win 7 when the Win 10 upgrade was initially free. Ran fine for many months until some settings were changed and it crashed. Now can't log on to windows or access the internet with this machine, but it does auto-run Offline Windows Defender, scans, reboots, scans again, reboots over & over. Now Dell says this machine does not support Win 10, and that BIOS can't be upgraded when running that OS... would have been nice to know before I installed it, so will go back to using Win 7.

Looking at both the Crucial MX300 and the Western Digital WD5500G1BOA models, open to other suggestions in the 350 to 500GB range. Any successful installs anyone can report on?

Please, no replies that are purely speculative.

ejn63 · Answer

An SSD will work, subject to the SATA limitation of the system (it uses a SATA 3G controller, so you'll see half the speed of an SSD, all of which are 6G/s).

The other issue is that the system is designed for a 9.5 mm hard drive. You will need a shim to install an SSD, which will be 7 mm and likely won't connect to the mainboard correctly without one.

Example:

www.amazon.com/.../B014LQM6I2

bluzeharp · Answer

Thanks, good info!   -  Anyone else?

Dudafc · Answer

Hey, I've tested a lot of different SSDs on my M1530 already and in all cases it ran pretty well. I upgraded my M15030 and it runs today with the specs below:

Intel Core3Duo T9300

8GB RAM (yes, it supports it)

1680x1050 LCD screen

AC7260 WiFi card

and SSDs tested:

- Samsung 750 EVO 250GB

- Samsung 850 EVO 250GB

- KingDian S280 500GB

- KingSpec MT512 500GB

- KingFast FM6 120GB

Since the SSDs run at lower speed SATA ports, I'd recommend the KingDian because is the cheapest one with decent performance. The other "Kings" have really bad performance benchmark results.

Below the KingDian CrystalDiskMark 6 results on my current Dell laptop.

Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : 553.395 MB/s

Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : 505.286 MB/s

Random Read 4KiB (Q= 8,T= 8) : 402.550 MB/s [ 98278.8 IOPS]

Random Write 4KiB (Q= 8,T= 8) : 368.991 MB/s [ 90085.7 IOPS]

Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 251.017 MB/s [ 61283.4 IOPS]

Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : 199.001 MB/s [ 48584.2 IOPS]

Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 28.731 MB/s [ 7014.4 IOPS]

Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : 65.643 MB/s [ 16026.1 IOPS]

Best regards and let me know if you need more info.

smallGIANT · Answer

This post is still very helpful, even though it's a few years old. I too have an XPS M1530, but I want to give it a hybrid drive (or SSHD), like a 1TB Seagate Firecuda. Has anyone tried that? If so, is it good?

smallGIANT · Answer

Sorry I'm getting the 500GB Firecuda, not 1TB. That's the only storage option I can still buy as new right now.

Storage, Drives & Media

Anyone replace the HDD in XPS M1530 with SSD?

Was this post helpful?