Does 2008 Dell Vostro support SSD

Question

Hey, I grabbed 2008 Vostro 1000 my neighbor was about to recycle. Everything works, the battery even looks good. Currently I have Linux Mint Xfce on it & running great. I would like to add a SSD.

However, I do not see an option in the Vostro BIOS to switch to RAID, in order to enable AHCI. I did come across a thread here, Dell Vostro 1000 SSD, that suggests SSD's can be used on a Vostro 1000 but they do not explain how they did it.

All the other Dell PC's from this time frame, that I have come across, require RAID enabled to get AHCI. Can anyone tell me how the Vostro 1000 will support SSD's without enabling AHCI (RAID)?

Thank you

ejn63 · Accepted Answer

RAID and AHCI are two different things -- one isn't a pre-requisite for the other. In fact, they're two different operational modes for the SATA channels.

That said, neither is required for SSD support. You can replace the hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD (just be sure you realize you may need a spacer to install an SSD, as hard drives then were 9.5 mm in height, while SSDs are usually 5 mm or slimmer).

It's also possible that because this system is an early SATA implementation, it may use a SATA to EIDE bridge (hence the absence of AHCI), which will limit the SSD to EIDE bandwidth (it'll still be far faster than any spinning SATA drive, though).

bacillus1 · Answer

range of crucial ssds for your laptop that's guaranteed to be compatible. https://uk.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dell/vostro-1000

daemoncycler · Answer

@ejn63

I started questioning my question after posting, is AHCI a must for an SSD, looks like is not. My understanding was in order for TRIM to work it would be. & the only way to get TRIM enabled on these older Dell machines was to select RAID for the SATA mode operation. Again, guess I was wrong, TRIM is the best way to keep the SSD optimized but not required.

Thank you & thanks for the tip on the spacer :O)

@bacillus1

Thanks for pointing me to drives with adapters already included.

I am going to go ahead & give the SSD a shot.

Thanks guys (gals).

p.s. over the weekend I did install Windows 10 (x64) on the Vostro & it ran fine with only 2GB RAM.

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Does 2008 Dell Vostro support SSD

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