XPS 8930, how much total hard drive TB's can it handle? Total TB Combo of 1 SSD & 3 HDD's?

No max limit of hdd size.  Dell “4 TB” is just what Dell offers and has validated.  

Seagate is better.  I have seen more dead WesternDigital hdd than Seagate.  

I just upgraded my 8930 C: drive from 256GB to a 1TB SSD.  On Amazon, bought a NVME gen4 1TB SSD (many brands available).  I bought gen4 because I believe that the 8930 MB supports gen 3 but that there is still a perf boost if you use gen4; it does not appear that gen5 is supported.  About $100 but memory prices are very volatile.  Bought a Sabrent external NVMe enclosure (~$15, allows you to hook up the SSD through the USB-C port).  Downloaded free version of DiskGenius, cloned ("OS Migration" in DiskGenius) existing C: drive to external SSD, then swapped out the SSD on the MB, rebooted, and... worked like a charm.  The only long step is copying the SSDs, took maybe 30 mins.  Now I have tons of free space on my system drive.  Hardest step was replacing the tiny screw that holds down the NVMe stick to the MB - make sure you have a magnetic screwdriver available  because the screw WILL fall out and onto the MB.

the 8930 manual says 1TB is the max supported; I didn't feel like buying a 2TB or 4TB and finding out that's an actual limit,  1TB meets all my system drive needs for now.  Eventually I can move the old SSD to the external enclosure for a very fast external drive.

good luck.

@LexDellCustomer​ 

The Dell Manual reflects what Dell has tested, and supports. The actual size limit on a PC is the OS's limit (depends on the Disk File System) and even if there IS a limit one can always partition a disk to smaller sized partitions and have more than on OS drive on a disk.

I've seen I recall some putting a 25TB drive on a PC.

I have an XPS8940. 4 disk drives and one is a 4TB drive. The 4 drives total 6.,5TBs,

On a Dell Tower EBT2250 we have, it has also 4 drives, but they total 9TBs, One also being a 4TB drive.

Both running Windows 25H2.

@redxps630​ Thank you for getting back to me, When you say that "4 TB" is what Dell offers and has validated, does that mean the Total amount of SSD + HDD, or is it what 1 Dell Rep told me: 1 TB SSD + 4 TB HDD?   And, validated, is that what Dell tested?  Is there something in the 8930's hardware that will prevent a higher amount?  and, if so, is there something that I can do?

@ispalten​ Thank you for getting back to me.  How do I know what the Disk File System is on my XPS 8930? I am running Windows 11 Home, Version 10.0.26200.  Is there something that I can alter or change?

And, does your XPS 8940 have the same limitations as the XPS 8930?

What happens if I put too big a HDD in the empty slot?    thanks!

@LexDellCustomer​ Thank you for getting back to me. Do you have other HDD's installed in your XPS 8930 besides the 1 TB SSD?  

@Rachelq007​ 

Any PC has the same limits if running Windows and the H/W supports connecting the drive to it essentially.

For instance, this is what Google's AI has to say about it:

============

Windows 11 64-bit doesn't have a practical maximum hard drive size; it supports massive drives (zettabytes) using GPT, with actual limits determined more by hardware (like 1EB for modern drives) and file systems (NTFS/ReFS), allowing for volumes over 8 Petabytes (PB) or 18 Exabytes (EB), far beyond current consumer availability, meaning you can use the largest drives on the market. 

Key Points

GPT is Key: To use drives larger than 2TB, your system must use GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning, not the older Master Boot Record (MBR). Windows 11, especially with UEFI, defaults to GPT.

Theoretical vs. Practical Limits:

Theoretical GPT Limit: Roughly 9.4 zettabytes (9.4 billion terabytes) or even 18 exabytes,

depending on block size.

Practical NTFS Limit: Around 8 PB (petabytes) with standard cluster sizes, but much larger with larger cluster sizes (e.g., 1 PB with 256KB clusters).

Hardware Limit: Current hardware and LBA48 support push limits to around 1 Exabyte (EB).

No Real Limit for You: You can install drives of 16TB, 22TB, 20TB, or even larger (like 400TB RAID arrays), and Windows 11 will handle them.

Performance/Data Integrity: For extremely large volumes (e.g., over 64TB), you might see performance issues or data recovery challenges, so partitioning or using Storage Spaces is recommended for stability and backup, notes Microsoft Learn

============

There are drives that you probably would see on a residential PC, but Server drive go up to Petabytes in size.... 

Oh, you can tell the File System in use easily. Open Disk Manager (diskmgmt.msc). This is what it shows for my drives and partitions:

More than likely you have NTFS though.

Also, IF the OS or H/W doesn't format to the full size of the drive you can partition the drive to the max Partition size and fill the drive with multiple partitions even.

I have an XPS 8930 wtih 4 SSD drives of 2TB each. Never had a problem. 

@Rachelq007​ 

yes, various HDDs  (500GB, 1 TB).  I just wanted to suggest to you to upgrade your SSD system drive first.  

I have an XPS 8930.  It shipped with an Intel 1 TB SSD, and a 2 TB Seagate HDD.  I added a WD Black 4 TB drive (G:) after purchase, and it has worked flawlessly.

As for Seagate vs. Western Digital, my experience has been the exact opposite of @redxps630 .  I won't go near Seagate drives, unless they are foisted on me, as Dell did when I ordered a 2 TB HDD in addition to the 1 TB SSD.  WD HDDs, both internal and external, have served me very well over many years.  YMMV.

Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

@garioch7​ 

I think you are both right. That is your experience... and I've had both vendor drives go bad over the years. I am partial to WD's though. When I buy, I generally buy by price though at that time which has the available size I want that are on-sale.

For SSD's though, different story. Based on Spec's and reviews... as I've had some go bad.

@LexDellCustomer​ Thanks for the info.  I'm doing the same upgrade.

@redxps630​ good to know cus i also had a similar question after seeing a lot of different statements that didnt make sense i genuinely thought dell bios was gonna cap storage lol. i turned my 8930 into a frankenserver and im gonna be making a jbod enclosure and fill it with hdds and ssds and connect them with an hba card on the bottom 4x lane since its open ended i can still use the ibm card i want js gonna have half the speed since im keeping the 1050ti in teh 16x slot, i plan to use it for encoding when i set up plex/jellyfin and immich. i removed the internal hdd enclosure from the top and bottom so i can install 4 120 fans in the case there and they fit fine js ziptied them had to take off the front panel to make it easier tho. and got a new cpu cooler one of the T57JF ones to help with the cpu temp spikes, have its fan set to max and the exhaust fan at the top set to a low speed, cus dell wont give us pwm on this system so best i got is a script that manually checks temps and sets the corresponding exhaust fan to max or low depdning on temps, if it hits the max point i set it goes and stays there til it drops to a certain threshold and goes back to lowmode. literally only have 2 or 3 levels of control, dells pwm, constant low speed, or constant max speed. either way this works the exhaust fans the loudest one to me anyways. to combat the fan plug issue 2 (was 2 i broke one so currently js 3 fans in the system 2 front intake on bottom intake, which i may put on the sidepanel as it can intake better there anyways, and that method idk if 2 120s would fit but i could make it im sure lol zipties go so hard. i lowk got this hard to work with system working good tho and clean on the inside ugly on the outside, the side panel i removed the plastic to reveal the metal sidepanel with airflow holes, so i may take advantage of that) of the bottom fans are running of a usb to dc dc boost converter to the fans and the converter set to 10.80v and the front 2 intake fans are wired to a mf 12volt 3.5amp wall wart and the cable runs out the back on the corner of the edge of the bottommost pcie cover, it works well those are quiet as fans at fullspeed and their static pressure fans, bet that helps with the front intake. also pulled the disc drive out cus ion need that until im ripping my dvds and bluerays if it can even do blueray lol and i need a cable for my psu to power it anyways. was gonna get this Dell CG2YM H330 12Gbps SAS PCI-E 3.0 with HBA330 P16 IT mode ZFS TrueNAS unRAID, Mini SAS Adapter SFF-8643 to SFF-8644, Dual Port Internal to External, 2 Packs 12G Internal HD Mini SAS SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 Cable 100-Ohm 0.5~1 meter, and this Mini External SAS HD 36 Pin SFF-8644 Target to 4 X SATA Host Cable 12/gb 1 Meter for the jbod i was gonna do for an external drive bay, and i plan to js mount it on the mobo side of the case somehow, thinking a strong heat resistent adhesive and something like this Simpson Strong-Tie 4-9/16 in. x 4-3/8 in. x 1-1/2 in. Galvanized Angle but smaller and black to match which i can diy that, js gotta watch where i screw it into and how big screws i use cus i dont wanna touch the back of the mobo and short or screw into it js na yk or release metal shavings into the desktop where i cant get it out for it to cause a short eventually lol, so im still figuring that out. ty tho and if anyone else has input on this project im doing lmk too. edit: forgot to mention i got a fan controller coming in to replace the fan power setup lol and control them all with a remote, will also plug in the jbod enclosure fans to it as well. and ofc the fan i broke will be replaced i got 3 of them its js the 2nd broke and 3rd is in use in my main rig until i get the rest of my lian fans for it lol oh shit upon closer inspection i got 2 in use in my main rig and 1 in the server so that meant i used to have 4 and now i got 3. i didnt realise that either wow. nice. so i will also put that in there for a total of what 2, 3, 1 exhaust, so 6 fans inside it eventually and the 2 on the jbod total of 8 fans, will run off that fan controller when i get it and the 2 front fans are rgb and theres a 3rd of those also in use on my main rig (look i cant afford 3 individual lian reverse blades to go on the bottom of the o11 vision compact so 1 of the 3 rgb fans is in my case and 2 of the used to be 4 now 3 nonrgb fans are in my case to fill out the o11 visions bottom 3 intake fans. they will be put in the server someday so that actually fr now makes 7 total 2 front 2 bottom 2 bottom side panel ig and 1 exhaust and of those 6 im putting in, ill finally be able to control the rgb on those 3 rgb ones which idc abt but it ill plug it in cus the controller supports them. it has 10 fans support for 7 inside and the 2 or 3 on the jbod will be perfect and it has its sata power it runs off.

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