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Can I install a SSD of >= 256 GB on my Dell Optiplex 790 (Minitower)?

Super User Asked by Mohammed Julfikar Ali Mahbub on December 23, 2021

I have a Dell Optiplex 790 Minitower desktop computer. I am planning to upgrade to SSD.

Currently I have two 512GB Hard Disk Drive connected to my machine (via SATA0 and SATA1) and an Optical Drive (via SATA2).

I contacted Dell and asked whether I can upgrade to 256GB SSD or not, for which they said my machine supports maximum of 128GB SSD that they found through Dell manual (according to them) and also state that my machine has maximum SATA for 3Gbps (meaning it do not have SATA III). Later I searched for the Dell manual for my machine and found a Technical Guidebook where it is stated that I have one SATA III and 3 SATA II as shown below (Figure 1.0). But about the 128GB SSD, they were right. It is stated that my machine can support 128GB SSD and this is where I need help as 128GB SSD is not enough for me as I have to use some heavy application which requires a quite large storage (not for gaming).

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Figure 1.0: Page #14 from optiplex-790-tech-guide.pdf

Furthermore, I have seen some YouTube videos where they installed 256GB SSD on some other model of Optiplex 790 (click here).

To further investigate I used an application HWiNFO where it shows that my two existing HDDs are in port that provides 6Gbps but one of them is running at 3Gbps (which I wonder why?) as shown in the below picture (Figure 2.0). But the Dell Technical Manual I am talking about, I did not find anywhere mentioning the Gbps (Figure 3.0).

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Figure 2.0: HWiNFO result summary for my Optiplex 790 Minitower

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Figure 3.0: Page #04 from optiplex-790-tech-guide.pdf

Additionally, the below is the SATA ports on my machine’s motherboard (Figure 4.0).

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Figure 4.0: Sata ports on Dell motherboard 0HY9JP.

To conclude, I want to use my existing two HDDs (500GB each) one will be connected to SATA1 and the other will be connected to either SATA2 or SATA3 (where optical drive is connected) and I want to install the new SSD on SATA0 (beccause probably it has the highest speed amongst all). Hence, can I install a 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD on my machine safely and will I get all the benefits of the SSD’s speed (6Gbps) along with the two existing HDD (please note that I am okay if I have to disconnect/ sacrifice one HDD for safety and speed)?

Dell Documents:

Edits

After further research, I found here that Dell themselve is selling upto 1TB SSD for Optiplex 790 (Figure 5.0).

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Figure 5.0: Optiplex 790 Parts & Upgrades for SSD from Dell website

One Answer

Sure, your Dell computer shouldn't have a problem accepting any size of SATA-based SSD. (up to a reasonable amount) The 128GB number is more than likely nothing but what's officially supported by Dell themselves. After all, when the 790 came out all the way back in 2011, (affordable) consumer SATA SSD's only just hit this capacity.

The reason why one of your current drives runs at 3Gb/s is because, according to Dell's specs, your computer only has a single 6Gb/s SATA port. (SATA3) Why HWiNFO says 6GB/s @ 3Gb/s, no clue.

Make sure to connect the SSD to this port when you install it, otherwise you're just bottlenecking the drive. You can plug in your existing HDD's in the remaining ports and use them alongside each other.

Answered by MMM on December 23, 2021

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