2TB SSD in a Dell L502X Win 10 pro ver 21h1 laptop
Will it work?

Dan wrote:
> 2TB SSD in a Dell L502X Win 10 pro ver 21h1 laptop
> Will it work?
>
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dell/xps-l502x

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Dan wrote:
> 2TB SSD in a Dell L502X Win 10 pro ver 21h1 laptop
> Will it work?

LOL. Make sure your electric screwdriver is fully charged first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tn-j74NZSg

And you'll need a spudger to lift off the bezel.

Screws come out the bottom. Drive goes in the top.

Yes, it looks like a SATA SSD.

A 2TB drive will work, because it does not
surpass any legacy capacity figure important
at this time. To fully use >2.2TB drives, they
would benefit from GPT partitioning - the existing
Dell is likely to be GPT, in which case cloning
over the drive would be seamless. However, if
somehow Dell screwed up the partitioning, as
bad as it did with this "screw-fest", then who
really knows what they did. It could be MSDOS
partitioned, for all we know of Dell.

Yes, clear sailing for your 2TB SATA SSD project
into the primary drive bay. There may be ways to
add more drives than that. Consult service manual.
The unit has an optical drive, and sometimes there
is a SATA carrier available which allows replacing
the optical drive with a second SATA SSD. For example,
if you left the mechanical drive in the primary bay,
and added a caddy for the new 2TB SSD, you could
clone over using nothing but the laptop itself.

https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_xps_laptop/xps-l502x_service%20manual_en-us.pdf

This link shows a picture of a caddy for your machine,
to take the place of the optical drive. They seem to
exist.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2nd-HD-SSD-Hard-Drive-Caddy-Adapter-for-Dell-XPS-L502X-L501X-12-7mm-SATA-to-SATA-/281143523357?_ul=IN

Paul

On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 13:07:28 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>Dan wrote:
>> 2TB SSD in a Dell L502X Win 10 pro ver 21h1 laptop
>> Will it work?
>
>LOL. Make sure your electric screwdriver is fully charged first.
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tn-j74NZSg
>
>And you'll need a spudger to lift off the bezel.
>
>Screws come out the bottom. Drive goes in the top.
>
>Yes, it looks like a SATA SSD.
>
>A 2TB drive will work, because it does not
>surpass any legacy capacity figure important
>at this time. To fully use >2.2TB drives, they
>would benefit from GPT partitioning - the existing
>Dell is likely to be GPT, in which case cloning
>over the drive would be seamless. However, if
>somehow Dell screwed up the partitioning, as
>bad as it did with this "screw-fest", then who
>really knows what they did. It could be MSDOS
>partitioned, for all we know of Dell.
>
>Yes, clear sailing for your 2TB SATA SSD project
>into the primary drive bay. There may be ways to
>add more drives than that. Consult service manual.
>The unit has an optical drive, and sometimes there
>is a SATA carrier available which allows replacing
>the optical drive with a second SATA SSD. For example,
>if you left the mechanical drive in the primary bay,
>and added a caddy for the new 2TB SSD, you could
>clone over using nothing but the laptop itself.
>
>https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_xps_laptop/xps-l502x_service%20manual_en-us.pdf
>
>This link shows a picture of a caddy for your machine,
>to take the place of the optical drive. They seem to
>exist.
>
>https://www.ebay.com/itm/2nd-HD-SSD-Hard-Drive-Caddy-Adapter-for-Dell-XPS-L502X-L501X-12-7mm-SATA-to-SATA-/281143523357?_ul=IN
>
> Paul

Thanks all, it looks like a 2TB SSD will work.
I am about to start work abroad. So would a 4TB SSD still work?

Dan wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 13:07:28 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> Dan wrote:
>>> 2TB SSD in a Dell L502X Win 10 pro ver 21h1 laptop
>>> Will it work?
>> LOL. Make sure your electric screwdriver is fully charged first.
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tn-j74NZSg
>>
>> And you'll need a spudger to lift off the bezel.
>>
>> Screws come out the bottom. Drive goes in the top.
>>
>> Yes, it looks like a SATA SSD.
>>
>> A 2TB drive will work, because it does not
>> surpass any legacy capacity figure important
>> at this time. To fully use >2.2TB drives, they
>> would benefit from GPT partitioning - the existing
>> Dell is likely to be GPT, in which case cloning
>> over the drive would be seamless. However, if
>> somehow Dell screwed up the partitioning, as
>> bad as it did with this "screw-fest", then who
>> really knows what they did. It could be MSDOS
>> partitioned, for all we know of Dell.
>>
>> Yes, clear sailing for your 2TB SATA SSD project
>> into the primary drive bay. There may be ways to
>> add more drives than that. Consult service manual.
>> The unit has an optical drive, and sometimes there
>> is a SATA carrier available which allows replacing
>> the optical drive with a second SATA SSD. For example,
>> if you left the mechanical drive in the primary bay,
>> and added a caddy for the new 2TB SSD, you could
>> clone over using nothing but the laptop itself.
>>
>> https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_xps_laptop/xps-l502x_service%20manual_en-us.pdf
>>
>> This link shows a picture of a caddy for your machine,
>> to take the place of the optical drive. They seem to
>> exist.
>>
>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/2nd-HD-SSD-Hard-Drive-Caddy-Adapter-for-Dell-XPS-L502X-L501X-12-7mm-SATA-to-SATA-/281143523357?_ul=IN
>>
>> Paul
>
> Thanks all, it looks like a 2TB SSD will work.
> I am about to start work abroad. So would a 4TB SSD still work?

It's on an Intel port, so yes.

If you're going overseas, I would concentrate on buying
a reliable drive, rather than an excessively spacious drive.
The flash type is not always listed on the package.
The MLC ones disappeared from my local computer store, this spring.

SLC 1 bit per cell (excellent decay properties)
MLC 2 bit per cell (still good)
TLC 3 bit per cell (gets mushy after three months and read is slower)
(Writes may involve two-stages, with a cache for small transfers)
QLC 4 bit per cell (like TLC, maybe lower write life,
one drive being rated for 600 writes)

The Optane are the best, but they're not meant for humans.

https://www.servethehome.com/intel-optane-dc-p5800x-800gb-workstation-ssd-review/

100 DWPD

That means on one of those, you can write it from end to end,
over and over again, 100 times a day, for years. The TBW
rating is in Petabytes. Those also cost thousands, for the
highest capacity ones (which aren't very big). They also
get hot, which is why when Optane is put in a laptop, it
is typically a single chip of it and a very small capacity.
It's not NAND Flash, and is actually made of a different chemical.

*******

The biggest consumer SATA SSD would be 8TB QLC. The TLC might
be 4TB as the biggest one. And there were 4TB MLC ones too, like this.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/ssd-860-pro-2-5--sata-iii-4tb-mz-76p4t0bw/

"NAND Flash

Samsung V-NAND 2bit MLC"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Inch-SATA-Internal-MZ-76P4T0BW/dp/B0786ZQ1PJ

Paul

On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 14:36:44 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>Dan wrote:
>> On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 13:07:28 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dan wrote:
>>>> 2TB SSD in a Dell L502X Win 10 pro ver 21h1 laptop
>>>> Will it work?
>>> LOL. Make sure your electric screwdriver is fully charged first.
>>>
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tn-j74NZSg
>>>
>>> And you'll need a spudger to lift off the bezel.
>>>
>>> Screws come out the bottom. Drive goes in the top.
>>>
>>> Yes, it looks like a SATA SSD.
>>>
>>> A 2TB drive will work, because it does not
>>> surpass any legacy capacity figure important
>>> at this time. To fully use >2.2TB drives, they
>>> would benefit from GPT partitioning - the existing
>>> Dell is likely to be GPT, in which case cloning
>>> over the drive would be seamless. However, if
>>> somehow Dell screwed up the partitioning, as
>>> bad as it did with this "screw-fest", then who
>>> really knows what they did. It could be MSDOS
>>> partitioned, for all we know of Dell.
>>>
>>> Yes, clear sailing for your 2TB SATA SSD project
>>> into the primary drive bay. There may be ways to
>>> add more drives than that. Consult service manual.
>>> The unit has an optical drive, and sometimes there
>>> is a SATA carrier available which allows replacing
>>> the optical drive with a second SATA SSD. For example,
>>> if you left the mechanical drive in the primary bay,
>>> and added a caddy for the new 2TB SSD, you could
>>> clone over using nothing but the laptop itself.
>>>
>>> https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_xps_laptop/xps-l502x_service%20manual_en-us.pdf
>>>
>>> This link shows a picture of a caddy for your machine,
>>> to take the place of the optical drive. They seem to
>>> exist.
>>>
>>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/2nd-HD-SSD-Hard-Drive-Caddy-Adapter-for-Dell-XPS-L502X-L501X-12-7mm-SATA-to-SATA-/281143523357?_ul=IN
>>>
>>> Paul
>>
>> Thanks all, it looks like a 2TB SSD will work.
>> I am about to start work abroad. So would a 4TB SSD still work?
>
>It's on an Intel port, so yes.
>
>If you're going overseas, I would concentrate on buying
>a reliable drive, rather than an excessively spacious drive.
>The flash type is not always listed on the package.
>The MLC ones disappeared from my local computer store, this spring.
>
> SLC 1 bit per cell (excellent decay properties)
> MLC 2 bit per cell (still good)
> TLC 3 bit per cell (gets mushy after three months and read is slower)
> (Writes may involve two-stages, with a cache for small transfers)
> QLC 4 bit per cell (like TLC, maybe lower write life,
> one drive being rated for 600 writes)
>
>The Optane are the best, but they're not meant for humans.
>
>https://www.servethehome.com/intel-optane-dc-p5800x-800gb-workstation-ssd-review/
>
> 100 DWPD
>
>That means on one of those, you can write it from end to end,
>over and over again, 100 times a day, for years. The TBW
>rating is in Petabytes. Those also cost thousands, for the
>highest capacity ones (which aren't very big). They also
>get hot, which is why when Optane is put in a laptop, it
>is typically a single chip of it and a very small capacity.
>It's not NAND Flash, and is actually made of a different chemical.
>
>*******
>
>The biggest consumer SATA SSD would be 8TB QLC. The TLC might
>be 4TB as the biggest one. And there were 4TB MLC ones too, like this.
>
>https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/ssd-860-pro-2-5--sata-iii-4tb-mz-76p4t0bw/
>
> "NAND Flash
>
> Samsung V-NAND 2bit MLC"
>
>https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Inch-SATA-Internal-MZ-76P4T0BW/dp/B0786ZQ1PJ
>
> Paul

Cheers Paul.
I saw a Micron 5200 2TB Sata 3. Its
(Total Bytes Written) = 5950
1920GB capacity

Is that about 600 TBW?

Dan wrote:

> Cheers Paul.
> I saw a Micron 5200 2TB Sata 3. Its
> (Total Bytes Written) = 5950
> 1920GB capacity
>
> Is that about 600 TBW?

They have several models.

The page design and table design are utterly bizarre.
Use the scroll wheel to zoom out until the entire
page is visible on your screen.

Usually what happens, is you approximately pay for drive
writes. The last row, might be 5X the price of the
first row.

https://www.micron.com/solutions/technical-briefs/micron-5200-series-of-sata-ssds

Model 5200 ECO
480GB 960GB 1.92TB 3.84TB 7.68TB \___ approx 1700 writes
Endurance (TBW in TB) 870TB 1750TB 3500TB 7700TB 8400TB / at 1.92TB model

Model 5200 PRO 960GB 1.92TB 3.84TB \___ approx 3100 writes
2270TB 5950TB 17600TB / at 1.92TB model

Model 5200 MAX 240GB 480GB 960GB 1.92TB \___ approx 9100 writes
2200 4380TB 8760TB 17520TB / at 1.92TB model

The first row seems a bit good, to be QLC.
But, it's still possible it is QLC.

The second row could be run-of-the-mill TLC.

The third row, dunno what that is. That would be MLC.

Micron also has SLC in the catalog, but even though there
are chip entries, a company building product using it, can't
seem to get it. The very largest SLC chips seem to be
unobtanium, the tiny ones, meh.

It's really hard to imagine a flash company, having all
these things in stock. On a good day, you'd expect TLC and QLC,
and everything else discontinued.

It's really hard to say how this table is possible. The
spread is too big to be done purely by overprovisioning.
Micron could do it, by continuing to make older tech, but
usually the fab is only designed for one tech level. They
bulldoze the inside of the fab, stop making MLC, and make
something else. That's roughly how it's suppose to work,
as geometry shrinks are quite common in fabs. But I haven't
seen a chart lately, which has the geometry listed, to see
if the improvements are purely due to more 3D layers.
The layer count is at least double what it started with,
going from 48 layer to 128 layer or so. Just going from
memory and not trying to look this stuff up.

Summary: I wouldn't buy the ECO row. After the debacle of TLC
getting "mushy" three months after being written, I
personally do not want any QLC in the room here with me.

I would price shop the PRO row, and see how others
compete on their TLC product lines.

Paul

On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 17:03:10 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>Dan wrote:
>
>> Cheers Paul.
>> I saw a Micron 5200 2TB Sata 3. Its
>> (Total Bytes Written) = 5950
>> 1920GB capacity
>>
>> Is that about 600 TBW?
>
>They have several models.
>
>The page design and table design are utterly bizarre.
>Use the scroll wheel to zoom out until the entire
>page is visible on your screen.
>
>Usually what happens, is you approximately pay for drive
>writes. The last row, might be 5X the price of the
>first row.
>
>https://www.micron.com/solutions/technical-briefs/micron-5200-series-of-sata-ssds
>
>Model 5200 ECO
> 480GB 960GB 1.92TB 3.84TB 7.68TB \___ approx 1700 writes
>Endurance (TBW in TB) 870TB 1750TB 3500TB 7700TB 8400TB / at 1.92TB model
>
>Model 5200 PRO 960GB 1.92TB 3.84TB \___ approx 3100 writes
> 2270TB 5950TB 17600TB / at 1.92TB model
>
>Model 5200 MAX 240GB 480GB 960GB 1.92TB \___ approx 9100 writes
> 2200 4380TB 8760TB 17520TB / at 1.92TB model
>
>The first row seems a bit good, to be QLC.
>But, it's still possible it is QLC.
>
>The second row could be run-of-the-mill TLC.
>
>The third row, dunno what that is. That would be MLC.
>
>Micron also has SLC in the catalog, but even though there
>are chip entries, a company building product using it, can't
>seem to get it. The very largest SLC chips seem to be
>unobtanium, the tiny ones, meh.
>
>It's really hard to imagine a flash company, having all
>these things in stock. On a good day, you'd expect TLC and QLC,
>and everything else discontinued.
>
>It's really hard to say how this table is possible. The
>spread is too big to be done purely by overprovisioning.
>Micron could do it, by continuing to make older tech, but
>usually the fab is only designed for one tech level. They
>bulldoze the inside of the fab, stop making MLC, and make
>something else. That's roughly how it's suppose to work,
>as geometry shrinks are quite common in fabs. But I haven't
>seen a chart lately, which has the geometry listed, to see
>if the improvements are purely due to more 3D layers.
>The layer count is at least double what it started with,
>going from 48 layer to 128 layer or so. Just going from
>memory and not trying to look this stuff up.
>
>Summary: I wouldn't buy the ECO row. After the debacle of TLC
> getting "mushy" three months after being written, I
> personally do not want any QLC in the room here with me.
>
> I would price shop the PRO row, and see how others
> compete on their TLC product lines.
>
> Paul

Thanks to all. Fitted it and use mini toll partition to expand the
unused space.