Solved! Worth swapping out 32Gb SSD in Dell XPS 15 9560?

[320flyboy320]

Just ordered this laptop and see it comes with a 32GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. I assume the SSD is used as a cache and the HDD holds the OS. So would there be a worth while performance gain by keeping the HDD as storage, and swap out the small SSD for a larger SSD to hold the OS?

If this is worth while, are there certain SSD's that I should look at?

 

[guanyu210379]

32GB, it sounds like you have a SSHD.
The SSD is built in inside the HDD. The SSD part is basically only used for cache.
NO! you can not remove the SSD without removing the whole HDD.
I am not yet 100% sure, if it is really an SSHD tho'

You can still add an extra dedicated SSD if:
1. the laptop still has either m.2 slot or 2.5" HDD slot.
2. optical drive in any form. You can buy an adapter to make (to replace) this drive with an SSD. You can then buy a house to make your optical drive into an external optical drive.

 

[320flyboy320]

The storage is described as "1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive + 32GB Solid State Drive"

 

[guanyu210379]

My guess is that it is a device like this:
https/www.amazon.de/Seagate-ST1000LX001-Interne-Hybrid-Festplatte-Flash-Speicher/dp/B01BVS733Q
I am not 100% sure but over 80% sure

 

[guanyu210379]

Dell XPS 15 9560? Just did some research.
The 1TB variant is an SSHD.
Now, I am 100% sure

No optical slot, no adapter to put an extra SSD/HDD.
No extra slot for an SSD in any form not even m.2.

You can only replace that 1TB with something else. I dunno if you can replace it easily a.k.a. I do not know how to open this laptop...yet...

I would simply get the 16GB and an SSD variant of Dell XPS 15 9560

 

[320flyboy320]

Thanks for your help guanyu210379.

For what it's worth, here is the laptop I have on order.

 

[rgd1101]

service manual
http/topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/xps-15-9560-laptop_setup%20guide_en-us.pdf

 

[guanyu210379]

@rgd1101: thanks.
It seems that replacing the SSD is normal without having to use hot air gun a.k.a. nothing is glued like one some extremely thin laptops.

@320flyboy320:
The laptop is not that expensive for what you get but also not among the best priced. It is an ok laptop for the price.
You can replace the SSHD with an SSD but unfortunately, you must choose and can not have both SSD and the SSHD at the same time.
The laptop can only fit one of them.
Replacing the SSHD with an SSD worth it but you loose the capacity.

BTW,
Here, where I live, the difference between the I5+1TB SSHD+8GB RAM and the I7+512SSD+16GB RAM are only about €360
http/www.dell.com/de/p/xps-15-9560-laptop/pd
This made the 16GB+SSD variant to be the better choice, if I were to buy the laptop.
For you? You have to decide yourself.

 

[320flyboy320]

@guanyu210379

I have posted this question on Dell's community forums, and they are telling me you can have both an SSD and HDD in this laptop at once. I might have to wait till it arrives to find out for sure, perhaps there are different models of this laptop leading to some confusion?

 

[guanyu210379]

Yup! I missed it yesterday. There is an m.2 SSD slot.
You can only add m.2 SSD not the usual 2.5".