Hard drive that will fit Dell studio XPS 8000

[warder348]

Need to know if Seagate and WD drives will fit since it has to mount vertically. Thanks for your help!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, warder348!

Yes, any drive will mount into your desktop. All desktop drives are a standard size of 3.5".
There's a slight difference with the 2.5" HDDs, but they are used mainly in laptops/notebooks.
You can use them in desktop computers as well, but you will need a mounting set for that purpose.
So when you make up your mind about the drive you wish to buy, just make sure it's 3.5 inches.

Hope this answers your question!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[das_stig]

Case supports 2 x 3.5inch HDD's.

My advice, buy an 120GB+ SSD (will need 2.5-to-3.5 converter ) and a 1TB+ HDD.

 

[warder348]

What about this one, can pick up without having to order: WD - Mainstream 1TB Internal Serial ATA Hard Drive for Desktops. Thanks for your help!

 

[popatim]

If this will be a boot or gaming drive then please make sure the drive is a 7200 rpm drive. You should see it listed in the specs. You might need to go to the performance drive but I think some of the mainstreams were 7200 too.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

What about this one, can pick up without having to order: WD - Mainstream 1TB Internal Serial ATA Hard Drive for Desktops. Thanks for your help!

Hi again, warder348!

As popatim suggested, take a look at the specs of the drives.
The Mainstream you are speaking of is WD Blue, the 3.5" version is 7200 RPM with capacity up to 1TB (64MB cache) and provides solid performance indeed. See here: http://goo.gl/PG1dcC

If you however, plan on using the storage for demanding applications or gaming, I'd also suggest to take a look at WD Black it's also 7200 RPM with 6 MB cache, but it's specifically designed to provide you with performance and speed for high-end performance computing.
Check it out: http://goo.gl/FfROUa

Hope this helps!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

Thanks SuperSoph_WD, I don't game, use mostly for 3D apps such as Poser, Vue and Bryce. Will look into the WD Black. This will be my first HD upgrade, have installed Video cards and memory so hope this won't be to hard of an install. Will have to install Windows 7 from the Dell recovery disk which will also be a new experience. Thanks for your help!

 

[warder348]

SuperSoph_WD, will the WD Black work with my 8000, I don't uderstand the sataII, and sataIII stuff, as long as it will connect with the same cables as the old one did and be recognized by Windows 7 home premium then thats what I'll get. I'll order one from newegg or frys. Thanks

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

SuperSoph_WD, will the WD Black work with my 8000, I don't uderstand the sataII, and sataIII stuff, as long as it will connect with the same cables as the old one did and be recognized by Windows 7 home premium then thats what I'll get. I'll order one from newegg or frys. Thanks

Hi again, warder348!

Don't worry about the SATA 2 and SATA 3 stuff.
The main difference between the two is the transfer speed (Gbps)
SATA II has a peak transfer rate of 3 Gbps (300 MB/s)., while while with SATA III it's 6 Gbps (600 MB/s).
SATA III specifications provide backward compatibility to function on SATA I and SATA II ports. However, the maximum speed of the drive will be slower due to the lower speed limitations of the port.
IMO, you won't even be able to notice this really.
Basically you won't have to worry about that and you won't have a compatibility problem with your XPS 8000.

Hope this answers your question!
Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

One more question SuperSoph_WD, then I'll leave you alone, hate bothering people, I'm older than dirt so the one thing I've learned is that it's better to ask for help before you need it than afterwards. Will I need to format the drive before I try to install the recovery disk [ something I've never done before ] or will Windows format it for you. The drive is on it's way so am trying to learn all I can before it shows up. Again thanks for all your help, it's people like you that greatly restore's one's faith in mankind. Thanks again!!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

One more question SuperSoph_WD, then I'll leave you alone, hate bothering people, I'm older than dirt so the one thing I've learned is that it's better to ask for help before you need it than afterwards. Will I need to format the drive before I try to install the recovery disk [ something I've never done before ] or will Windows format it for you. The drive is on it's way so am trying to learn all I can before it shows up. Again thanks for all your help, it's people like you that greatly restore's one's faith in mankind. Thanks again!!

Hey, Warder!

Don't you worry, that's why we are here for, to help you out with whatever questions you may have!
Yes, you will need to partition and format the drive first, in order to use it.
Here's a link from our knowledge base on how to do that on Windows: http://goo.gl/CUGhxQ
And here's another step-by-step to mounting/installing a new SATA HDD that might be useful as well:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/131231/how-to-install-a-new-hard-drive-in-your-desktop-pc.html

Keep me posted if you have any other questions!
Also thank you for the kind words, Warder, you definitely made my work day more awesome!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

One more question SuperSoph_WD, then I'll leave you alone, hate bothering people, I'm older than dirt so the one thing I've learned is that it's better to ask for help before you need it than afterwards. Will I need to format the drive before I try to install the recovery disk [ something I've never done before ] or will Windows format it for you. The drive is on it's way so am trying to learn all I can before it shows up. Again thanks for all your help, it's people like you that greatly restore's one's faith in mankind. Thanks again!!

Hey, Warder!

Don't you worry, that's why we are here for, to help you out with whatever questions you may have!
Yes, you will need to partition and format the drive first, in order to use it.
Here's a link from our knowledge base on how to do that on Windows: http://goo.gl/CUGhxQ
And here's another step-by-step to mounting/installing a new SATA HDD that might be useful as well:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/131231/how-to-install-a-new-hard-drive-in-your-desktop-pc.html

Keep me posted if you have any other questions!
Also thank you for the kind words, Warder, you definitely made my work day more awesome!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

One more question SuperSoph_WD, then I'll leave you alone, hate bothering people, I'm older than dirt so the one thing I've learned is that it's better to ask for help before you need it than afterwards. Will I need to format the drive before I try to install the recovery disk [ something I've never done before ] or will Windows format it for you. The drive is on it's way so am trying to learn all I can before it shows up. Again thanks for all your help, it's people like you that greatly restore's one's faith in mankind. Thanks again!!

Hey, Warder!

Don't you worry, that's why we are here for, to help you out with whatever questions you may have!
Yes, you will need to partition and format the drive first, in order to use it.
Here's a link from our knowledge base on how to do that on Windows: http://goo.gl/CUGhxQ
And here's another step-by-step to mounting/installing a new SATA HDD that might be useful as well:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/131231/how-to-install-a-new-hard-drive-in-your-desktop-pc.html

Keep me posted if you have any other questions!
Also thank you for the kind words, Warder, you definitely made my work day more awesome!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

OK, guess I'm old and dumb, if there's no OS on the drive how do you click on start, computer and manage to get to disk management to partition the drive? Sorry if this is a dumb question but as usual I'm lost again. I know your probably getting tired of answering my questions by now, but like a child I need a lot of steering in the right direction. Thanks again, will try hard not to bother you again!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

OK, guess I'm old and dumb, if there's no OS on the drive how do you click on start, computer and manage to get to disk management to partition the drive? Sorry if this is a dumb question but as usual I'm lost again. I know your probably getting tired of answering my questions by now, but like a child I need a lot of steering in the right direction. Thanks again, will try hard not to bother you again!

Sorry about that, should have mentioned something about it earlier!
You can see from the second link I provided that you'll need to boot Windows from your installation media (bootable USB/DVD) first in order to achieve this.
When installing Windows, you need to select NEW partition where the OS will be installed, you choose the size of it, but you won't be able to change it later, it's only your System Reserved partition. (e.g. Windows 7 requires 16 GB of space). I like setting it to 100 MB just in case.
Once the Windows installation is finished, you will be able to get to Disk management to initialize (a.k.a. partition and format) the rest of the HDD and put it to use.
Actually there are a lot of tutorials you can google, but here's a good one with detailed pictures:
http://www.windows7ultimate.windowsreinstall.com/windows7installguides/indexfullpage.htm

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

OK, guess I'm old and dumb, if there's no OS on the drive how do you click on start, computer and manage to get to disk management to partition the drive? Sorry if this is a dumb question but as usual I'm lost again. I know your probably getting tired of answering my questions by now, but like a child I need a lot of steering in the right direction. Thanks again, will try hard not to bother you again!

Sorry about that, should have mentioned something about it earlier!
You can see from the second link I provided that you'll need to boot Windows from your installation media (bootable USB/DVD) first in order to achieve this.
When installing Windows, you need to select NEW partition where the OS will be installed, you choose the size of it, but you won't be able to change it later, it's only your System Reserved partition. (e.g. Windows 7 requires 16 GB of space). I like setting it to 100 MB just in case.
Once the Windows installation is finished, you will be able to get to Disk management to initialize (a.k.a. partition and format) the rest of the HDD and put it to use.
Actually there are a lot of tutorials you can google, but here's a good one with detailed pictures:
http://www.windows7ultimate.windowsreinstall.com/windows7installguides/indexfullpage.htm

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[warder348]

Thanks again SuperSoph_WD, the step by step with pictures will really help,the -HD - Western Digital 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive, Black, WD1003FZEX will be here tomorrow and hopefully everything will go well. I'll let you know how it turns out. My thanks again!!

 

[warder348]

Well she's up and running, purring like a kitten, again thanks is not near enough for all your help SuperSoph_WD, hope you won't mind if I ask for help again if I run into other problems [ which I'm likely to knowing me ] thanks bunches!!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Well she's up and running, purring like a kitten, again thanks is not near enough for all your help SuperSoph_WD, hope you won't mind if I ask for help again if I run into other problems [ which I'm likely to knowing me ] thanks bunches!!

Woohoo!

Congrats, Warder348!
Glad everything is running smoothly with your new HDD!
Yes, feel free to seek assistance if needed.
Good luck and happy computing with your new WD Black!
SuperSoph_WD