Dell Optiplex 7010 no M.2 slot – use existing PCIe slot for NVMe SSD?

PaulieM - echoing SIW2 just above - will you also put out a guide for the 3010? Or maybe advise how it is the same as (or different from) your guide for the 7010?
(I have both a 7010 and, in my wife's mini-office, a 3010. I have been doing more research, such as how to convert MBR to GPT, and hope to put your guide into practice over the next month.)
Thanks

SIW2 - Yes, will be making a guide. Quite a tricky guide to make though (in terms of photography, will probably have to remove the motherboard and put it inside a lightbox)

glnz - probably not for 3010 as I don't have one to try it on. Maybe if I can pick one up for little money. I don't want anyone to use the guide for the 7010 and then brick their machine without me trying it out first).

I modified my guide for the 7020/3020 and uploaded a youtube video explaining the whole process:
Install and boot from an NVMe SSD on a Dell OptiPlex 7020 or 3020

PaulieM - In your article for the 7020-3020, you have a section that says:

Optimise BIOS Settings
Now that you have written the new BIOS, restart the machine, without the FreeDos USB stick in place, and switch back to UEFI mode.

But your article does not mention first inserting a USB stick or moving away from UEFI mode. Is there something missing earlier in the article?


No criticism - your articles and replies here are great !!!

Thanks for pointing that out. I rewrote the article since I first posted on here to use the windows version of the tools (the original was in DOS). That got left behind. I will update shortly.

SIW2 said:

It is just out of curiosity, I am unlikely to have much use for the 8300 sff. However a lot of people have them so there could be quite a bit of interest

I have written up the guide on how to modify the 8300 to support NVMe:

https://www.tachytelic.net/2022/01/hp-compaq-8300-nvme/

Be interested to hear your thoughts.

Yes, just found an image of the tower version and there is plenty of space. It also looks like there are SPI pins, so even easier than attaching a chip clip. I might see if I can get hold of one cheaply.