installing Intel Optane in Pavilion 590-p0066

[pccross]

Hi, I just purchased this 590 from Staples, and am trying to upgrade with Optane module in the M.2 slot.  The BIOS seems to indicate it's detected, but Intel driver UI says something about incompatible chipset.    Is there a BIOS update that could fix this.   I swore I saw other 590's being sold with Optane already configured.

[Grzwacz]

Greetings,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

The H370 chipset is Optane ready.

You have a 2280 M.2 socket.

Maybe this Intel support site (Link) can help. It should not be a BIOS update problem. There is a BIOS update. You can review this BIOS update at the following (Link) to decide if it is relevant to your issue.

You have to install current Intel RST drivers to configure Optane. Try this (Link) IRST driver update to see if it helps. It looks like you need RAID in the BIOS to use Optane. Changing from AHCI to RAID can cause bad stuff with Windows system drivers if HP configured your operating system and the BIOS in AHCI mode.

You may have to do a HP Factory Recovery with the Optane drive installed to get things right. Back up data before doing this. You may have to change the appropriate BIOS settings from AHCI to RAID.

A M.2 NVME drive is much easier to setup. Copy the existing HP operating system to the new M.2 NVME drive.

Set the new NVME drive as the boot drive. This will happen on the fly when you remove the existing primary HDD or 2.5 inch SATA SSD.

Start the PC with the M.2 NVME drive as the primary boot device and you are done.

Optane is less expensive in general but the cost per GB is higher than a typical NVME drive. Optane is the current version of disk caching mSATA drives used a few years ago to enhance PC performance when SSDs were very expensive.

Regards

[pccross]

Appreciate the detailed response.    Might be dumb question, but how in BIOS version AMI F.12 do I change from AHCI to RAID?  I went through all the menu's and just not seeing option to toggle it.   Is it in some advanced hidden menu, not immediately obvious? 

[Grzwacz]

Hi Pccross,

You're very welcome.

You can review HP BIOS info at this HP Support site (Link).

I went through the BIOS settings at this site and only see AHCI or Sata Emulation as Storage options.

The HP PCs I had owned had a Raid option available.

This detailed Intel Optane Installation guide (Link) has more info. It appears you need the SATA Controller running in RST Premium mode. It looks like the latest IRST software will do this when the IRST installer sees AHCI mode in the BIOS. So you may be able to install the Intel module, install IRST, and you will be up and running.

Again, I prefer using really fast M.2 NVME drives in AHCI mode and have not worked with Optane memory much. 

HP Support might be able to help but HP generally supports PCs the way they are shipped from the factory. 

I did not see an Optane storage device option listed at this HP Support site (Link) for your PC. This fact may not be an issue with using Optane on your specific product.

Regards

[pccross]

Thanks again for the advice.   I've spent too much time trying to get this Optane thing configured, so just going to return it and go with your recommendation for a fast NVME SSD.

[Grzwacz]

Hi Pccross,

You're very welcome.

A M.2 NVME drive is verrry fast.

You will not be disappointed.

Regards