I’m trying to expand my Dell Precision 3630 (i7-8700 CPU)to support 3.5” HDDs larger than 8TB, but I’m running into an issue where drives above 8TB are not recognized in BIOS.
Current Setup:
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Storage:** 1TB SSD (SATA) + NVMe drive installed
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BIOS Version:** 2.31
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SATA Mode:** AHCI (confirmed enabled)
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Power Supply: 400W 80 Plus Gold PSU
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Drives Tested: 12TB & 14TB HDDs (formatted with Btrfs on Proxmox)
Troubleshooting Steps Taken:
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Checked BIOS settings – All SATA ports are enabled, toggled them off/on.
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Tried different SATA cables & ports – No change.
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Confirmed AHCI mode – Not running RAID or Intel RST.
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Drives work fine via USB DAS – But not when connected via internal SATA.
Questions:
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Should the Precision 3630 be able to recognize drives larger than 8TB via SATA?
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Is this a known BIOS limitation, or could it be a power delivery issue?
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Would a PCIe SATA controller bypass this problem?**
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Any recommended BIOS settings or firmware updates that might help?
Would appreciate any insights from those who’ve dealt with large HDD compatibility on Dell workstations!