Surface Studio: user guide ( replace hybrid drive, ssd, nvme )

Question

Does anyone have a link to a Surface Studio "user guide"?

I recall Surface Studio has a hybrid drive.

My objective is to flip the hybrid drive out for something else.

Does anyone have a Surface Studio tech.ref?

Are there two (2) SATA connections ( room for multiple drives ) ?

My next question: is there an M.2 NVME slot supported for booting?

Thank you in advance,  S-->

Answer 1

I actually asked questions like this via email with an internal contact. I was

told that the SSD is not replaceable. The official docs and guides have not been

published yet.

Answer 2

Thank you for the response.  You upgraded my understanding.  SG in CA -->

Answer 3

@TheOfficeMaven pioneered an unofficial SSD upgrade instruction. 

Surface Studio M.2 SSD Replacement

Surface Studio 2.5" Hard Drive Replacement

A YouTube video is also available showing all the steps - link

Answer 4

The Surface Studio's "rapid hybrid drive" can indeed be replaced, but it's certainly not for the faint-of-heart. There's quite a bit more involved than simply opening up the case and replacing the two drives (which isn't exactly easy to do in its own right). The stock "rapid hybrid drive" setup needs to be split up into its separate SSD and HDD components (before actually replacing the drives), and then it can be a challenge to get the operating system properly installed, activated, and booting from the PCIe 3.0 X4 M.2 connector (so that the Surface Studio is returned to its out-of-box configuration).

I had a nice step-by-step walkthrough on how to do it all posted over on the iFixit Answer Forums, but it has since been removed (seeing as splitting the "rapid hybrid drive" cannot be 100% undone on the Core i7 models of the Surface Studio, and so I didn't want to cause unnecessary support headaches for Microsoft). I'm sure that lots of folks can figure it all out for themselves if they want to though (and I'd be happy to help if you happen to have any questions).

That being said, the Surface Studio has a 2.5" SATA III connector (disk 0), and a PCIe 3.0 X4 M.2 2280 connector (disk 1) that fully supports booting from a NVMe SSD. The Intel-based storage controller is configured in RAID mode (in order to support the stock "rapid hybrid drive" setup), and it cannot be switched into AHCI mode (since there's no place to configure it in the UEFI firmware, etc.). However, the drives work just fine, and run at full speed, when using them as JBOD in RAID mode.

If you want your Surface Studio to really fly, try adding a Samsung 960 Pro/Evo SSD to it. It's pure heaven! Just make sure that you fully understand exactly what it is that you're getting yourself into before you commit to the project. ;-)

Answer 5

Exactly.

Especially if you intend to sell it when the inevitable Studio 2 comes out, you'll want to be able to return the machine to stock configuration (and pull out your own SSD for future upgrades). Buyers will not like it if you already mess up with it or void your warranty. Currently there is no way to return it to stock configuration (see my other thread). And Microsoft couldn't help you either. 

The Studio has a lot of potential unfulfilled. A better GPU, a desktop CPU, a full SSD configuration, and docking capability (as a SPro Dock or use an external GPU dock), etc. If I don't have a lot of money to burn but still want to upgrade my computer every year or so, I would keep the current gen as it is and save the extra money. The current gen is simply so limited and it's going to be a pass for a lot of people, even for existing owners like myself. That was my main reason to withhold from upgrading, besides the apparent warranty risk. 

That being said, I am sure a lot of people would still want to replace the hard drive.