A:Answer I have indeed performed this, and yes the optane must come out. I actually had to use the port for an Evo 970 when the Optane memory failed after 47 days and corrupted my HDD. If your serious, its simple and the best process I can recommend. However it does require 0 - download and use the dell USB tool to create your usb recovery disk, 1 - disabling optane via the intel rapid store software, 2 - opening the case and replacing the optane for the ssd (m.2), 3 - changing the bios from RAID 0 to AHCI, and 4- temporarily disconnecting the HDD, 5 - doing a system restore using the USB you created with 0, reconnecting the HDD and finalizing the close up. Its probably a 4 hour process but very easy with the system setup and that.... Also I'd recommend the latest BIOS install as well before continuing.
