Laptops Buying mSATA laptop SSD in India

[cranky]

I think he was referring to the fact that onlyssd belongs to Prime ABGB.

I knew that, but I still don't get the relevance to my post that the price is too high. You know, this is turning into one of the useless side-tracking of threads and I refuse to indulge a troll posting one-liners.

 

[kuduku]

Thank you for the detailed reply, I have an old Dell Latitude 830, was top of the line when it was bought, not so much any more but it does the job, its got a lovely 1920 x 1200 display too.. Since mSATA prices are coming down and I read the review on AnandTech - The Full Intel SSD 525 Review: 30GB, 60GB, 120GB, 180GB & 240GB Tested about the new Intel mSata drives, Was wondering if its worth the upgrade.. The lappy has an mSata port, one HDD slot, and a versatile slot which can take a second battery, or second HDD or an optical drive, its presently occupied by an optical drive.

Buddy even with a core i5 ivybridge with 500 GB HDD a msata SSD is a major upgrade . For your old laptop it going to be a super major upgrade . It will have a new leash of life . Go for it and remove the second optical drive and add a HDD caddy for a second HDD . So finally you can have one msata SSD and 2 HDD if you so desire .

 

[JuGGa]

No. Most laptops have a standard 2.5" bay, though some ultraportables come with 'slim' slots that take only 7mm drives. mSATA is used on some ultrabooks, there's not much in the specs that reveal what kind of storage is being used. Smaller machines would tend towards using smaller form factors.

So How does it differ from non-mSATA SSDs ? And does all laptops have mSATA ports ? And How to find that out ?

 

[cranky]

The HDD bay in most laptops is user-accessible. For laptops with mSATA slots, physical access to the motherboard may be necessary.

mSATA drives are a bare PCB whereas a regular SSD is fully encased. mSATA drives are also miniscule.

Wikipedia is your friend: Serial ATA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TheIndian]

Buddy even with a core i5 ivybridge with 500 GB HDD a msata SSD is a major upgrade . For your old laptop it going to be a super major upgrade . It will have a new leash of life . Go for it and remove the second optical drive and add a HDD caddy for a second HDD . So finally you can have one msata SSD and 2 HDD if you so desire .

I checked up further, it has what is called a Flash Cache Module and way back when Nand was expensive all that was available was 512MB and 1GB,
I have read its useful on Vista and up only, XP it has no use, and the other Question is if, XP can use it, can we plug in a 60 GB one.

 

[kuduku]

I checked up further, it has what is called a Flash Cache Module and way back when Nand was expensive all that was available was 512MB and 1GB,
I have read its useful on Vista and up only, XP it has no use, and the other Question is if, XP can use it, can we plug in a 60 GB one.

Whatever i have read xp gives no real gain . You have to align the SSD and stuff in XP which is a pain . You can always add it but it would never give the real performance . Its better to use it Win 7/8 for the real performance . You can always plug it in but be ready to do some reading on setting up SSD in XP

 

[TheIndian]

Whatever i have read xp gives no real gain . You have to align the SSD and stuff in XP which is a pain . You can always add it but it would never give the real performance . Its better to use it Win 7/8 for the real performance . You can always plug it in but be ready to do some reading on setting up SSD in XP

Would it be possible for it to work as a plain SSD drive, rather then acting as a Readyboost (or whatever its called?) - I do not mind doing some reading so long as it will give the added performance of an SSD drive, a 60GB is ~5-6kMax these days.

 

[kuduku]

Would it be possible for it to work as a plain SSD drive, rather then acting as a Readyboost (or whatever its called?) - I do not mind doing some reading so long as it will give the added performance of an SSD drive, a 60GB is ~5-6kMax these days.

Whats the use of SSD as a data drive ? msata works as a normal SSD also I have said this earlier also . The only thing is that Win 7/8 are able to use the SSD prowess correctly . There were some SSDs which has issues with Linux so its just which OS uses it to maximum

 

[TheIndian]

Whats the use of SSD as a data drive ? msata works as a normal SSD also I have said this earlier also . The only thing is that Win 7/8 are able to use the SSD prowess correctly . There were some SSDs which has issues with Linux so its just which OS uses it to maximum

Dosen't an independent SSD drive with the OS installed on it give superior performance then a regular 7200 RPM notebook HDD? I thought it did, which is why the Qs , would the mSATA drive installed in the Dell 830 work as an independent drive, or would it work only as a single drive in hybrid mode along with my regular HDD. Due to operational reasons I need to stick to XP, and considering the age of the machine, is it worth changing to 7/8 at all.

 

[cranky]

1. You cannot use a mSATA in any laptop as a Readyboost drive. Readyboost only works on removable drives or dedicated cache devices. If you are referring to Readycache (which is a very different thing) it is only supported by Z77 and Z68 chipsets, none of which exist in laptops.

2. SSDs work fine in both Windows XP and 7. Windows XP does not support TRIM so long-term performance of the drive is affected. This is most noticeable if you have over 50% of the drive full. One way to solve this is to dual-boot 7 and XP, and leave the drive idling in 7 for about half an hour, if you *have* to have Windows XP. If not, once the drive performance is affected noticeably, you have to dock it to any other Win7 and leave it idling for a few hours, it will run its internal routines and restore full performance.

To save space, keep only the core OS on the SSD and install all programs on the other drive, change the browser cache paths, switch off hibernate and pagefiles if possible. If you keep the drive under 40% occupied, likely you won't need TRIM for at least a year. The trick is to minimise drive writes as far as possible.

FWIW I ran XP for a year off a 40GB SSD with just 10% degradation, though it was a PC exclusively for music playback and nothing was ever really written to the drive.

 

[TheIndian]

1. You cannot use a mSATA in any laptop as a Readyboost drive. Readyboost only works on removable drives or dedicated cache devices. If you are referring to Readycache (which is a very different thing) it is only supported by Z77 and Z68 chipsets, none of which exist in laptops.

2. SSDs work fine in both Windows XP and 7. Windows XP does not support TRIM so long-term performance of the drive is affected. This is most noticeable if you have over 50% of the drive full. One way to solve this is to dual-boot 7 and XP, and leave the drive idling in 7 for about half an hour, if you *have* to have Windows XP. If not, once the drive performance is affected noticeably, you have to dock it to any other Win7 and leave it idling for a few hours, it will run its internal routines and restore full performance.

To save space, keep only the core OS on the SSD and install all programs on the other drive, change the browser cache paths, switch off hibernate and pagefiles if possible. If you keep the drive under 40% occupied, likely you won't need TRIM for at least a year. The trick is to minimise drive writes as far as possible.

FWIW I ran XP for a year off a 40GB SSD with just 10% degradation, though it was a PC exclusively for music playback and nothing was ever really written to the drive.

This Documentation is what I am talking about, the other research on the net says, its for READYBOOST, and used only in Vista and up.

I have no Interest in Readyboost, my main interest lies in, whether I can install an mSATA drive/card here and use it as a stand alone drive in notebook and load my OS and other core programs on it.

About TRIM, I read its possible to do it manually, will prolly have to look into it as my desktop with XP has a SSD drive in it.

 

[kuduku]

This Documentation is what I am talking about, the other research on the net says, its for READYBOOST, and used only in Vista and up.

I have no Interest in Readyboost, my main interest lies in, whether I can install an mSATA drive/card here and use it as a stand alone drive in notebook and load my OS and other core programs on it.

About TRIM, I read its possible to do it manually, will prolly have to look into it as my desktop with XP has a SSD drive in it.

I have already said that it can be done if there are no restrictions in your laptop . You are confusing by saying standalone drive whereas if you would have said msata with OS i would have got it the first time only . No one can really say except dell on this .
I will just go over once what you want .
You want to install a msata SSD on your msata port and boot Win XP from it . ---- Can be done but i doubt your BIOS will take msata for booting as you have yourself said that laptop is old and msata was for 1/2 GB flash card . So i have really my doubts . Diaadvantages of XP have been told in earlier post also
Check your BIOS or check Dell forums or from Dell reps ( which i am sure cannot tell as laptop is old ) if it can boot from msata . Some manufactures deliberately lock the BIOSes and specific boot preferences

Why go over all this pain of masta , get a caddy and put 2.5 SSD in it . Doing anything specific with the optical drive ????

 

[TheIndian]

I have already said that it can be done if there are no restrictions in your laptop . You are confusing by saying standalone drive whereas if you would have said msata with OS i would have got it the first time only . No one can really say except dell on this .
I will just go over once what you want .
You want to install a msata SSD on your msata port and boot Win XP from it . ---- Can be done but i doubt your BIOS will take msata for booting as you have yourself said that laptop is old and msata was for 1/2 GB flash card . So i have really my doubts . Diaadvantages of XP have been told in earlier post also
Check your BIOS or check Dell forums or from Dell reps ( which i am sure cannot tell as laptop is old ) if it can boot from msata . Some manufactures deliberately lock the BIOSes and specific boot preferences

Why go over all this pain of masta , get a caddy and put 2.5 SSD in it . Doing anything specific with the optical drive ????

Since my Post I have spent quite some time researching this, and more than a few have been asking the same question on various forums over the last 2-3 years, but no real answer out as yet, as no one has done it. But I learnt a few things,

While the slot and physical form for both is the same, mSATA pinout is different from mPCIe, and one can be modded to run in a slot meant for the other.
Someone had jury rigged a temp set up and it did show up in the bios as bootable device when a device/card was plugged in (over sized PCIe) but he was unable to get it to boot (he was using Win 7)
It is probably more of a mPCIe device then mSATA slot.

I was looking at it when I saw the new Intel 525 mSATA devices, and thought there would be a quick answer, and when there was none, curiosity got the better of me, and this research started.

I have decided to drop this research for now, and probably go the caddy way, as I know I will not be spending 5k and upwards on research to see if that slot boots a mSATA or mPCIe. If someone has one laying around or a shop guy is nice enough to let me research it, then I would do it else its in the box for now.

To answer your Question what is the DVD drive doing, its serving as a paper weight on my desktop (its fully functional) to save weight. I think I will discard the media drive option completely, and think about a battery (if available at all ) or a SSD in the main slot and the HDD in the modular slot. the Downside of the second option is, the notebook cannot have a DVD drive, even in emergencies. I think that is something that can be lived with these days.

Now to search for a caddy and/or wait to see if anyone offer up a mSata for testing

 

[kuduku]

Since my Post I have spent quite some time researching this, and more than a few have been asking the same question on various forums over the last 2-3 years, but no real answer out as yet, as no one has done it. But I learnt a few things, While the slot and physical form for both is the same, mSATA pinout is different from mPCIe, and one can be modded to run in a slot meant for the other. Someone had jury rigged a temp set up and it did show up in the bios as bootable device when a device/card was plugged in (over sized PCIe) but he was unable to get it to boot (he was using Win 7)It is probably more of a mPCIe device then mSATA slot.I was looking at it when I saw the new Intel 525 mSATA devices, and thought there would be a quick answer, and when there was none, curiosity got the better of me, and this research started. I have decided to drop this research for now, and probably go the caddy way, as I know I will not be spending 5k and upwards on research to see if that slot boots a mSATA or mPCIe. If someone has one laying around or a shop guy is nice enough to let me research it, then I would do it else its in the box for now.Thank you everyone for the help

I can also confirm that msata cannot be read on PCi slot . I have both slots and both cards (msata ssd and PCI EVDO card ) and have tested both card in alternate slots . They are incompatible in each others ports

 

[TheIndian]

I can also confirm that msata cannot be read on PCi slot . I have both slots and both cards (msata ssd and PCI EVDO card ) and have tested both card in alternate slots . They are incompatible in each others ports

The thing with the Dell 830 is, no one knows which slot it is, the WWAN slot is different from the slot which is available to us for use.

You having both the cards is interesting? Would you be interested in testing on my notebook to see if mSATA works on it ? Where are you located?

 

[kuduku]

The thing with the Dell 830 is, no one knows which slot it is, the WWAN slot is different from the slot which is available to us for use.

You having both the cards is interesting? Would you be interested in testing on my notebook to see if mSATA works on it ? Where are you located?

Yes i have both cards , Crucial M4 64GB msata and Sierra Wireless MC 5725 [FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]mini PCI Express module . I have tried putting SSD in WWAN slot , it fits perfectly but its not readablerecognized in it . If you come around to Siliguri on a Sunday both cards/SSD can be checked in your laptop . I have Lenovo Y560P which has both separate slots [/FONT]

 

[TheIndian]

Yes i have both cards , Crucial M4 64GB msata and Sierra Wireless MC 5725 mini PCI Express module . I have tried putting SSD in WWAN slot , it fits perfectly but its not readablerecognized in it . If you come around to Siliguri on a Sunday both cards/SSD can be checked in your laptop . I have Lenovo Y560P which has both separate slots

Siliguri? Isnt that in Assam or something ?

I have an additional slot in addition to WWAN.

 

[clown_abhi]

The Latitude D830 had the WWAN card slot with a USB Controller to handle 3G cards and at best the Intel Flash Memory for Vista. Hence the concept of ready boost or whatever it was called in Vista where we can plug a USB drive and get things done faster, at least supposedly The same was used for this slot as well through Intel flash cache module.

This is not the same as mSATA. mSATA uses a completely different controller and is not USB and can only be found on newer laptops and desktop boards.

I am sorry but you cannot just plug in a mSATA drive into a WWAN slot and expect it to work.
For example, some laptops have a SIM Card slot, but no WWAN card. Even if we enter a SIM, the laptop does not have the necessary hardware to control 3G Wireless.

However, if you just want to add some fast storage to your laptop, you can add SDHC cards using mPCIe adapters for MicroSD cards, something similar to the below link:
MR15 (Dual Micro SDXC/SDHC/SD Cards to mPCIe Adapter)

Hope this helps.

 

[TheIndian]

The Latitude D830 had the WWAN card slot with a USB Controller to handle 3G cards and at best the Intel Flash Memory for Vista. Hence the concept of ready boost or whatever it was called in Vista where we can plug a USB drive and get things done faster, at least supposedly The same was used for this slot as well through Intel flash cache module.

This is not the same as mSATA. mSATA uses a completely different controller and is not USB and can only be found on newer laptops and desktop boards.

I am sorry but you cannot just plug in a mSATA drive into a WWAN slot and expect it to work.
For example, some laptops have a SIM Card slot, but no WWAN card. Even if we enter a SIM, the laptop does not have the necessary hardware to control 3G Wireless.

However, if you just want to add some fast storage to your laptop, you can add SDHC cards using mPCIe adapters for MicroSD cards, something similar to the below link:
MR15 (Dual Micro SDXC/SDHC/SD Cards to mPCIe Adapter)

Hope this helps.

WWAN work on PCIe don't they ? So why not a PCIe SSD?

 

[cranky]

Yes, that will work if the slot is a PCIe slot and Dell has not locked it to specific hardware IDs (they do have a habit of doing that).