mSATA SSD required for laptop.

sneddenraj · Jul 15, 2012, 01:56 PM

I am looking to bump up my Lenovo's Y470 laptop's speed which is bottle necked by its 750GB HDD @ 5400rpm. Loading time is turning me nuts. I searched and found out that i can hook up an SSD which has mSATA connector. Well i am totally confused with all the SSD terminologies. Can't a normal SSD work with my system? Whats the difference between the normal SSD and mSATA SSD's? I need a system drive of 60-120GB which can boost my system performance.
Running Windows 7 on core i7 2670QM, 8GB RAM, AMD 7670 1GB.

lindy · Jul 15, 2012, 02:10 PM

Here's some info on SATA... Click Here

sneddenraj · Jul 16, 2012, 03:56 AM

Thank you for the information regarding the "SATA" connectors. So now which drive is best?

lindy · Jul 16, 2012, 05:05 AM

"Best" can be a lot of things... Price, speed, capacity, ect. Obviously you're going to have to shop for one that will fit your connector, and fit in the physical space in your laptop. What type of connection does your mechanical HDD use? I'll hazard a guess and say it's a regular SATA connection with the mSATA slot being for an additional drive. In which case you could get a small mSATA drive and use it as a boot drive, and have your mechanical HDD for mass storage. Or you could straight out replace your existing HDD with a hybrid drive like the Seagate Momentus XT which has a 8Gb SSD built into it as a cache drive. Slower than a pure SSD, but faster than a regular HDD. Or lastly you could replace your mechanical HDD with an SSD, capacity being dependent on the size of your wallet.

Jetster · Jul 16, 2012, 07:12 AM

Replacing your HDD with a SSD would be best. An msata is a smaller SSD that plugs into a small mini PCIe like slot that accepts a SSD to act as a cache for commonly used programs to assist load times for the platter drive. It would also help but when you power down it erases so start up are the same

theeldest · Jul 16, 2012, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetster

It would also help but when you power down it erases so start up are the same

This part is wrong. As it is a standard ssd it will retain data between boots. If it's Intel's SRT cache it works incredibly well.

Jetster · Jul 16, 2012, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theeldest

This part is wrong. As it is a standard ssd it will retain data between boots. If it's Intel's SRT cache it works incredibly well.

Didn't know that I must have read it wrong. Thanks

sneddenraj · Jul 17, 2012, 06:57 PM

I need 60 or 120 gigs keeping the budget in mind of $150. At least this will boost the performance i need which is bottle necked by my current HDD @ 5400 rpm.

lindy · Jul 17, 2012, 07:26 PM

I use a 60Gb. SSD as a boot drive and it's more than enough for that purpose. NewEgg.com has some mSATA drives that ought to fill the bill with regards to your budget.

sandiegoborn32 · Aug 25, 2012, 05:24 PM

I'm just wondering...can you plug in an mSata SSD in any mini PCIe slot on a laptop motherboard? My ASUS G72GX has two I belive...One is already being occupied by the Wifi card. I want to know if I can plug in an mSata SSD into the other. Thanks!

Jul 15, 2012, 01:56 PM	#1
sneddenraj Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: On Earth... Posts: 37 (0.03/day) Thanks: 5 Thanked 7 Times in 4 Posts System Specs	mSATA SSD required for laptop. I am looking to bump up my Lenovo's Y470 laptop's speed which is bottle necked by its 750GB HDD @ 5400rpm. Loading time is turning me nuts. I searched and found out that i can hook up an SSD which has mSATA connector. Well i am totally confused with all the SSD terminologies. Can't a normal SSD work with my system? Whats the difference between the normal SSD and mSATA SSD's? I need a system drive of 60-120GB which can boost my system performance. Running Windows 7 on core i7 2670QM, 8GB RAM, AMD 7670 1GB.

System Name:	Vap0rX \|\| Prototype I
Processor:	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz \|\| Core i7 2670QM @ 2.2Ghz
Motherboard:	Intel DG33FB \|\| Lenovo Base Board
Cooling:	Stock Cooler \|\| Stock Cooler
Memory:	Corsair 4 GB DDR2 (800Mhz) \|\| 8GB Corsair DDR3 (1066Mhz)
Video Card:	MSI 9600 GT \|\| AMD 7670M
Hard Disk:	250GB Seagate Baracudda Sata II\| 500GB External\| 2TB Seagate GoFlex \| 750GB Internal
Optical Drive:	LiteOn DVD Drive 24X Sata
CRT/LCD Model:	LG Flatron W1942s
Sound Card:	Onboard
Software:	Windows 7 64bit Home Premium

Jul 15, 2012, 02:10 PM	#2
lindy Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: 45° 59' 55.57” N 86° 09' 20.10” W Posts: 72 (0.21/day) Thanks: 10 Thanked 24 Times in 23 Posts System Specs	Here's some info on SATA... Click Here __________________ Obscurum per obscurius -the obscure (explained) by the more obscure.

System Name:	Infernal Contraption
Processor:	AMD FX 8150
Motherboard:	Gigabyte 990XA-UD3
Cooling:	Antec Kuhler H20 620
Memory:	16 gig. Corsair Vengance DDR3 1600 LP
Video Card:	Galaxy/Nvidia GTX 560 2gb
Hard Disk:	OCZ 60g. SSD/Seagate 2Tb. 7200rpm
Optical Drive:	Samsung
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus
Case:	Lian Li PC-60FN
Sound Card:	Onboard HD
PSU:	Seasonic X750
Software:	Win. 7 Ult. 64/ SUSE 12.1 64

System Name:	Vap0rX \|\| Prototype I
Processor:	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz \|\| Core i7 2670QM @ 2.2Ghz
Motherboard:	Intel DG33FB \|\| Lenovo Base Board
Cooling:	Stock Cooler \|\| Stock Cooler
Memory:	Corsair 4 GB DDR2 (800Mhz) \|\| 8GB Corsair DDR3 (1066Mhz)
Video Card:	MSI 9600 GT \|\| AMD 7670M
Hard Disk:	250GB Seagate Baracudda Sata II\| 500GB External\| 2TB Seagate GoFlex \| 750GB Internal
Optical Drive:	LiteOn DVD Drive 24X Sata
CRT/LCD Model:	LG Flatron W1942s
Sound Card:	Onboard
Software:	Windows 7 64bit Home Premium

Jul 16, 2012, 03:56 AM	#3
sneddenraj Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: On Earth... Posts: 37 (0.03/day) Thanks: 5 Thanked 7 Times in 4 Posts System Specs	Thank you for the information regarding the "SATA" connectors. So now which drive is best?

Jul 16, 2012, 05:05 AM	#4
lindy Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: 45° 59' 55.57” N 86° 09' 20.10” W Posts: 72 (0.21/day) Thanks: 10 Thanked 24 Times in 23 Posts System Specs	"Best" can be a lot of things... Price, speed, capacity, ect. Obviously you're going to have to shop for one that will fit your connector, and fit in the physical space in your laptop. What type of connection does your mechanical HDD use? I'll hazard a guess and say it's a regular SATA connection with the mSATA slot being for an additional drive. In which case you could get a small mSATA drive and use it as a boot drive, and have your mechanical HDD for mass storage. Or you could straight out replace your existing HDD with a hybrid drive like the Seagate Momentus XT which has a 8Gb SSD built into it as a cache drive. Slower than a pure SSD, but faster than a regular HDD. Or lastly you could replace your mechanical HDD with an SSD, capacity being dependent on the size of your wallet. __________________ Obscurum per obscurius -the obscure (explained) by the more obscure.

Jul 16, 2012, 07:12 AM	#5
Jetster Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,875 (2.35/day) Thanks: 935 Thanked 864 Times in 632 Posts System Specs	Replacing your HDD with a SSD would be best. An msata is a smaller SSD that plugs into a small mini PCIe like slot that accepts a SSD to act as a cache for commonly used programs to assist load times for the platter drive. It would also help but when you power down it erases so start up are the same

System Name:	Delta // HTPC
Processor:	Intel i7 3770K // Intel i3 550 3.2Ghz
Motherboard:	ASRock Z77 Extreme6 // Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Socket 1156
Cooling:	Corsair H100 // SILVERSTONE NT07-1156 90mm
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 1866 16gb //Corsair DDR3 1600 4 Gb
Video Card:	HIS 7950 3 Gb //Sapphire 6670 1 Gb
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 250 SSD, WD Caviar Blue 500// Corsair M4 64 Gb Solid State, SAMSUNG F4 2 Tb, WD 1 Tb
Optical Drive:	LG DVDR 24X // Lite on DVDR 24X
CRT/LCD Model:	HP 23xi IPS 1080p" // 50" Samsung Plasma 720p
Case:	Corsair Obsidian Series 550D // Silverstone Granada GD05
Sound Card:	ASUS Xonar DS // HDMI Bit Stream to Yamaha RX V571
PSU:	Seagate M12II 750 // Corsair CX 430
Software:	Windows 7 64bit // Windows 7 64bit with XBMC Eden
Benchmarks:	I scored P9327 in 3DMark 11

System Name:	WAZAAM!
Processor:	Intel i5-2500k - 4.4GHz @ 1.3v
Motherboard:	ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z (z68)
Cooling:	HSF:: Noctua NH-D14 \|\| CASE:: 2x Intake: Noctua NF-P12-1300 \| 2x Exhaust: Noctua NF-S12B
Memory:	G.Skill RipJaws 16GB (4x4GB) @ 1866MHz \| 10-10-10-28-2T @ 1.35v
Video Card:	Crossfire: 2x MSI Frozr III 6950 2GB - Unlocked from 1408 to 1536 shaders - 850/1300
Hard Disk:	Intel 20GB 311 (SRT cache) \| OCZ 120GB Agility 3 (apps) \| 4x Ultrastar 2TB in RAID10 (2.0 TiB Boot)
Optical Drive:	Gearhead DVD burner
CRT/LCD Model:	3x1 Eyefinity \| Three Dell U2412m - 24" e-IPS 1920x1200
Case:	Antec P183 - Custom Interior Paint Job
Sound Card:	Onboard - Bose Companion 2 Speakers
PSU:	CORSAIR Professional Series HX850
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Benchmarks:	Server -- Athlon II 240 -- 2x4GB G.Skill 1866MHz DDR3 -- 320GB AAKS OS HDD -- 4x 2TB Samsung F4

Jul 17, 2012, 06:57 PM	#8
sneddenraj Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: On Earth... Posts: 37 (0.03/day) Thanks: 5 Thanked 7 Times in 4 Posts System Specs	I need 60 or 120 gigs keeping the budget in mind of $150. At least this will boost the performance i need which is bottle necked by my current HDD @ 5400 rpm.

Jul 17, 2012, 07:26 PM	#9
lindy Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: 45° 59' 55.57” N 86° 09' 20.10” W Posts: 72 (0.21/day) Thanks: 10 Thanked 24 Times in 23 Posts System Specs	I use a 60Gb. SSD as a boot drive and it's more than enough for that purpose. NewEgg.com has some mSATA drives that ought to fill the bill with regards to your budget. __________________ Obscurum per obscurius -the obscure (explained) by the more obscure.

Aug 25, 2012, 05:24 PM	#10
sandiegoborn32 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Somewhere in California... Posts: 57 (0.05/day) Thanks: 7 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts System Specs	I'm just wondering...can you plug in an mSata SSD in any mini PCIe slot on a laptop motherboard? My ASUS G72GX has two I belive...One is already being occupied by the Wifi card. I want to know if I can plug in an mSata SSD into the other. Thanks! __________________

Processor:	AMD Phenom II X6 1055T @ 3.08GHz
Motherboard:	Biostar TA890FXE Motherboard
Cooling:	Thermaltake Contac 29 CPU Cooler
Memory:	8GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600MHz DDR3 High Performance Gaming Memory
Video Card:	2X Sapphire Radeon HD 4850s running in CrossfireX
Hard Disk:	Seagate Barracuda 7200 750GB
Optical Drive:	LG DVD Rom Drive w/ DVD Burner and lightscribe support
CRT/LCD Model:	2X Sceptre X226W-1920 22" Monitors
Case:	Antec 902 Case
Sound Card:	ASUS Xonar Essence STX
PSU:	Coolmax 850 Watt Power Supply
Software:	Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1

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