Using m-Sata for storage only.

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dovedescent7

dovedescent7

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I recently purchased a lot of msi whitebooks. below is the link which shows its specs.
These include a slot for 2.5 hdd/ssd and it states it also has m-Sata x 2 which I assume is 2 separate m-Sata slots.Recenlty I am learning that m-sata are becoming irrelevant because they are slower than ssd's, and ssd's are becoming so inexpensive.
I'm simply wondering if say, I install a 480gb ssd for main/boot drive, could I use the m-sata drives for extra storage? I'm not saying it would make financial sense, I'm simply wondering if that can be?
correct me if I am wrong, but an m-sata would boot slower if used for OS, and since it's slower than ssd it would be pointless to cache to m-sata from my ssd/OS, so now I am simply wondering if it's possible (if I chose) to use the m-sata drives for simple storage??

http://www.msiwhitebook.com/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1757?






 
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drtweak
mSATA is more expensive, not always slower. To get a faster mSATA drive that is the speed of a normal SSD it would cost at least twice as much.

Using the mSATA for storage is pointless since they are way more expensive. If you REALLY needed a lot of storage what I would do is get like a 120 or 240 GB mSATA that is fast (Unless you are writing to the mSATA drive a lot then having a Write speed of like 200 will be just fine) and usually the read speeds are the same as normal SSD ( like 400+) which honestly anything faster than that you won't see a difference in boot time very much.

Then I would get an nice big 1TB Disk Drive for the regular 2.5 SATA and use that for storage and/or install your programs that you don't need to start up...
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drtweak

drtweak

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mSATA is more expensive, not always slower. To get a faster mSATA drive that is the speed of a normal SSD it would cost at least twice as much.

Using the mSATA for storage is pointless since they are way more expensive. If you REALLY needed a lot of storage what I would do is get like a 120 or 240 GB mSATA that is fast (Unless you are writing to the mSATA drive a lot then having a Write speed of like 200 will be just fine) and usually the read speeds are the same as normal SSD ( like 400+) which honestly anything faster than that you won't see a difference in boot time very much.

Then I would get an nice big 1TB Disk Drive for the regular 2.5 SATA and use that for storage and/or install your programs that you don't need to start up fast if you get like a 120 GB mSATA.

Otherwise you will be better off saving your money and just getting a bigger 2.5 SSD VS wasting money on a more expensive storage solution.


mSATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12K2G96355 - 240 GB Fast Drive

Then like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236496 1TB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ20D8009 2TB

 
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dovedescent7

dovedescent7

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great stuff, hope I'm writing in the right spot as opposed to the top. I'm on my android. is there ANY mSATA drive that will read and write as fast as a SATA 3 Ssd?
forget cost for a minute, wondering if there is ANY m-sata that will match a super fast ssd?


and I had another question. I'm bummed about how msi is so vague, with their descriptions of their whitebox stuff. from the link I posted and the specs, do you think that this Barebones is relatively up to date, feature-wise?

and then finally, a couple more things.
A. do you happen to know if the gpus in these higher end Barebones can be replaced? I've heard some are soldered and some not.
B: Don't they have kits to where I could replace the DVD drive with a 2.5 hdd/ssd?
C: The 2tb drive you showed me was good.Any reason i wouldnt go with this one?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178627

My perfect Situation is getting a 480gb boot ssd, and convert the DVD optical drive to fit the 2tb spin drive...
 
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T

tsnor

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"..Recenlty I am learning that m-sata are becoming irrelevant because they are slower than ssd's, and ssd's are becoming so inexpensive..."

Not so.

A consumer 2.5" SSD drive typically has 8 internal channels and can read/write from all eight at the same time. All the msata SSD drives I've seen only have 4 active channels because there is only room for 4 flash chips. BUT windows typically runs at a queue depth of 2 or less, so both the 2.5" SSD and the msata SSD will only typically have 2 channels running. Benchmarks designed to run at a queue depth of 32 (32 IOs at the same time) max the 8 channels on the 2.5" ssd, and the only 4 channels on the MSATA ssd so will show the 2.5" is faster, but in real world not true. I have 6 laptops in the family, 3 use 2.5" ssds, 2 use msata boot ssds of 128GB, one uses a spinning disk wiht a msata 16gb cache. Subjective feel of the 2.5" ssd systems is about the same as the msata boot ssd laptops.
 
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drtweak

drtweak

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Look at the mSATA I posted. Both read and write are above 500 MBps which is where most high end SSD's are at.

For

1) No you can't. Maybe if the CPU isn't soldered onto the motherboard which is where most of the onboard graphics come from is the CPU then you might be able to put in a newer CPU and a little better graphics, but as far as high end graphics no chance.

2) as for the DVD Drive Caddy that depends on the demand. I know Dell has a lot of them that work but I don't know about MSI. Best place to look is on Amazon

3) I'm not a huge fan of Samsung anymore. Its not even Samsung its Seagate which from my expereince their drives tend to die faster than Western Digital but that is only me

as far as what can be done with the laptops the link you have setup goes no where for me. Got another link?
 
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