M14x r1 msata question

Hey guys as all of us know the r2 can be customized with msata

I was wondering if you can add a msata SSD to the r1 and use it as a boot drive?

 

I don't think there is a PCI slot for an msata card in the r1.

 

Yes, you can add mSATA to R1. When you open the bottom plate, you will find mini PCI-e slots near battery. Your wifi chip is also connected in one of the slot. mSATA chip will go into the another bigger slot near to it. But there is a condition attached. if you have a WiHD chip/ Wimax chip installed, you cannot use mSATA as you wont have any empty slots as WiHD/WiMAX chips also use the same slot.

 

i'm also interested in mSATA because I have the WiHD slot free but isn't the space behind the conector short? ( I think mSATA conects the long side up if you know what I mean). Has anybody got mSATA working on it or what are the speeds ?? If I could have RAID 0 with an ssd both at 6GB/s that would be great.

 

So the one right next to the wireless card can be use for msata SSD? From what I've looked at i've only seen msata of Sata II speed. That would be great if someone has it installed in their r1 and how it goes.

 

im thinking one of these OCZ SSD mSATA Nocti-SATA II 120GB NOC-MSATA-120G (0842024028895) | eBay just for extra space anyone see any issue? bar the price lol

 

I don't know this for a fact, I heard it a while back on this forum. Msata requires a controller that not many laptops have. The Msata slot and mpcie slot look the same but just because the msata will fit into the mpcie slot does not mean it will work.
Someone on this forum said specifically about the m14x that it does not have the required controller. I would search through old posts.
Super Talent makes a true mpcie SSD. Google "corestore mv". It isn't as fast and it isn't bootable.
If you can buy a msata somewhere that won't hassle you to return it if it doesn't work, go ahead and then let us know what you find.

 

Its okay spec wise and price wise too. but you can get a SATA 3 for that price with nearly double the speed. just a thought.

 

I have one on the way, should be here in a few days.
i will let you know how it goes.

Pete.

 

Any news? I am interested in getting one of these but was hoping not to be the guinea pig!

 

i have aquired an Intel 80gb 310 Series, just have not had the time to try and install..

 

Please give it a try

Other Alienware model owners are wondering as well

 

From what I've read, the msata and pci ports are physically identical, but not technologically. You have to do some hardware tweaks, like crossing/jumping lines or something.

So will it work out of the box? no, unless you do some tweaking.
Making mSATA work with mini PCI Express - Hack a Day

 

What exactly is the 32GB caching Msata for? The site says the 64GB is a Boot drive. I am not familiar with this.
And it is going to determine what HDD (500 or 750) I order.

 

Caching is basically using an ssd, or the msata ssd in your case, to boost the performance of a regular hard drive. It uses intel software to basically remember things like the os, and programs you use frequently, and stores them on the ssd. Its not quite as fast as a pure ssd, but its faster than a hard drive, think of it as raid 0, so basically they'll be two drives combined into one. The option for the boot drive means that the ssd is a separate drive which the operating system is stored on. So the ssd and hard drive are separate, two drives. You'' benefit by having a pure ssd for start up and other programs you put on it, but the hard drive won't benefit, it will still run at regular speed. Both caching and boot ssds are good, its up to you to determine which is better for you.

 

I can now say that the Intel 80gb 310 msata does not work in ether Pcie ports on the m14x r1

The empty port does fit perfectly.. the wlan port is not big enough due to the 14x chassey..
I jigged the card it so i could run the laptop up with the msata plugged in the wlan port.. only for a test..

Both above attempts the drive was not seen in the bios or in windows

I did read the link but i dont believe that would work in this case.. but i could be wrong.. ill leave that for someone else to attempt.

 

The board that you plug your WLAN NICs into is removable. Any chance that replacing it with the board that comes with the r2 would help?

Don't know the answer, just a thought. Might be worth a shot if you could get your hands the part.

 

i didint realise that..
if its was possible to swap, i would still have to cut the chassey to get the card to fit..

 

I wasn't sure how the mSATA fit from your post. Yeah, that's an issue.

We need an mSATA half card.

And a m14x r2 tear down.