Upgraded mSATA SSD

Hi,

I thought I'd post because I'm probably one of the first people with an R2 that upgraded to also having an mSATA SSD.

I bought and installed a 120 GB OCZ ( Newegg.com - 20-227. I wasn't happy with the 500 GB + 64 GB mSATA option Alienware offered, especially for the price.

I installed the 120 GB OCZ today. (Yes, I took into account all of the bad reviews about OCZ and went for it). Note: a screw wasn't included, so plan on having an additional internal screw. Then I changed it to my primary boot drive in bios, installed the OS from the windows disc, and installed factory drivers from the resource disc.

Results: Windows definitely feels speedier. It loads and shuts down noticeably faster; I can clock it upon request. The WEI for the hard disk went from 5.9 to 7.5. I haven't had any problems at all with the drive. Windows and bios recognized it instantly. Let me know if anyone has questions

 

Heh, I did the same last week, AND made a post about it.

What was the 64gb that came with your machine, and what ate you doing with it?

 

There is a useless screw right between the msata slot.

 

I ordered the 750 GB HD with no mSATA SSD. I figured if I was going to upgrade the mSATA SSD, I wanted the larger capacity. I don't know why alienware doesnt offer the 750 GB HD + 64 GB mSATA, it would seem like an obvious choice.

Sorry - didn't see your earlier post

 

sorry guys, what is the msata? what the difference with the regular ssd?

 

Oh, I misread! I thought you got the dell msata and was unhappy with it. Haha.

Msata is a tiny overpriced SSD that fits in an extra slot the m14xr2. Basically, lets you have 2 drives installed. So you can have a nice big hard drive, and a small SSD for windows/main programs.

 

Maybe this helps. http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/storage/Crucial/C400mSATA/_DSC0792.jpg

msata also a tiny mobility ssd , but It's really expansive right now , we can call it new tech , once it become common the price might goes cheaper.

 

thank you! is it better caching or windows+main programs?

 

I use it as normal storage lol , store photos and mp3s.

Window OS + programs is too small for 32/64gb , I'd say caching is better.

 

I purchased my R2 with the "500gb + 32gb mSATA Caching SSD" and it boots way faster than my R1 did with just a "750gb 7200 RPM SATA".

I only paid an extra $75 for the 32gb mSATA. So it was money well spent. My R2 boots up faster than my brothers +$2000 Macbook Pro.

I believe the Alienware manufacturing techs used my Caching SSD as a boot drive. Not sure how to confirm this though? COULD ANYONE THAT PURCHASED THE "32GB MSATA CACHING SSD" OPTION TELL ME HOW TO?

 

64gb is plenty for OS/programs. And you can get one and install it yourself in 5 minutes for about $95.

 

Hey
I have ordered one with it.

Waiting for it to arrive.
Can you tell me exact config of your system and when did you place the order, what was your initial EDD and when did you get it??

I know i should post this in order status discussion thread but there is none with ssd cache order.

Please Reply SOOn

 

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. Haven't been using my R2 since my 650m crapped out and I had to wait for Dell to send a tech to replace my GPU and motherboard. This is the second time Dell has had to replace a GPU on my new M14x (first my R1 and now my R2; Alienware's over seas and outsourced manufacturing team sucks bad).

Anyways, to answer your delivery time question, it took one week for my R2 with 500gb/32gb SSD Cache to arrive from order date to delivery. My estimated date was scheduled for 4 weeks from the order date but Alienware always sends it sooner than the EDD (same thing happened with my R1). My R2 specs are in my signature. Hope you got yours already and your GPU doesn't crap out right away (play a lot of intense graphic games like Witcher2 to test it out).

 

Hi,
About the msata...can anyone tell me what is the brand n type for msata 64gb...?
is it samsung with sata 3...? i look into dell website but seem like they dont provide any information for the msata 64gb.

i will order m14x r2 with msata 64gb + 500gb 7600rpm hdd...that the best i can get so far for what dell malaysia offering.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Thnx
Got mine yesterday
Working perfectly as of now

Its a samsung pm830 ssd msata drive.!
It is sata 3 but i guess bios limits it to sata 2.!
But people are saying that with A03 BIOS release the limitation has been removed


Hope it helps
Cheers!

 

so its really samsung pm830...nice to hear that...ty so much for reply.
but why is that bios limit it to sata 2...?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

There might have been some performance or hardware reliability issues for long term usage in an uneven(sata 2 for hdd and sata 3 for ssd) interfacing.!

 

Hey I've got a question for the OP. My m14x r2 and ocz 128g is arriving in a week's time and I'm going to do the exact same thing. My question is, is the procedure for a brand new laptop with no files?

1. slot in ssd
2. change to primary boot drive in bios (is this an easy step if I follow the guidelines closely during startup?)
3. install windows and software in ssd
4. delete everything in hdd (windows+factory software)

I'm not sure about step 4 because you havent mentioned it...I really have no experience whatsoever with dual drives so I'm not sure how it works...thanks!

 

Don't panic, just do it as it comes and you'll be fine. In windows setup, you can wipe the drive.

When I got my new R2, I didn't even power it on with the factory drive, went straight to clean install..

 

haha im done. formatted hdd so now its clean and empty. everything installed on ssd. really had to thank this forum as so many threads helped me

 

Ordered mine with just the 500GB drive which I will eventually just use to store media.

Looking at adding the following in a month or two:

Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Atlas Series MKNSSDAT120GB-DX mSATA 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Any thoughts, experiences , advice on this drive or brand?

 

So the msata drive is just an additional drive? I'm disappointed. I thought it was some form of automated caching system that was invisible to the user but helped speed things up when primarily using a conventional hard drive.

 

It sounds like you are looking for a hybrid SSD+HDD drive like the Seagate MomentusXT. Check out the link below for more info:

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

 

Found this review on Tom's Hardware of one of the Mushkin SSDs. May be worth getting this on NewEgg.

Best SSDs: $110 And Under : Best SSDs For The Money: May 2012

 

My m14x (currently enroute) has a 64gb mSATA SSD Boot Drive as well as a 1tb 5400RPM HDD (standard option from Dell Australia)

Should i install programs i frequently use on the 64gb mSATA drive or just leave the OS on it and install all the other crap on the 1TB drive? Was also considering replacing the 1TB drive with a Samsung 830 256GB SSD. Thoughts?

 

My thoughts on disuse of a 1tb HD you paid for are that waste is bad, as is lack of storage.

64gb is good for OS, all main apps, and 1-3 games. Depending on your preference though, I'd suggest a clean OS install on msata and delete recovery partition for max free space.

Running games off a 5400 rpm... Sounds crappy. Is there anywhere else you can use that 1tb? If so, yeah just replace it with SSD. Thing then is, a full, nice SSD will outperform your msata, which only runs on SATA2. So, my point is that your msata becomes pointless and wasted money since you'd want to use the full SSD over that.

What I'd do if I were you is get a big 7200 rpm and trade it with the 5400rpm. Cheapest and least wasteful route.

Another option is get SSD, get optical drive caddy, and replace your DVD drive with your 1tb. Then you'd have 3hds, though you still run into the dilemma of msata vs SSD for your installations.

Or you can sell 64gb msata and replace it with a bigger one.

 

Thanks for the reply - laid out my options very nicely. Yeh i think ill install the 1 or 2 games i play frequently as well as the OS, Microsoft office and chrome on the SSD. If i need more than 64gb i may upgrade the mSATA. Ill look into swapping my 5400rpm for a 7200 and install the games i play less frequently as well as all my music, movies, old docs etc on that.

Was thinking of putting a SSD instead of the optical drive but mine is coming with a bluray player (only option u can select from Dell Australia) and i actually otherwise don't own one so will probably keep it for the 2 times a year i will need it rather than waste it

What advantage would a clean OS install give me (i.e. how much space would it free up)? And is it better to keep the recovery partition in case i need to factory restore? Is there any way to move the partition onto the HDD?

 

Not sure about moving the recovery, but I will say a clean install on my 60gb leaves me with 40gb free. I've read people complaining that their 64gb comes with only 10-15gb free. There's really nothing critical on the recovery, as long as you have a drivers and OS disc.

I disabled restore, hibernation, and trimmed my pagefile to 1gb.

 

Hey laz91, I have ordered almost the same setup as you, except I have a 500 GB drive with the 64 GB msata. It should arrive on June 22nd! Can't wait. I'm also wondering about how to manage the 64 GBs.

I'm going to be using Steam for my games. Any suggestions on how best to install games?

 

Steam def needs to go on your 500gb, at least if you want to install more than 2-3 games at a time on Steam.

I don't really notice that huge a diff in load times in Skyrim whether on SSD or HD, for example. So it's not a huge deal that all your games are on SSD.

 

You should be able to create System Recovery Discs via AlienRespawn utility. This would be the equivalent of the recovery partition on your drive but on DVD media.

Booting up and using the AlienRespawn System Recovery Discs will reset your laptop to factory restore (out-of-the-box state).

 

Dang...

Seems they are quite the company!

Yup..thats on my short list for an upgrade. 120 GB should hold the OS and a couple of games no prob.

 

Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify: should I install the steam program on the msata and have all the games on the HD or should the steam program itself be installed on the HD?

can't wait to play Skyrim!

Thanks!

 

You can install it ont he secondary drive. But seriously what's the point of having a fast SSD if you don't use it to reduce load times like steam games? I had 2 intel 510 ssd's and 1 was my OS drive and main programs, then 2nd was my games. I called it "G:" drive and I installed everything gaming to g:\Program Files.. * etc.. Just get a bigger SSD if you can.

 

I'm ready! Got a 32" LED, NotePal U2, ordering my M14x tomorrow morning yeehew cant wait.

I'm another with the 7200RPM 500GB HDD, and having used crap HDD's all my life I'm quite comfortable using it. I'm more then happy having a 64gb mSATA MiniCard as my boot drive, depending on the space that's left on it.. I'll be installing GTA IV on it.. the rest of my crap will go on the HDD.

564GB is pretty much plenty of space for me, plus I have a 500gb external which chugs along nicely, so s'all good.

 

Well, the boot drive is only 64 GBs, so I am going to have to manage the space. I have 100s of GBs of games that I want to have access to.

The 2 SSDs sounds amazing! Down the road, I hope to upgrade to a larger SSD, but for now, I'll have to manage the 64 GBs.

 

Awesome thanks +rep - finally a use for the mandatory BD drive haha

 

if your worried about space on the 64gb msata follow Tapakidney instruction
disable system restore, change page file to something low or disable it if your got more then 16gb, disable recycle bin - this will give you able 30-40gb free after installing OS + Office and some small programs

 

I am not sure why no one has mentioned it yet. But just move the pagefile on the secondary HDD, there's no need to keep it on the SSD. As long as you have like 8gb ram at least it will rarely page too often anyway on the regular HDD. Also not having your pagefile on the SSD saves from countless of writes that would add to wear and tear on the drive. Though most likely nothing anyone actually has to worry about as maxing it out is pretty tough.

Also like someone said disabling hibernation will give you a decent amount of space back of about usually 5-8gb if you have 8gb of ram. Though you can still use hybrid sleep I believe, which is similar but doesn't shut the computer off completely. At the end of the day, the SSD is so fast, you can just shut it down everytime as the boot up speeds will be at least equal to or most likely better of a normal HDD coming out of hibernate depending upon what was opened.

Too bad you can't move the hibernation file to the other drive like a pagefile. I wonder if you can do that in Windows 8?

Just my two cents.

 

Best i can advice to you is to sell the 64gb mSATA and the 1TB slow drive since both arent any usefull for such a system. Get a single SSD as big as your pocket allows you minimum 256gb and install everything there.

Later when prices of the mSATAs drop you can upgrade your system in 5 minutes with maybe another 256gb mSata or a bit earlier with 128gb.

It makes no sense in my opinion to have a fast booting OS on a SSD but all programs and games load and run slow on a hard drive. Even 7200 RPM drives are too slow for me now after using a SSD once.

If 256gb is too small for you get a 512gb one. prices are dropping fast on these in the last weeks. mSATA is not a real option at the moment and only a marketing thing of Alienware - for us its a future upgrade option which looks very nice to me. Im planning to replace my 128gb mSATA one day with a 256gb one and my 256gb SSD with a 512gb one.

That should be plenty for all my stuff without any compromisses in speed and accessability.

 

Ok so I just ordered my M14x and it is coming with the 750GB 7200 SATA 3Gb/s, should I call them back and have them switch to the 500GB 7200 Caching SSD?

 

I wouldn't. Go online and order a Samsund 830 SSD from eBay or the like and install that once ur laptop comes. You will save heaps of cash doing it that way - dell SSDs are a rip off

 

I'm currently looking at an Ivy Bridge Alienware M14x as an option for my new laptop. I like the idea of adding an mSATA SSD drive in addition to the standard 500Gb HDD.

The Dutch Dell website lists the M14x in the drop-down meny and the URL as m14x-r2, but in the configuration options there is no mention of mSATA at all. Do all r2's have the mSATA slot?

 

Yes, and I think usually your best and most cost effective method will be to buy the mSATA SSD and install it yourself.

 

My m14x just arrived (it's magnificent - currently power cycling it) and my plan is now this:

1. Use the 64gb mSATA it comes with for OS
2. Buy a SATA III SSD to put games and apps on - Samsung 830 256GB
3. Buy a portable external hard drive enclosure for the 5400rpm 1TB Toshiba MQ01ABD100 HDD it comes with and use that for storage of movies, music, downloads, etc.- NexStar 3 SuperSpeed

This way i have loads of space at my disposal with the 1tb external drive, my games will run fast on the SSD and the 64gb mSata should be able to accommodate my OS and documents. What do u guys think?

I'm not sure whether to try deleting the recovery portion and clean install windows on the mSATA - i've heard the recovery partion also contains files needed to boot? And what makes a clean install of windows worth having to restore the alienware-ness of the laptop? I will however get rid of hibernation and reduce the pagefile to 2gb as i believe was suggested by an AW rep on this forum

 

I've been through like 5 different forums and this seems like the place to ask my question. So I recently bought an M14x R2 as well, and I ordered a msata. Like you guys I want to put the OS on the msata and some programs/games that i'll use often and the rest of the stuff on my HDD.

I actually haven't got my laptop yet so idk what I'm going to get with it, (I bought it NIB from the dell outlet store) so when I install the msata and put windows on it, just run it off the disks that probably come with it?

Also do I have to mess with the raid settings or is it automatically going to detect it as a separate drive?

 

What mSATA are u getting? if its the 64gb boot drive the OS will come installed on it. But should u need to reinstall it does come with an OEM disk so u just install Windows clean off of that then go onto the Dell page and get all the drivers. It also has a recovery partition if u want to factory restore it to out of box state with all drivers already installed

And settings should automatically be detected

 

The one I bought didnt have an msata installed. I'm actually doing it for my brother, well anyway, he bought a 60 gig mstata off newegg, and he wants to use it as the boot drive.

THe OEM disk is the recovery disk that will come with the PC, or find a win 7 disk and use the key that's at the bottom of the computer and then get the drivers off dells website?

 

Oh ok well the Alienware will come with an OEM disk which will allow u to clean install Windows 7 (retaining some of the alienware features (wallpapers, background of login screen etc.)) So u should be able to install the msata, format both the hard drives then do a clean Windows install onto the msata. Then update the drivers.

Refer here for more information: HOW TO: Clean Windows 7 Install (Driver Install Order) Guide for Alienware Systems

 

Sweet thanks laz91!!

Now where's the like button?! hahaha