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    M17xr4 and Crucial M4 mSATA (sata III ?)

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by evolved, Sep 3, 2012.

  1. evolved

    evolved Newbie

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    Hello,

    A crucial m4 mSATA can work in sata III on a m17xr4 ?

    Before that he worked in sata II only, but what about the new bios?

    Thanks
     
    evolved, Sep 3, 2012
    #1
  2. kakaroth1977

    kakaroth1977 Notebook Geek

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    the R4 chipset support only 2 sata3 port and i think that they are the 2 hd bay .
     
    kakaroth1977, Jan 2, 2013
    #2
  3. otsego

    otsego Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have a Crucial m4 mSATA in my M17x R4 and can confirm that it will run in SATA II (3.0 gbps) ONLY. It will work, without any issue, but you will not get the full 6 gbps speed. This is a limitation of the chipset, which supports only two 6 gbps ports.
     
    otsego, Jan 2, 2013
    #3
  4. NuckinFutz

    NuckinFutz Notebook Enthusiast

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    My old M17xR3 only supported one SATA III port with the A08 BIOS, but A09 and A10 Bios capped it at 3gbps due to issues.

    I now have the M17xR4. I have a 256GB Crucial M4 located in Port0 and a 750GB Seagate Hybrid located in Port1. They are both running a 6gbps Sata III. Alienware Autopsy, Intel Rapid Storage Technology, and CrystalMark all say 6gbps.

    My M17xR4 has the HM77 MOBO running the A08 Bios and set ACHI for the Drives.
     
    NuckinFutz, Jan 2, 2013
    #4
  5. otsego

    otsego Notebook Enthusiast

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    NuckinFutz, that is correct, port 0 and 1 both support SATA 6, and that'is it. The OP asked about mSATA which is port 3, and does NOT support 6 gbps, due to the fact that the chipset only supports to 6 gbps ports, which are 0 and 1.
     
    otsego, Jan 2, 2013
    #5
  6. NuckinFutz

    NuckinFutz Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sorry did not see the "M" in the mSATA...lol
     
    NuckinFutz, Jan 3, 2013
    #6
  7. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    The mSATA on the m17x R4 is SATA II the 2 HDD ports are SATA III. Just to provide an official word on this :p :cool:
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Jan 3, 2013
    #7