Add an mSATA for OS if I already have an SSD and HDD?

I'm looking at a new laptop (a Sager NP8258-S), and while I've pretty much decided on most of the components, I'm unsure about an mSATA drive. I've read conflicting opinions on if I should add one to use as for boot/OS or if I should just get a larger regular SSD. If I add the mSATA I'd just use the regular SSD as a dedicated Steam/Origin drive, otherwise the games would share C: with the OS. I'm completely new to mSATA; any suggestions?

Definitely getting storage:
- 1TB 5400RPM (w/ 8GB SSD Memory) Seagate Hybrid 64MB Cache [SATA III - 6GB/s] (SKU - HDD092)
- 512GB Samsung 840 Pro Series SSD [SSD2 - SATA III] (SKU - SSD089)

mSATA options:
120GB Crucial M500 mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: )
120GB Samsung 840 EVO Series mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: )



Rest of the specs, if relevant:
- 15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Matte Type Sager Screen (SKU - SSC005)
- Sager - 4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4810MQ (2.8GHz - 3.8GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache) (SKU – SPU401)
- FREE! - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 880M (8.0GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11 [User Upgradeable] (SKU – GPU02X)
- COPPER COOLING UPGRADE - Extra Cooling Copper Heatsinks Applied to the Heatsink/Heatpipes (XPC Service - requires shipment to XOTIC PC: will add to build time)
- 16GB DDR3 1600MHz [2x8GB] Dual Channel Memory (SKU - RAM04S)
- 6X Blu-Ray Reader + 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive (Sager) (SKU - ODD084)
- No Operating System [Drivers & Utility Software Only (Windows 7 & 8.1)]

 

mSATA basically behaves like any other SATA port. If it's a SATA 6 Gbps port, then I don't see why not.

 

Chat support on Xotic PC says they're running at the SATA III equivalent 6Gb/s.

 

Instead of buying an mSATA, use the money for mSATA plus the money for 512GB SSD to buy a 1TB SSD. I think it makes more sense

 

That's a bit more of a price jump than I'd like. Would the single larger drive give improved performance over the mSATA/SSD combo?

 

If you get ANY SSD, get at least a 240-256GB drive. Typically the smaller drives don't have the performance of the larger versions. I would get a 256GB for mSATA for OS and at least a 512GB SSD for the 2.5". If that's too much for you then get the 512GB SSD and add an mSATA later when you can afford it.

 

The M500 240GB also suffers a performance hit. It's physical, 128GB die size and a loss of parallelism. In that model line the 480GB was the sweet spot.

 

OP nice machine, I would look into any possible issues with overheating when an mSATA drive is used from actual owners, I have seen posts about this for other models

 

I'm checking into it now. Not seeing anything for the Samsung model (the one I'm leaning towards at this point) but I will keep looking for a bit. If you have a link to somebody talking about it, please post it.

 

It'd be $60 to go from the 120GB to the 250GB Samsung mSATA, so that's probably worth it. I decided to bump the main SSD from the Pro down to the regular Evo so I'll have a bit more flexibility.

 

Any reason for buying now? Maxwell/Tonga will be out soon so why not wait for them? The 880M is a massive turd...

 

My old laptop died and I need a replacement now. Waiting a few months is not an option.