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    DV6t's optional mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache: what exactly is it?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by lowlylowlycook, May 20, 2012.

  1. lowlylowlycook

    lowlylowlycook Notebook Enthusiast

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    HP has an option for adding a 32 gb "mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache" on their dv6tqe. Anyone know exactly what that is? Is it mSATA or something else standard?

    I'd like a laptop with a SSD boot drive and 32 gb is a bit small for that. I'm hoping that buying this laptop and installing a SSD is an option.
     
    lowlylowlycook, May 20, 2012
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  2. ForeverZen

    ForeverZen Notebook Deity

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    Mssd is the computer manufacturers way of giving people ssd performance with hdd storage capacity. It isn't the best option as for some reason it limits the laptop to only 8gb of ram (because the mssd takes up a channel of memory) I wouldn't recommend anyone buy the mssd from hp because your money is better spent investing in a ssd.
     
    ForeverZen, May 20, 2012
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  3. ForeverZen

    ForeverZen Notebook Deity

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    Also the mssd "slot" only supports sata2 while the standard hdd bay supports sata 3. So electing to boot from the mssd will create a bottleneck.
     
    ForeverZen, May 20, 2012
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  4. LakeShow89

    LakeShow89 Notebook Evangelist

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    if you are going to get 33% off then get it otherwise don't.
     
    LakeShow89, May 20, 2012
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  5. ForeverZen

    ForeverZen Notebook Deity

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    Don't get it at all, I think the mssd occupies one channel of memory.
     
    ForeverZen, May 20, 2012
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  6. Sorbus

    Sorbus Notebook Geek

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    Do you happen to have a source for that assertion?
     
    Sorbus, May 20, 2012
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  7. lowlylowlycook

    lowlylowlycook Notebook Enthusiast

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    I finally read deep enough in the relevant pavilion thread to find out that it's a mSATA drive but that it isn't easy to get at. Still, it should be enough to give good boot times and snappy performance most of the time.

    A real SSD boot drive would be better but it isn't too easy to find 15" laptops with an extra bay so maybe as a compromise it isn't too bad.
     
    lowlylowlycook, May 21, 2012
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  8. mattjoness

    mattjoness Newbie

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    I bought the DV6t with the mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache and it does work like it has a solid state hard drive with the benefit of having the storage capacity of a traditional 750 GB hard drive. However, I find that my windows explorer will crash when I'm moving around a lot of files. Really lame. I hope they come up with a fix for it.
     
    mattjoness, Aug 7, 2013
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  9. thenew3

    thenew3 Notebook Consultant

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    This is the same on the Dell Inspiron 14Z. it has a 32gb samsung 830 msata SSD along with a 500gb seagate 5400rpm HD.

    You need to run the chipset in RAID mode, install windows and install intel rapid storage technology driver/app. then within the app configure the "accelerate" settings. It then uses the 32gb SSD as a fast cache.
    Frequently used blocks from the HD is cached on the SSD for faster access.

    Seems to work pretty well. No where near true SSD performance, but it makes the 5400rpm drive feel like it is a 10krpm wd velociraptor or sometimes even slightly faster.

    If your budget allows for a true SSD, I recommend you get a 128 or 256 gb msata SSD for your boot/app drive, and use the 2.5" HD for your data drive. will make whole system so much more responsive.
     
    thenew3, Aug 9, 2013
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