MyDigitalSSD mSATA SSD - 64gb in X220

Introduction

Hello all, I've noticed a lot of people wanting to shop around and are looking at every alternative for a solid state drive. Recently I purchased a X220 from Lenovo. I really like the laptop, small and powerful machine, still trying to get stuff working... I haven't had the problems a lot of other people have had (Backlight bleed, fan noise, etc), so I guess I must be pretty lucky.

When I first started looking for an SSD, I really couldn't justify spending 250+ dollars to replace a 250gb HD for something smaller. I'm mostly a student, and I have a desktop at home to play video games and to do any "heavy lifting". But I did want a little bit of speed and just enough space to put my OS and some applications I'd typically use.

I started reading up on these mSATA SSD's, and I decided I would go this route so I could keep the 250gb HD and I was thinking around the 60-80GB range for the SSD. I was actually looking to get an Intel 310 80gb model, however they always seem to be out of stock. And it was a bit high in price (About 200 dollars). I was hoping to get something in the low 100's, and I think that getting an mSATA would solve both my need for quick loading applications, and the solve the storage space issue I had since I could keep the 250gb HD.

The Intel 310 80GB model was out of stock at every store, even the ones selling it for 210$, so I looked at the other Renice X3 models, however the price seemed a little too high. I also saw another alternative, the MyDigitalSSD mSATA drive. It was a bit cheaper, and had a "mid-range" model for someone who didn't want a small 32GB model, or need a 80GB-120GB model. It was perfect for me! Except I couldn't really find any reviews or anyone mentioning they had installed it.

So, I installed it yesterday, and it works fine... putting stuff in now, runs fine! I've heard some other people say that they had bought the card and had poor performance or something, but I have not had that. Of course, maybe something happened when it was shipped... I received it in an antistatic bag, but it was wrapped around some pink bubble wrap and a typical white USPS plastic envelope thing. No fancy box or anything like that. (I would have just thrown the box away seconds later, thanks for being somewhat environmentally conscious).

Specifications (listed from website):
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/mydigitalssd-64gb-50mm-bullet-proof-msata-ssd/

• 64GB of storage capacity
• Read speed up to 270MB/sec
• Write speed up to 200MB/sec
• 4kb Random Read IOPS: 35,000
• RAID Support
• TRIM Support
• Sudden power-off recovery
• Dynamic bad block management
• SMART commands and additional SSD monitoring

Other mSATA prices

Benchmarks


Here is my benchmark for the 64gb model in the X220


For comparison:

Here is the benchmark for my other 5.4k rpm drive in the X220


Here is a benchmark for my Desktop SSD - OCZ Vertex 2 90GB


How to install:

If you are anything like me, a newbie... here is where I learned to install it. I went to their tech site - Lenovo Service and Support Training and watched
"How to remove keyboard"
"How to remove palm rest"
"How to remove WWAN Adapter" (This one is basically where you install it)

It helped a bit and showed me which screws I needed to remove (I didn't want to have to remove all the screws or whatever)

Conclusion
Overall, I'm happy with it. Honestly, it didn't meet up to it's 200/270 MB/s read/write specs (either that or I'm not configuring something right, since my SSD on my desktop has the same issues), but it loads up way faster than normal, and a minor difference from an Intel 310 or Renice doesn't really justify the extra 50 dollars I'd spend since I only use up about 40GB for my apps and the extra 20GB can be allocated to small games or something else.

Also an extra edit since this was a typical pm question: I went from about 40-45 seconds to boot with a regular HDD to about 21 seconds. A huge improvement.

Let me know if you have any other questions, and hope this helps you to decide on what SSD you purchase.

Link to 128gb version review: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...ount-msata-128gb-user-review.html#post7522843

 

hey tomstrife,

Thanks for posting your benchmarks for the 64gb my digital.I too was also considering this or the intel 80gb but they are sold out everywhere and its about 50$ for 16gb more.

You could use this thread to help you optimize your ssd.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...0-how-optimize-new-ssd-tips-my-first-ssd.html

 

MyDigitalDiscount just got more 128GB into stock. Got my tracking # just now weeee

 

I also ordered the 128Gb. Couldn't wait anymore for the Intel 80Gb to get back in stock.

 

What is supposed to be the justification for the $40 price difference between the two generic 60/64GB drives? Why would anyone consider the Renice over the MyDigitalSSD?

(This is a serious question actually, no sarcasm intended, I'm just curious since I've heard of neither brand.)

 

The $40 extra for the Renice X3 gains you a SF1222 controller with more performance. Note the 3-times-faster 4KB-Q32 multithreaded read IOPs.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...sf1222-msata-ssd-user-review.html#post7389868 in HP 2530P	http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...gitalssd-msata-ssd-64gb-x220.html#post7503158

 

I see, thanks for that. I was looking at the benchmarks above and it looked to be on par with a popular desktop brand. I didn't realize there was that big of a performance jump.

Now the question becomes, is that performance difference noticeable in real life application (like say shutdown and/or boot times) or is it so fast you only notice it in synthetic benchmarks?

 

Can use 2.5" SSD comparisons using the same controllers to make an assessment. The Patriot Torqx 2 uses the same Phison controller as the MyDigitalSSD and the OCZ Vertex 2 SE uses a SF12xx like the Renice X3.

Tweaktown's PCMARK bench comparison of both SSDs is at Patriot Torqx 2 Solid State Drive Preview - Benchmarks - PCMark Vantage Hard Disk Tests :: TweakTown USA Edition . We see the Vertex 2 E drive very easily outperforms the Phison based Torqx 2 in this real-life measure of performance.

Saying that, either SSD is a massive performance improvement if you've only ever used a HDD.

 

Thanks for the great response.

 

I got the same drive and saw pretty similar results in my e420 (not e420s Btw).

But, do some cross-checking.
Run the atto disk benchmark. I saw full scores then. I also saw full scores in HD tune. I have no idea why the crystaldisk benchmark records lower throughput. I'm guessing perhaps a certain way it makes the call (through the chipset or something?) I really have no idea. I was actually surprised to see the atto results BETTER than the specs shown on the mydigitalssd website (in the lower k units anyways).

Regards,
Mark

 

Interesting. But won't it be the case that the 128Gb version of the mydigitalssd drive will move faster than the 64Gb version?

 

Answering my own question, I decided to get the 128Gb MyDigitalDiscount SSD instead of endlessly waiting for the Intel or the Renice.

Here's my full review on this forum.

But here's the CrystalMark benchmark for the new drive:



So it is indeed faster than the 64Gb version, especially on the Seq, 512K, and 4K QD32 tests, but is actually slower on the 4K test.

 

Got my 128GB Drive installed and loving the extra space and performance. I was going to post some bench marks and other stuff but just noticed TweakTown just released a comprehensive review of the drive that is way more in depth than I could get.

MyDigitalSSD 50mm Bullet Proof mSATA PCIe 64GB SSD Review :: TweakTown USA Edition

 

Ordered one of these yesterday for my Y560, I plan to complement it with a Momentus XT for games/data as well. I'll let you know how it performs when it gets here.

 

Any update on its reliability & durability?

 

Bah, I might consider the 64GB version, considering that the 80GB Intel 310 has been jacked up to $199.99 on Newegg (of course, it's also out of stock).

 

No problems with the 128Gb version.

 

Tom, we got our very 1st customer support issue today and I was hoping you could help me with it.

BIOS not detecting mSATA. one red and one green LED are on in the mSATA.
Windows 7 is not detecting hardware and after multiple boots
tried to insert in place of wifi card slot no change

specs are:
IBM Lenovo X220
CPU - i7-2720
Machine type - 4286CTO
BIOS 1.17

If it is our 1st defect then no big deal as we have shipped over 400 units already and that is a more than acceptable defect rate for SSD as many of you know. But I hope it is not defective and you may know how to help this customer.

MyDigitalSSD Team

 

I tested one in an mSATA adapter the red and green lights only stay on together when there is activity. The red light stays on all of the time. It is like his drive is in a constant state of activity. I am going to RMA it.

Also off topic a little: does the x220 show an activity light when the SSD is working? or only when the hard drive is working?

 

Check the Lenovo forum, there are some reports of various x220s not able to see any msata ssd.

So far no one has bothered to list their actual motherboard part # though, just system model.

 

Thanks for the lead.

 

Some thought that perhaps some Intel msata ssd's were defective, but this confirms that it's definitely that some X220 users have received (are receiving) defective motherboards.

 

Well at least it is not a defective SSD

Wonder what Lenovo has to say about it?

 

They have engineers on the problem. No solution yet. They do acknowledge that they can replicate the problem.

Check over at Lenovo Forums.

 

The post by mydigitalssd quoted in post 21 sounds like it didn't work in the hdd bay, then was tried in the wifi slot. As far as I can see, the wifi slot on the Lenovo is no different than on my ep121, and Intel 310 ssd's won't work on them. Here is a quote and a link, this may be why many have an issue. If not, disregard, as I am not familiar with the x220, other that about 8 minutes of google, so take with a grain of salt if I am off on this. Anyway, here is the quote: AnandTech points out that it's Intel's first mSATA SSD: "physically a mini PCIe connector (similar to what you'd see with a WiFi card in a notebook) but electrically SATA." and here are 2 links:
Intel's 310 Series SSDs Are an Eighth the Size of Their Predecessors

Intel 310 Series 80GB SSD Review – A New Way To Look at Notebooks! | The SSD Review

 

Check out the customer alert on the second link.

 

The mSATA slot in Thinkpads is the WWAN slot, not wifi. See sig, it works fine for most of us.

 

Just FYI, the wifi slot in x220 is half size, the wwan+msata is full size. No one will mix them up if they actually install a card.

To anyone doing more than a handful of msata installs (or for fun) I'd also recommend one of these for testing/imaging/etc:

SSDMC (mini-SATA to SATA Adapter ver1.0)

 

Yeah, I saw that on the other thread. When I went to the Lenovo site I overlooked that. How do you like your x220? My only beef with the ep121 is the lack of having a 2nd drive. On my other laptop I have the ssd for programs and os, and love that I can have the data on the hdd, but it doesn't have a slot for any secondary drive. I have an 80gb ssd, but have to use other solutions for accessing some of my work since space is at a premium, and on ssd's you want to keep some space free to prevent degradation of performance.

Actually, I think I will go back to the Lenovo site and check it out in detail.

Sorry for throwing a red herring out there, on the ep121 thread, there were people trying to add various mSata ssd's in the wifi slot, and it doesn't have a WWAN slot in it, so I wondered if it was something similar. I will follow this through to conclusion, since it is an interesting laptop and from my initial look at specs seems like it is a fast little machine. I do hope when the issue is found, all of you having it will be happy with the outcome so you can get the ssd's to work properly. Good luck.

 

I received my i7 x220 today and installed the MyDigitalSSD 64GB mSata. BIOS does not see anything.

System specs:
i7 2620
Factory default 4GB RAM x 1 sodimm
Factory default 320GB HDD
Product # 4286CTO
Tried both 1.16 or 1.17 - both fail to see the SSD

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

Unfortunately the newer X220s will either see the mSata or they won't. If they do you are golden. If they don't, not much you can do.

 

For me the X220 is everything I could ever ask from a notebook.

-Small footprint and 3lbs
-Unbelievable power from the i5-2520
-Easily get 8.5-9hrs for browsing
-IPS screen is great (and only a $50 upgrade)
-I haven't come across better build quality ever (saying this as a long term Thinkpad user)
-For me the biggest sell is probably being able to have the msata ssd and hdd in a notebook this size. High-capacity ssd's are still expensive and external hdd's are a pita.

-Some people want higher resolution, but the DPI is just right. 1600x900 in this 12.5" size would make things too small to use comfortably imo. Solution is to get the dock and connect it to an external monitor, though I'm still happily using the wonderful internal screen full-time.

 

Official response from Lenovo!

Re: X220 with USB3.0, no mSata SSD possible ?

 

Hello fellows.

I have a Lenovo Y560, want an mSATA SSD, was looking at the MyDigital drive, but I'm seriously considering the Intel 310 (if I can find it in stock somewhere).

Any other alternatives you'd consider. Of course I'll boot from it to compliment my 7200 spinner.

 

Sorry I haven't been able to respond for awhile, Ive been busy with some applications and moving around... I guess I must be lucky that I had the i5 model instead of the i7, but I'm glad lenovo is fixing the x220 with the new bios

To those asking about its reliability, it is still working at the same speeds after a month and a half, and when I bring it home, I enjoy comparing it to my brother's ultimate gaming rig. Even if he can run crysis, etc at max - my little dinky laptop loads up faster!

I think that convinced him to get an ssd. Haven't regretted getting this, easy install, works well for what I need it for, and got it for a good price. I think I forgot to mention that I had it shipped in 3 days (not newegg speed - I'm in Nevada - but still fast).

I'd definitely recommend it for most users. I think my windows 7 loads up in about 21 seconds from the power button - compared to 40 from a regular hhd (used stopwatch on phone, not the most accurate)

The intel 310 is a great option, but I think the myssd also deserves a good look at too, especially if you want a better price - I don't have an intel 310 to compare with, all we have are benchmark numbers, but I wouldnt be surprised if it were maybe just minor for most things (not enough tech knowledge to say with authority though). I think nando4 said it best in an earlier post: for those that are upgrading from a regular hd, the difference will be significant regardless.

 

AN update to my post. I ended up buying the Intel 310 80GB. Absolutely love it & it's the right size for me, I've about 15 GB left for a comfort zone.

Here is a bench I did...need to fix my 4K though:

 

Just an update on the reliability question on the MyDigitalSSD mSATA. We have gone through around 800pcs 128GB already and have 0 defects so far. I have been dealing with SSD since 2007 and have never had a defect rate like that. SSD defect rates are usually around 1-3%.

 

I just saw some new prices when looking at some options for a friend and brother, seems like prices dropped about 20-30 dollars or more for each model since I last looked in May. Very good gb/cost now.

 

Are there any benchmarks on the 16/32gb msata SSDs?

 

I haven't seen any benchmarks on the smaller mSata SSD's, which OS are you installing? If you plan to put windows 7, I recommend at least 64gb. My laptop uses about 38GB for all the bootfiles and main applications. It is almost the same price as the intel 310 40gb. That means you have another 20+ GB for games, "videos", or other fun things!

If you are worried about "real life performance", you won't notice any big differences between any of the major brands or sizes to be honest. Maybe a second here or there.

I was a real hardcore gamer, basically guild leader/officer/raid leader of one of the top Everquest and World of Warcraft guilds, and I laddered a bit on some of the strategy games before being a slave to med school. And I would always upgrade all of my hardware religiously, because I needed that speed! Of course, my needs are a little bit different compared to a lot of the other users on this website, but I'd say for notebook use, I'm more of a regular user.

But honestly, the biggest ever upgrade I got was an SSD. I've used a lot of my friends computers, and almost all the SSD computers were about the same in load speed, even with newer generations. I couldn't really tell much of a difference, either that or I'm getting too old *sigh*. The only difference I notice now between non-SSD computers and computers with SSD's in terms of how fast things load.

So if you are on a tight budget, I'd recommend this, and get the 64gb - you'll regret it later if you go too small... If money doesn't matter, just get the biggest fastest possible .

 

I'm just looking for a cheap boot drive (I'd like to be able to boot up my laptop in ~15sec). I do plan on installing Windows 7, but I think the 32gb model is all I need since I can shrink Windows 7 to ~4gb

 

You can't IIRC shrink Windows 7 to 4 GB and have it stay that way. Every time you install something, the Windows folder size will grow. But I agree that 32 could be enough for the right user.

IMHO the MyDigitalSSD drives are not really that far off from, say, the Intel drives. MyDigitalSSD 64 GB comes in at around $1.80/gig, Intel 310 80 GB at around $2.40/gig. I will pay that money a thousand times out of a thousand for Intel's known reliability and extremely good performance/power draw ratio. I may feel differently once the MyDigitalSSD products are proven in the marketplace, and especially if they come out with lower-power-draw drives.

 

i also have x220 and just ordered the 64GB from mydigitalSSD. i can't wait since i have a SSD on my work machine. i hope my x220 doesn't have issues.

 

I have win7 on all my ssd's, and since I don't need hibernation, I disabled it. I have a ton of ram, so I keep my page file to 500MB, and between these I have windows running very stable at about 18GB, give or take (it has been so long, I don't remember exactly how big it is, but it is roughly about 10GB smaller than it would be. This is with a clean install on my ssd (eliminates all the bloat).

 

I just bought this ssd and mounted it on x220. I have a bit issue... I already have installed S5FAM012 firmware


I don't know what to do, because, in addiction, the test varies from 20mb to 1mb and so on... It is neve fixed, so if i am wrting something on the disk, the computer is not usabile...

 

Hello,

Has any of you guys noticed some stuttering with the SSD? I just installed a MyDisigtalSSD 64gb and it isn't great... Basically when I use applications (for ex. Firefox), the application hangs for a few seconds every now and then. This is really really annoying.

I know this is common for MLC disks, but I can't seem to find a fix for win7 64. I will post a HD Tune benchmark whenever I manage to get my hand on the software.

Thanks,

Mael

 

You got same problem i had, now i fixed it. You have to install intel RST (now you are probably using msahci which sucks with this ssd). http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...duct=Intel®+Rapid+Storage+Technology&lang=eng
Install it, restart and all the problems will gone... After that post your Crystal benchmark 5x100MB, and also AS SSD bench. Let me know if you fix!

 

Thanks fox1t, I will benchmark the SSD when I have time later today. I hope it works!

 

Hello,

As it turns out I was indeed running RST, I installed it right after windows. I ran the benchmarks do they look alright to you? They seem to be on the slow side in write speeds... I am running RST 10.8.0.1003.

The stuttering seems to have improved a little bit, but applications are still not so fluid.





Thanks

Mael

 

I have asked my engineer to take a look at this thread and email me with any information he may have to help you. Your benchmarks are not bad for a product using 24nm mlc flash chips. Your 4K numbers are around 10-20 times faster than a hard drives. There has to be something else going on if you are still noticing an issue. In the mean time try a secure erase and reinstall everything from scratch. That may fix it.

P.S. Fox1t thanks for the info on the problems you had. I will be sure to take note of that for future support issues. Please post updated benchmarks if you don't mind.