PCIe as bootable SSD

Hi All,

In addition to bumping up my processor I was thinking about an SSD hard drive. I've heard great things about the Intel X25 and was leaning towards the 80 GB model.

However I just was knocked over the head with the idea of using a PCIe slot as bootable ssd. Since I don't plan on using this slot for anything else I was wondeirng if anyone has tried this and think its a good idea? I have a Vaio SR and as you might expect, was planning to put all my programs and the OS on something like a 32 GB OCZ or something. If you don't recommend this method is there anything that can be done with that useless PCIe slot?

Cheers,
ScKaSx

 

Not possible. The PCIe-E slot in a notebook doesn't have sata I/O pins as the netbook ones do. If you want SSD+HDD, consider a optical bay caddy to house your HDD, and put the SSD in the primary bay, convert optical drive to e-sata/usb unit. See sig if interested.

Uses for the mPCIe slot? Your mPCIe slot may be able to be ganged with your expresscard slot to give a very fast x2 1.0 desktop video link. See DIY VIDock.

 

Why isn't it possible? They make 64GB PCIe SSDs, and I was under the impression that some of these are bootable...

Actually, I was planning to try to install an 8GB PCIe SSD in my own rig, just for the heck of it.

 

A notebook's pin 23/25, 31/33 are pci-e TX/RX pins. A netbook has them sata i/o RX/TX pins wired there instead. A mPCIe SSD is expecting a sata controller at those pins, and there isn't one in the case of a notebook but there is for a netbook. So there is no way a notebook can service the mPCIe SSD.

I've been informed by Samsung that netbook-style mPCIe slots with sata I/O pins are to be released this year in notebooks, allowing those mPCIe SSD to be functional.

Compare pinouts yourself: notebook mPCIe | netbook mPCIe

 

I think there are other notebooks that have them, such as the Precision M6500, but yes, in general, notebooks that have the proper slot for a PCI-E SSD are few and far between.

 

but mini pci-e e common notebooks have a usb2.0 interface, meaning you can connect a mini pci-e ssd. there are many types and most won't work. Also beware of bios issues.
I recommend mini pci-e ssds from super talent, way faster then ocz ones. though expensive.

 

Anyway , PCIe SSD's are slower than Main SSDs and getting them is a literal waste of cash IMO... getting the intel as a main drive and using optical bay caddy for extra storage is a great option.. Anyways OP if u have decided to get an intel SSD , get the 80GB G2 version of it... its better and supports TRIM unlike the G1 version.

 

Thanks guys! And also all the other posts sean! I have quite a decision in front of me between the intel and hitachi drives.

 

well logically i would get the Hitachi 7K500... its a great upgrade but if u got cash and want even more , get SSD... After all u get what u pay for.

 

Funny that you say that:
http://www.dpieshop.com/fusionio-ioxtreme-and-extreme-c-108.html
http://www.dpie.com/fusionio/

They were not boot-able last time I checked though.

 

wow.... those are some extreme speeds but most likely they would burn out if used as OS store... like i said earlier , internal SSDs are the best...

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/493-7-x25-e-fusion-io-iodrive.html

 

Thank you... u have so good news but overall like the article said for price and performance , the intel SSD is better.. and cheaper... do u have any idea that those cards cost more than a whole laptop?

 

Those are for desktops and they're comparing server grade SSDs, not consumer grade ones.