The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Possible to replace SC slot with SSD drive?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by al7oot00, Jan 25, 2013.

  1. al7oot00

    al7oot00 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi
    I know this may seem like a strange question, but Ive seen people replace their optical drives with SSD and was wondering if it was possible to replace the SC slot (which Ive never used) with some sort of bay to hold a SSD. I still occasionally use my DVD drive so replacing it is not an option.
    I would appreciate any suggestions
    Thanks
     
    al7oot00, Jan 25, 2013
    #1
  2. cdoublejj

    cdoublejj Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    195
    Messages:
    1,123
    Likes Received:
    92
    Trophy Points:
    66
    whats a SC slot?
     
    cdoublejj, Jan 25, 2013
    #2
  3. MrDJ

    MrDJ Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,594
    Messages:
    10,832
    Likes Received:
    363
    Trophy Points:
    501
    hi and welcome to nbr
    what laptop and spec you got?
    the smard card slot, also called the express card slot is not big enough for a ssd
    depending on laptop you have the option of a caddy in drive which you dont want or a msata drive which runs on sataII and not sataIII like normal ssd's
    but these are for more high end gaming rigs.
     
    MrDJ, Jan 25, 2013
    #3
  4. Ultra-Insane

    Ultra-Insane Under Medicated

    Reputations:
    122
    Messages:
    867
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Been a while since I had one. I did like them and for external GPU a must. You could buy cards that were USB 2.0 back in the past. Not sure what they make now. But if you want external I guess check what is offered. as MrDJ said other than external you just lack the size to fit in.
     
    Ultra-Insane, Jan 25, 2013
    #4
  5. cdoublejj

    cdoublejj Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    195
    Messages:
    1,123
    Likes Received:
    92
    Trophy Points:
    66
    they have USB 3 express cards there is even a thread for it, you won't get FULL USB 3 speeds but, you will get a notable jump over USB 2 and in some cases a small performance bump with USB 2 devices. They also sell or rather did sell express card SSDs but, the express card slot, just like USB 3 causes a bottle neck.
     
    cdoublejj, Jan 26, 2013
    #5
  6. jotm

    jotm Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    347
    Messages:
    480
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    41
    You know, you're onto something here. There have been several ExpressCard SSDs, but they weren't that popular (probably because of the price, reliability and overheating issues, plus SSDs are only getting popular now).

    But technically, it's pretty easy for a manufacturer to make an EC SSD - they need the SSD components (which would fit well on a normal sized mpcie pcb) + a PCI-E to SATA controller (which also doesn't take that much space - there are plenty of ExpressCard to SATA adapters out there already)...

    Maybe we should work with some Chinese manufacturer to make a batch of these :)...
     
    jotm, Jan 27, 2013
    #5
  7. MrDJ

    MrDJ Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,594
    Messages:
    10,832
    Likes Received:
    363
    Trophy Points:
    501
    my mistake. go to the back of the class DOH!
    i googled it and thats the answer i got on a few threads.
     
    MrDJ, Jan 27, 2013
    #5
  8. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

    Reputations:
    6,668
    Messages:
    8,224
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I think the main problem with ExpressCard SSDs (other than the fact that more and more laptops are eliminating the EC slot, decreasing popularity of EC devices) is that you can't boot off it, and doing so would be complicated and messy even in theory. See this thread where the issue is discussed.
     
    MidnightSun, Jan 27, 2013
    #6
  9. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

    Reputations:
    1,748
    Messages:
    4,094
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    116
    But of course, if you have an ESATA port, only the physical space is stopping you from wiring up a small SSD and booting off of it no problem. Many laptops have plenty of space in the chassis for a 1.8" SSD without the casing.
     
    niffcreature, Jan 27, 2013
    #7
  10. jotm

    jotm Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    347
    Messages:
    480
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    41
    That doesn't seem like that much of an issue - the SSD could be used as a storage medium for %AppData% & %Temp%, page file, cache files and virtual machines. But that's not really useful for the average user, and I totally forgot about ExpressCard slots being phased out in consumer laptops and Ultrabooks...
     
    jotm, Jan 28, 2013
    #8