Question about upgrading the Hard Drive on a Dell M3800

So I was thinking about getting a Dell M3800 with the basic 500GB SSHD , FHD and 8GB RAM model. But I really want to use a SSD instead of a SSHD. From what I read on here there is a mSATA slot present under the hood of the Dell. Is there much of a performance loss from a mSATA SSD as opposed to a standard one? Also, is there a way to replace the actual SSHD entirely and replace it with a standard SSD since I have no need for it. I would much prefer a 256GB SSD with more performance and no SSHD than a SSHD paired with a weaker SSD, if in fact that is the case. Do standard desktop SSDs even work on laptops or is there 1.Standard SSD 2. Laptop SSD and 3. mSATA SSD? (Sorry my laptop knowledge is extremely limited compared to desktops.)

Thanks all, and I apologize if this is posted in the wrong forum as from as far as I can see the SSD sub-forum just seems to be specific talk about actual SSDs.

 

Depending on your workflow and what you actually do with the storage subsystem on a continuous basis, you may or may not notice that mSATA is slightly slower than 2.5" SSD's.

There is no difference between 2.5" SSD's (with regards to desktop vs. notebook use) except for their z-height - they can be the standard 9.5mm or 7mm models (with or without shims to be used in either normal or slim drive bays). The notebook model determines the z-height it can accept (most ultrabooks for example can only use the 7mm drives).

I too agree to get the SSHD out of your new system as fast as possible. While an mSATA SSD (240/256GB or larger) will do wonders for the snappiness of your system, a larger capacity SSD like the Samsung 850 Pro (1TB) or the SanDisk Extreme Pro (960GB) will give noticeably faster sustained performance (again; depending on your actual use/workflow of the new system.

Don't forget about OP'ing (over provisioning) any new SSD and also the capacity hit that advertising capacity vs. actual capacity entails (a 1TB advertised capacity is really ~931GB actual capacity and with (my recommended) 30% OP'ing we are down to a usable 650GB of actual capacity in the end (which I partition to 150GB for C:\ Drive for the O/S and Programs and 500GB for Data).


What a standard 2.5" SSD offers over an mSATA configuration is a controller with more channels (mSATA typically has 4 channels vs. 8 channel controllers on a 2.5" SSD) and each of those channels better optimized with nand chips (not only more nand chips for more channels, but also each channel optimally interleaved too). This is what gives 2.5" SSD's their performance edge (all other things being equal, of course).

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'll probably get the 250GB 840EVO since I can't afford the 500/1TB one on top of the M3800.

 

I would not recommend a 250GB 840 EVO; either save up for at least the 500GB version or get another drive (SanDisk Extreme II or PRO or Samsung 850 PRO).

Especially if the drive you're getting is an mSATA model and you want to use it for the O/S + Programs... Anandtech found that TRIM was not working on those models (and the 250GB capacity is already slower...).

Good luck.