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.

    SSD Expresscard

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by UK_Student, Apr 11, 2011.

  1. UK_Student

    UK_Student Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I'm looking at using a 48GB FileMate SolidGO ExpressCard as a boot SSD instead of replacing my current HD, as the (potential) performance increase in my Laptop as well as being able to use it to replace my pen drive (miniUSB) fit my budget and needs better then purchasing a SSD, enclosure (for my current HD) and a larger flash drive.

    I have been speed-testing my HD with CDM vs. the results of this card, and have come up with some rather intriguing results. All settings the same (5 passes, 1000mb, seq, 512k and 4k tests) have yielded the following:

    Seq increase in read speed (82.91 -> 120.8)
    Seq decrease in write speed (81.71 -> 67.04)

    512k increase in read speed (36.08 -> 114.1)
    512k increase in write speed (43.78 -> 54.67)

    4k increase in read speed (0.463 -> 10.96)
    4k increase in write speed (0.893 -> 2.057)

    I'm more then happy to have the lower overall write speed (65 is advertised, and I'm currently at 80) as I would still use my HD for most of the writing (downloading, etc) and most files would be copied to the card once but read many times. To me, this makes the small decrease in write speed pale in comparison to the near 50% increase in read speed.

    My main area of wonder is which increases to pay the most attention to, or to better describe, which block size (Seq, 512k or 4k) is the best comparison to normal use?
     
    UK_Student, Apr 11, 2011
    #1
  2. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

    Reputations:
    5,398
    Messages:
    12,692
    Likes Received:
    2,717
    Trophy Points:
    631
    My question first is can you actually boot from an ExpressCard slot?

    Second question is doesn't that ExpressCard SSD get really, really hot?

    Third, the benchmarks you note will not correlate very well to real world use. If the heat issue (I may be mistaken - it could be another card I'm thinking of) and the booting from ExpressCard issue is resolvable, then the best way of seeing what performance increase you'll see is by actually doing it and comparing (stopwatch - not synthetic benchmarks).

    In your situation, I would be looking for pairing that fast SSD with eBoostr.

    See:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...market-upgrades/436882-ssds-myth-exposed.html


    Good luck.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Apr 11, 2011
    #2
  3. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    372
    Messages:
    2,489
    Likes Received:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    56
    No, the current generation comes in 96GB and 48GB and runs much cooler than the original 48GB and 24GB versions. The 48 gets warm, but not hot.
     
    JohnnyFlash, Apr 13, 2011
    #3
  4. Hungry Man

    Hungry Man Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    661
    Messages:
    2,348
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Can you boot from it?
     
    Hungry Man, Apr 13, 2011
    #4
  5. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    372
    Messages:
    2,489
    Likes Received:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    56
    You can, but only if your laptop supports it. I've never tried, I just run my apps from it.
     
    JohnnyFlash, Apr 13, 2011
    #5