Thinking about adding an mSATA drive for OS / programs -- any advice?

Hey guys

I'm planning to add an mSATA SSD to my Clevo P170EM. I've been hunting around and it seems 120gb drives are cheap enough for me to try it out; the plan is to install OS and software onto the SSD and use the larger HDD for user files.

Thing is, I've been rooting around newegg reviews and it seems every other listing has overheating problems, intermittent disconnects and reports of failure within a year (sometimes less) even when the overall rating is 4 eggs or more.

What am I missing here? What are the good, reliable choices here? What's the difference between the good ones and the bad ones?

Could you possibly make a reliable recommendation? I'm looking for a minimum of 120gb storage (I know that'll work out to 110 effective, maybe less -- at the moment I'm using 88gb on my HDD for OS/software, so 100gb effective storage would be sufficient for now) and I believe my P170EM only has SATA II for the mSATA slot. What would be a solid, reliable choice here, considering I'm running Windows 7?

Thanks!

 

The most solid reliable choice I could suggest is an M4 256GB SSD (yes; I know what you asked for) OP by 30% and do a clean install of Windows 8.1 on it.

Bullet proof.


Nothing at the capacity you're willing to spend on is worth recommending. Nothing.

Especially with the amount of capacity you will use (so, no OP'ing possible).

My best advice: save for a bigger drive. OP'ing is not an option. Bigger is better here in every sense.


Good luck.

 

Samsung 840 Evo and Pro 120-128GB drives both have approximately same performance as the larger versions. Crucial M4 and M500 are great drives too. OP'ing is not necessary unless you do significant amount of writes on a daily basis, but it can't hurt either. Although I'd still recommend at least 256GB since 120GB just is too small most people find out very quickly and have buyer's remorse, especially if it is your main PC that you use regularly.

 

I'm running a 250GB Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD on my AW 17 - it's perfect.

There are a lot of choices out there. You should read up on reviews. Getting an mSATA as a primary SSD is a good idea, and you'll love the performance.

 

i. love. sandforce lol

 

What is OP'ing?

Anyhoo, the thing about the Clevo P170EM is that I'd be able to keep my 750gb HDD along with the mSATA; hence my willingness to live with 120gb =) but if as you say all 120gb drives are unreliable... I might have to aim for 250 :/

@HTWingNut: when you say

do you mean in terms of reliability, read/write speed or both?

Thanks!

 

Maximize SSD Lifetime and Performance With Over-Provisioning | Samsung SSD

The other Samsung white papers are also worth looking at.

John