Which mSATA drives would you recommend?

So as the title states, I'm on dry ground here guys.. would appreciate every suggestions whatsoever!

But so far, help my out.

• Brand
• Size
• Speed, Read/Write
• Review(s) /eventually link to a review, of your own or online
  

Thanks in advance

 

In my opinion the absolute best price to performance ratio SSD on the market today and I mean today because things will change (ours will take the top spot for the mix of P/P again in a few weeks) is the A-Data 60GB XM13. What does it have that others don't. Synchronous DDR2 Flash Chips, SF-2141 saves you battery power, the fastest 60GB mSATA, and a price of around $100 shipped.

I just got done testing one and it flat out fly's for a 60GB. To date I have not tested or seen any 60GB tested that is as fast.

MyDigitalSSD

 

can you advise where can we get one of those Adata drives in the UK?

 

For some mSATA SSD reviews:

mSATA - The SSD Review

 

I am unable to post links publicly but give MyDigitalDiscount a call or live chat and I guaranty you could have one in your hands before the weekend in the UK.

GL

MyDigitalSSD

 

Thanks! Detailed answer

Perfect, I was wondering if there were such a thing as a category for mSATA reviews, thanks

 

There need to be a few questions answered with respect to your need...

SATA 2 or SATA 3?
Does capacity matter?
Pricepoint?

Best consumer SATA 3 right now would either be the Runcore T50 or Samsung PM830, however, the Memoright MS-701 should be available to the consumer next week which will be top dog for performance and capacity.

As well, the Crucial mSATA should be out shortly and, last but not least, for SATA 2...Renice just released a 240GB SF based SSD but the price point is like 700 bucks (yuk)

Strictly value.... MyDigitalSSD but it is SATA 2 and only comes in a max 128GB capacity.

 

Just and FYI to everyone that is not well versed in SSD Size matters the higher GB Size the faster the SSD will be as long as it is made of of the same parts.

So never take a benchmark and think it will translate to another GB Size Drive in the same family.

The A-Data 60GB is the largest that can be built today in its family at a good price because it is a 4 channel controller and therefor you can only use 4 flash chips on the board. 16GB DDR2 flash chips can be found for a good price while 32GB DDR2 flash chips are very expensive.

Also there is a difference in buying DDR and DDR2 (AKA ASynchronous and synchronous) flash based SSD's the main diff is that in most cases the DDR2 flash can give you higher sustainable flat line performance even with a full drive while regular DDR flash will slow down some as you fill up your drive. There is usually a large premium for DDR2 based SSD's an that is why I think the A-Data XM13 is the best choice as of today. It has all the best possible parts available for its GB Size vs. any other of that GB Size and the price is very good.

Hope that helps some of you guys.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Yes I would definitely agree as far as value per GB is concerned our 128GB 32nm Bullet Proof is still the top dog.

I have some pots and pans warming up so for anyone on the sidelines on getting an mSATA drive and are going to be looking for pure performance and high capacity at a fair price stay on the sidelines for 1 month or buy one of these 60GB Adata's to hold you over.

MyDigitalSSD

 

SATA 2 seems like the correct option for me.

 

thx mydigitalssd,

i'll wait for the next revision of your 64gb ssd before i decide

 

Mydigital when will your next 64 GB msata arrive and at what price ? What price will your 128GB cost ? The one you mentioned ? I looked around and might get the 30 or 60GB adata msata, very affordable and according to benchmarks very quick . Would it make a 500 GB 7200 rpm laptop drive way faster ? Will it be a better solution than the 750GB hybrid with 8GB nand flash ? I hope it gives much better performance as its a 60GB cache That should fully cache windows and most games I play and Photoshop right ? I don't want to sacrifice space but I'd like 300-500GB, I considered a 240GB SSD for speed and saving battery but they are expensive.

 

mSATA SSD + HDD is IMO the best solution since it takes minimal space and weight plus giving you a fast SSD for OS and programs plus a large HDD for storage.

 

I was going to use it as a cache drive

 

Money is not a problem for me. I'm searching for the best mSATA-II with a SSD in the main apartment as a "storage"/games placement

 

What type of system will you be using an mSATA as a cache drive on?

 

A 240GB SF-2181 with Synchronous Flash is probably your best bet. If you can wait a month we will have one at just around half the price of others at this time.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Never said it had anything to do with money. It's still the best solution because mSATA SSDs max out at 256GB, while you can get 1+TB HDDs.

 

It is going to take some time until we have the new 64GB with the S7 controller. Maybe 3-4weeks. Our 128GB are so far backordered at this point that if you want one of those you best order it and get in line. For example 100pcs are being built now and will ship soon but we have over 100 backorders and now we have to wait in line at the fab again.

The new drives I speak of will be 8 channel drives so you will not get the battery savings but the performance will be along the same lines as a 2.5" Sandforce 2281 Drive.

I will also be building a clone of this A-DATA Drive but only in 60GB as that is the sweet spot in this 4 channel power sipping design and I see no point in building anything else with the SF-2141.

You will be very pleased with the A-data 60GB.

Regarding the Seagate drive. I personally have a bunch of end users that I know of that bought our 128GB mSATA SSD because the 8GB cache was not enough to cover all of their most frequently used programs and data so they just wanted a good reliable SSD main drive to put everything they needed to use daily in one place. Remember the Seagate drive is the same speed as a regular HDD except for the cached data portion.

If you think 60GB is enough for you to get by with then the Adata 60GB design is the best for mobile use. If you need more space then I think our current 128GB is still the best choice and may remain the best choice in the 128gb category as far as price to performance is concerned.

The new SF-2281 design I am working on will be called the Smart Series and it will be the best possible solution at a fair price. And the Adata XM13 60GB clone will be prices to sell as well. We will have a value Bullet Proof SATA III solution as well but details are still up in the air.

Hope that answered your questions sufficiently.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Oh I know, I just thought I wanted to mention it so no one would be limited towards answering me. I'm quite aware of that, space isn't really my thing, 1TB is way out of my need.

I'm more for speed, 4k random etc etc, I do a lot of CAD work, Photoshop, Video enconding and enconding, not to mention a lot of fun on Milky and 3ds MAX.. so speed would be great

 

Specific to mSATA, the drive you would value most as an mSATA is the Mushkin Atlas SSD because it is uses Toshiba premium NAND where most use async...

 

Mushkin Atlas 240GB SSD mSATA SATA3 - $399!!!
$399 2
Controller SandForce SF-2281
High speed MLC NAND
Max Sequential Read Up to 560 MB/s
Max Sequential Write Up to 530 MB/s
Power Consumption (Idle) 0.7W
Power Consumption (Active) 2W

 

Great!! Thanks! I will rep when I can