mSATA help

I posted this in the sager forum and it was suggested that I move it here.

I have an empty mSATA slot and I was thinking about plopping in some memory in there. There are two questions I have. One if I add 60 GB as a cache, what do I need to do so that my computer uses it as such? Secondly if I load a game on the mSATA do I need to also put the OS on the mSATA as well?

My standard hard drive is the disk type. I'm running a Sager NP9150, with 12 GB of ram. It's got the ivy bridge processor and the 685M graphics card.

Thanks

 

Am I in the right forum for these questions? The thread I started in the sager forum was taken over by Windows 7 and 8 discussions about boot up times.

Any information would be much appreciated.

 

I know Intel has some sort of SSD caching (Smart Response Technology) feature in their Intel Rapid Storage Technology software, though I'm not sure if it works with non-Intel SSDs.

You can install a game directly onto the mSATA drive, you don't need to install the OS on it. I do the opposite (SSD for OS and essential programs, HDD for large programs and data).

 

See if your chipset is supported by the Intel software. You don't need an Intel SSD, but a supported Intel chipset. On the consumer desktop side only the Z68, H77 and Z77 chipsets are supported. Note that this is likely an artificial limitation in the software.

There are also 3rd party solutions. Crucial Adrenaline and OCZ Synapse were SSDs sold as cache drives and bundled with Dataplex Cache software. AFAIK the software isn't available separately.

 

On your Sager NP9150 you can use a mSata as either cache or an OS drive. I think you would be better off using it as an OS and then using the HDD as a storage drive. You also may want to get a larger mSata and keep your OS as well as certain programs on it, and leave some room empty or partitioned, since many SSD drives slow down as they get full. This way you will be able to keep the drive feeling fresh, responsive like new, rather that getting the slowdown many get when it is near capacity.

Decide before you buy one what you want to use it for. If you want to use it as a cache drive, Intel will only let you go up to a 64GB for cache. For an OS drive, you can pick any size drive.

As an OS drive, everything will be faster, as a cache it will learn your normal uses and speed them up, but if you use it in non normal uses, it will have to learn them before you see the speed increase, so you would feel it no different than a normal HDD in those instances.

The cost of a 128 GB is not so much more expensive than a smaller mSata anymore, so comparing the usage of the two types of drive, it just seems better to go a bit bigger and have the OS (and any programs you need) on the drive vs the still fast in most operation, but more limited usage of a cache.

I hope this helps. Let us know if you have more questions.

 

Agreed. If you want to go the OS route, then your should get an mSATA that's at least 128GB to make sure you have enough space for your OS and programs/games. You can definitely get a smaller mSATA drive and set it up as a cache drive. You have an Ivy bridge chipset so it's fairly easy. The only catch is I don't know if you can pair a cache drive with the hard drive on the fly. It the first step involved (after physically installing the mSATA) is setting the hard drive and mSATA drive to RAID mode in the BIOS. That is usually where things go wrong because your changing the SATA controller mode for the hard drive. If it works, then you would go into Intel RST and set the paired mSATA drive to be used for caching. Here is the details on how to set it up in the Intel RST panel: How to Set Up Intel Smart Response SSD Caching Technology | PCWorld

 

In the Sager is the mSATA slot SATA II or SATA III?

I believe the 15" 9150 has only 1 internal SATA III 2.5" drive bay.

If the mSATA slot is SATA II you might be better off putting a normal 2.5" SATA III SSD in the internal dive bay and moving the hard drive to a caddy inside the optical drive bay.

If you need an optical drive you can put your ODD in a USB enclosure for the times you may need it.

IMO,ODDs are just about obsolete.

 

Don't know, it doesn't say on the Sager specs page. HWinfo will tell the OP what the SATA mode is for the mSATA port for sure. Pretty sure it's SATA II only. As for ODDs being obsolete, that's only half true. Most OEMs will keep them in their notebook models to allow for DVD and Blu-Ray playback.