miniPCIe Intel Turbo Cache Memory

My notebook HP DV4 1414Tx have a free Mini PCI Express slot inside. I am planning to use the slot for Intel Turbo Memory which is supported by my chipset Intel PM45 (Intel 4 Series Express Chipset).

I am wondering whether the BIOS support is needed to install MiniPCIe Intel Turbo Memory or just the OS support? if any one got any idea or experience please help me.

 

Tip: Don't waste your time/energy/money on getting this 'feature' working.

Total waste of time for less than 0.1% improvement in real life 'scores'.

Good luck.

 

I agree. I had this in my old laptop and it was more trouble than it's worth. It did absolutely nothing when active and when I updated to Windows 7 (from Vista), it caused BSODs upon the laptop waking from sleep (eventually fixed by installing Intel's drivers in the correct order, but wow, was that a pain in the neck to figure out).

Maybe Intel finally got it right with the Ivy Bridge flavor of this (i.e. where the mSSD is 32GB), but definitely don't waste your time on the older implementations.

 

is there any other way that I can use the free miniPCIe slot i.e any useful card. I already have wifi card, bluetooth and no thought for adding a 3G module.

 

Agree with previous comments. If you need fast storage then would suggest swapping out the optical drive for a caddy to host your HDD and put a SSD in place of the existing HDD.

If you're handy with a soldering iron then could wire a mSATA SSD to your DV4's e-sata port. storing in that mPCIe Intel Turbo Cache memory slot (but with pins cellophane taped).

 

Is it possible to replace the optical drive with HDD? because the slot for optical drive in my notebook appears different.



it seems that mini PCIe and mSATA ports have same physical pin connections but different electrical properties. It make me doubt whether the port available in my notebook is mini PCIe or mSATA?



is it possible to use a mSATA SSD in mini PCIe slot? is any mod required to do so?

 

It's not possible to put an mSATA SSD in an mPCIe slot. While they're identical physically they are wired completely differently.

There are one or two mini PCIe SSD's out there with an internal SATA controller which *should* work in your system, but it's had mixed compatability regardless. Some people merely can't boot from it, whereas for others it fails to register it full stop. The not booting thing can be negated by using a boot manager, but it's still a pain. I wish laptops were like desktops in this respect, where you can reasonably assume a part you buy for it will work.

 

Yes, there is a caddy for your drive already with that special mount on the back: 2nd Bay hard drive caddy for HP Pavilion dv4, dv4t (Onyx) [HP-dv4-2BAY] - $59.95 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks .



Or if you wanted a < $20 solution there are Fenvi 9.5mm sata caddies on ebay with a detachable faceplate (you'd want the one off your optical drive). You'd also need to remove that special bracket on the back.

REF: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/469244-z11-replace-dvd-hdd-working-solution-18.html#post6869886

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-ssd-hdd-storage-using-optical-bay-caddy.html

The caddy solution is the cheapest and readily accessible method to create a bootable SSD+HDD hybrid storage HP DV4.

To keep the HDD + optical drive and add a mSATA SSD would otherwise require tapping the e-SATA port OR there are some special mSATA SSDs like the SuperTalent Corestore MV with a pcie-to-SATA controller on it. *if* it worked (HP do whitelist their ports), then it could only ever be a data drive as booting wouldn't be supported by your OS from it.

 

Thanks a lot.. Actually I have whitelist removed BIOS so I think there is no need to worry... how could I find whether the free port is a mSATA or mini PCIe slot?

 

I am still not clear about the free port in my notebook... could anyone please clarify how to differentiate between a mSATA and a mini PCIe slot?

 

Your computers vintage strikes it out from being mSATA. Then it can only be pci-e for wifi (pin 23,25, 31,33) or USB (pin 36, 38) or both. To test for pci-e install a wifi card and see if it's detected. To check for usb install a WWAN card and see if it's detected.

 

Thanks a lot.. I will check but i don't have any card to check with....

 

The DV4-1000 schematics show that the second mPCIe slot is a "Mini Card 0--TV tuner/WWAN/Robson" with a "SIM CARD connector" schematic shown. So it has pci-e AND USB pins.. no mSATA.

REF:

http://notebookreparos.com.br/noteb...COMPAQ/HP DV4 - COMPAL LA-4101P ICH9 - SC.pdf
http://notebookreparos.com.br/noteb...AQ/HP DV4 - COMPAL LA-4102P ICH9 VGA - SC.pdf

 

Thanks a lot...

 

Can you please let me know where did you get the white list removed BIOS. I am looking for a DV4-2170. Thanks in advance

cheers.

 

sorry I was unable to reply as I was away for a few days....

all the links of the modded bios are dead are dead and also I lost the backup too..

I got my bios modded by TTAV134 at My Digital Life Forums

contact him he will mod it for you