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    T420s mSATA as one's Primary OS drive?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by ohfindlay, May 30, 2012.

  1. ohfindlay

    ohfindlay Newbie

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    Not quite sure I understand the full benefits to this. I've resource numerous Thinkpad T420 sites and reviews to find out several facts or what I believe to be facts about our T420s laptops. I've read that even though Lenovo drops SATA II SSDs in them, w/ Sandy Bridge chip-sets, that they will operate at the SATA 6G speeds should one install one, as I did. I've also read that the ultra bay will also operate at SATA 6G speeds if one chooses to use this drive. But the mSATA support for these laptops will only operate at SATA II speeds. So now my question is, what advantages does one get by using the mSATA as their primary boot up drive when the T420 would operate faster via the stock drive location with a SATA 6G SSD installed? I wouldn't believe one would see any performance improvements other than how they came stock with a SATA II SSD drive. I've upgraded both in my T420s, but trying to figure out if using the mSATA as my primary boot drive OS will give me any performance benefits or not. Or are there other reasons for doing this if it wasn't a performance purpose?
     
    ohfindlay, May 30, 2012
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  2. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    Flexibility.


    • mSATA OS/app drive + storage drive (in primary bay) + optical drive
    • mSATA OS/app drive + storage drive (in primary bay) + extra battery (in UltraBay)
    • mSATA OS/app drive + storage drive (in primary bay) + second storage drive (in UltraBay caddy)
     
    Kaso, May 30, 2012
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  3. ohfindlay

    ohfindlay Newbie

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    Makes sense. Less performance, more flexibility. I get it. Thanks.
     
    ohfindlay, May 30, 2012
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  4. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    The advantage of SSD over HDD, coupled with plenty of RAM, makes most users so happy they don't worry sick about "less performance." :cool:

    Sure, one can get obsessed with benchmark numbers, but a SATA II SSD upgrade to, say, a T510 already offers palpable performance boost.
     
    Kaso, May 30, 2012
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  5. ohfindlay

    ohfindlay Newbie

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    I gave up my T43p after almost 8 years for this T420s which I absolutely love. I was a little worried knowing that it was no longer owned by IBM, but those fears have definitely been removed.

    Thanks for the feedback.
     
    ohfindlay, May 31, 2012
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  6. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    Oh? I still hang on to my T43p Flexview, running Ubuntu Linux.

    Enjoy your new T420s!
     
    Kaso, May 31, 2012
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  7. ohfindlay

    ohfindlay Newbie

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    The power supply started going out on it, which made me decide it was time to upgrade it. It would just up and die on me, without warning, after it would get warmed up. When I got my new T420s, I was very surprised as to how cool it operated. It never gets hot, unlike my T43p did, or even my new Dell company provided laptops.
     
    ohfindlay, May 31, 2012
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