mSATA FAQ: A Basic Primer

For those of you who installed the factory image on an SSD (specifically the Intel 310 on an X220, but I assume this should hold true across the board), were you able to use UEFI or did it have to be installed with legacy BIOS? If it's legacy only, has anyone done a comparison of performance/heat/battery life for clean UEFI install vs restore disk install?

 

Mazzmond,
Thanks for your useful comparison. Would you mind sharing your boot ime comparing between these 2 setting you have on MSata?

 

I have a couple quick questions if anyone can answer them. I have an E420s on order, and was considering putting in an mSATA drive. I was also planning on upgrading the W7 Premium (which came standard) to W7 Professional (for which I already have an unused retail upgrade license).

...All of my questions are directly related to the "Lenovo Enhanced Experience" stuff. If I upgrade W7 Prem to Pro, will all of the EE stuff remain intact? And secondly, if I do a clean install on the mSATA (or OEM HDD for that matter), is there any way to regain the EE settings (perhaps through installing ThinkVantage)?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Lenovo has not been very clear about what constitutes Enhanced Experience 2.0. For that reason, I eventually decided it wasn't that important; if I can't replicate something on a clean install, then I probably don't want it.

Installing the mSATA card and putting Windows 7 on it, followed by the RapidBoot driver makes things plenty fast. I wouldn't be too concerned about EE 2.0. If it were me, I would just create the Recovery media, remove your hard drive, install the mSATA card, and then do a clean instal with your Win7 Pro upgrade media.

 

Is it really worth to get this mSATA or save the money for the next laptop?

 

That is something only you can decide.

For the record, I've been a bit of a curmudgeon on SSDs to date. My desktop machine has none, and instead has a WD Velociraptor 600GB boot drive. My reasoning is partly because of the high cost-per-gigabyte of SSDs; it has also been due to my desire for storage with a long life. I also needed at least a 256GB SSD to make a useful boot drive for my desktop system, and those are cost-prohibitive.

I got an mSATA SSD for my laptop, though I didn't absolutely need to. However, even the fastest laptop hard drives are not as fast as desktop ones. Lenovo adding the mSATA slot gave me a convenient way to have a very fast boot drive with quick application load times, and still have a second mechanical drive for storage. Wake from sleep or hibernate is also much faster, and shutdown time is quicker too. A mechanical hard drive is generally the slowest component in any laptop --adding an SSD as a boot drive removes this bottleneck.

I'm glad I made the investment, but it probably isn't a must-have for most people. You always have the option to wait to purchase an mSATA SSD, and see if the price on them drops.

 

Thanks for the reply, rather than the fast boot and hibernation, is there a significant improve for the normal operation.

 

On the other hand, you can only tell if the "UEFI Only" yields any advantage in terms of boot time if you have the same reference point (again, that ubiquitous need for the counterfactual ). That is, only if you compare "Clean Install + UEFI Only" vs. "Clean Install + BIOS" on the same machine.

Does anyone have time to waste to perform such an experiment?

 

Any applications installed to the SSD will have significantly faster load times.

I have all of my documents, temp files, browser caches, etc. on my mechanical hard drive to reduce writes to the SSD. Even so, loading documents is faster, as is browsing, since the application files are on the SSD.

Also, when running off the SSD, a system is quieter, since it isn't always spinning up the hard drive.

If you're still unsure and money is tight, a 7200rpm hard drive isn't a bad way to go. It just isn't as fast.

 

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I also have an x220 with an aftermarket 80gb intel 310 SSD as the boot drive. The SSD makes the system feel much more responsive. A 2.5" SSD would be faster, but then you'd lose out on the cheap storage from the conventional HD. It all comes down to your budget and storage needs.

I posted my experiences here.

 

The FAQ is excellent...so once more, a big thank you. Any chance we could persuade you to provide some instructions or links to external sites on how to best isolate documents, temp file, etc. to mechanical drives? I am sure that this would be helpful to many users like me who would like a 310 ssd drive on their system but are not expert users of Win 7.

 

Would like to add an mSATA drive to my existing HDD but am not confident enough to install the former and don't anyone who can help.

 

I've been wondering about ways to make the machine as bullet-proof as possible in case of any drive or system problems. Would there be any likely concerns with setting the mSATA up as the boot drive, but leaving the factory install on the HDD?

 

Honestly, the best method for bullet-proofing a system is a good backup. Better to have an external drive, either USB or eSATA. Windows 7 has much improved backup software from previous versions of Windows; it is possible to do a complete bare-metal backup, or you can select which files and folders you want done individually.

Yrc, I'll look into an optimization guide. Right now, your best option is to look at guides like the following:

The SSD Optimization Guide | The SSD Review

TweakTown’s Solid State Drive Optimization Guide :: TweakTown USA Edition

I don't guarantee they'll show how to move your folders --but I'll look into posting a guide when I have a chance, if people want it.
NOTE: Some of the options in the above guides are for advanced users only.
If you are warned in the guides that a setting is controversial or may be tricky, don't do it unless you're sure you know what you are doing.

Finally, to David --If you watch Lenovo's videos first, you should do just fine. Also, use the Hardware Maintenance Manual for your model of ThinkPad, which is fully illustrated (the links to the manuals are in the first post of the thread). Go slowly, and I think you'll be good.

 

Thanks for the info- May attempt it in a few months .

 

Hey LoneWolf, thanks for the link to TweakTown, good info!

 

There is so much info available on the 'net - you can move your "my documents" "my pictures", "my music" folders, Desktop folder, pretty much any of them via the properties window. in your browser, you can specify where to store the cache files (e.g. IE will store them on your SSD unless you tell it otherwise). Also, you can move your swap file to your mechanical drive as well if you're concerned about writes to the SSD (under "my computer" --> properties.... etc.. Finally, for most non essential progs, you can specify the install directory to the HD instead of the SSD.

I have Win7, Office, and my MMORPG's on the SSD. Everything else is on the mechanical hard drive. Works very nicely...

 

I didn't mean instead of a good backup, I meant in addition to. It would be very helpful in case of problems to be able to switch to a different drive and be up and running instantly - also to trouble-shoot the initial problem. Also, I essentially live on the road, staying in different places for various periods, so I can't rely on a home setup. But yes, I do always have a backup drive in my suitcase (weekly) and a backup usb in my pocket (daily) ....

So, would there be any likely problems leaving the factory install on the HDD?

 

I don't think so, other than that it probably wouldn't make a very good data drive at that point, unless you shrink the partition on the drive, and create a second partition with the free space to hold the data.

Maybe your best bet is to keep it packed with you, but have another drive installed in the system. Only swap the drive in if you need it; that way it's clean.

 

The only solution I know of to accomplish that requires doing a custom clean install of Windows 7 using sysprep, with an unattend.xml file to specify the location of the \Users folder. I found this out after having Windows 7 installed already, and since I am the only user of my laptop (thus, one user profile), I decided not to do it.

There are also some caveats to that method. This may have been fixed, but at one point this caused issues with applying future service packs. Microsoft's TechNet forums have some links to describe this process, but it's the only MS-approved method I know of for Windows Vista and 7.

 

I have 3X3 antenna on X220. I heard mSATA SSD can't be installed because the antenna is using the same space. Can anyone confirm it? Thanks.

 

Where did you hear that? I thought the 3x3 antenna only affected the webcam....

 

I think it's the internal mobile broadband which, if selected, takes up the same space as the mSATA drive would - not the 3x3 antenna per se. The 3x3 antenna stops you having the webcam only, afaik.

Petrov.

 

I think he's referring to having an extra antenna lead in the mSATA/WWAN bay. I don't think it would be a problem, but if it is and you're not using it, just cut the connector off and cover the end of the wire with a piece of tape.

-darren

 

LoneWolf, That is exactly what I am finding out by reading up various postings on the Technet forums. Apparently the problem with applying service packs remains a mystery. Some claim that it has been fixed, others claim it hasn't. In my case, I have two T420 machines and one of them will be shared by multiple users. I am planning to clean install on both machines as soon as the 80GB mSata disks arrive (have two on order with my vendor, who thinks end of this month is the earliest he can get them). I have an unattend.xml file ready and will try it on one of the machines. Will let you know how it goes.

 

The mSATA is compatible with the 3x3 antenna on the x220.

The 3x3 antenna is incompatible with the HD web camera, as they occupy the same physical location at the top of the LCD. If you want the camera you have to go for the 2x2 antenna.

Caveat: if you have a WWAN internal mobile broadband card, it occupies the same slot as the mSATA card - so you can't have both of these either.

 

sticky this thread

 

so it doesnt sound like its that much of a hassle to actually physically install the ssd into the wwan slot? i dont wanna do this if im gonna run into ridiculous road blocks

 

The method depends slightly on your model of ThinkPad, but it's fairly easy for someone with basic technical skills.

 

I put a mSATA drive in my X220 last night and it was pretty straightforward. 2 screws and the keyboard slid off and 6 screws for the palm rest.

 

For windoze did you do a clean install or a restore? That is the only decision I have left... sounds like mixed reports on which is the best answer as far as performance.

 

I tried both since my drive was not performing well. The restore worked well with AHCI and alignment. Unfortunately, my card is bad so it's going back.

 

Restore = convenience.

Clean install = performance, IMO.

This isn't because of the SSD; it's because if you do a clean install, you choose what ThinkVantage software you want individually, and only install what you need. You also get to install the latest drivers immediately, rather than over an earlier version that is part of the restore image.

There's no problem with convenience, either. In my case, I have access to the Microsoft licenses and media to install any version I want, so I have the freedom of a clean install. It's a privilege with a cost, but for me, it's worth it.

 

Hey LoneWolf15:

My W520 just arrived this morning - I'm currently burning the recovery discs.

Now... I really want to do a clean install on this baby: I have an Intel 310 80GB and was supposed to also get a 510 120GB but it didn't ship, so I replaced it with a 320 160GB drive. I'm not really worried that much about the performance differences.

Anyway, I'm thinking that I'll probably just put the OS on the 310 even if it's a bit slower - it will be nice to kind of compartmentalize things that way.

Enough rambling - what Think Vantage tools would you recommend for a performance oriented install. My main software will be CAD, Office apps, and a few games.

Thanks!

 

I normally install the following:

ThinkVantage System Update
ThinkVantage Power Manager

That's pretty much it, unless you count the system driver, power manager driver, and hotkey driver as part of the ThinkVantage software. If you have the optional Fingerprint Reader, you'll want that software too (I had it on my previous two ThinkPads and skipped it for my T420).

ThinkVantage Access Connections has some neat-looking features, but I don't need it for what I do; I don't travel enough to make use of the advanced connection profiles it offers. If you're running two SSDs, you don't need the active protection software (being a fairly careful person, I don't install this either). For me, the Toolbox is also unnecessary; if I need utilities, there are usually aftermarket ones that do what I want.

 

Just so I can be sure - this does work on the non-Sandy Bridge y560 in my signature, right?

I'm thinking a mSATA SSD for the OS + general-purpose programs and a Momentus XT for games and data would greatly speed up my machine. I'm almost positive the 5400-rpm HDD is slowing down the rest of the system.

If I set Windows to power off drives while not in use, that means that it'd just be running off the SSD unless I was accessing something on the mechanical drive, right? Hopefully the outcome of that would be increased battery life (right now I have it set to leave the HDD on at all times, and as a result I only get ~2-2.5 hours).

I'm assuming these are the same Intel SSDs as their SATA counterparts with controllers that work the same way - would overprovisioning the drive still work to increase performance and life expectancy?

 

Renice lists their mSATA drive as compatible with the IdeaPad y560, and Tom's Hardware Guide also lists it.

mSATA: Completely New : Intel SSD 310 80 GB: Little Notebooks Get Big Storage Flexibility

 

I put together a guide of how to setup the W520 to use mSATA 310 80GB + HDD if anyone is interested.

Primitive But Effective: Lenovo W520 for Sony Vegas Pro 10 and Adobe After Effects CS5 - Part 2

 

Does any e-tailer have the Intel 310 80GB mSATA SSD in stock?

Also, I just purchased a Thinkpad T520 with the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 wireless card upgrade. From what I've read in this thread, it seems like I'll still have the mSATA/mini-PCIe slot available for the SSD, but I'd appreciate it if anyone could again confirm this for me. I'm a little nervous about spending the money without being 200% sure because this is my first time customizing a laptop. TIA.

 

The Wifi card is in a separate slot near the mouse buttons. The mSATA goes to the WWAN which is near where the power button is situated. As long as you didn't order mobile broadband its open.

 

Does anyone know if the Intel 310 comes with any screws? Or will they already be in the laptop? If not, what kind is necessary?
-e

 

There is a screw in the slot, waiting. No issues there. (One screw and one pin, for the two holes.)

 

thanks dstaal!

 

Hi all,

Anyone with experience trying to install the mSATA 80gb? I changed the BIOS boot option to UEFI Only, popped it into the RAM/PCIe slot at the bottom of the laptop, removed the current HD, and restarted the computer.

However, instead of loading up Windows 7 and beginning the installation, it took me to a 'Boot Menu'. I've checked to make sure it's booting from the CD/DVD drive and it doesn't seem to work. I then tried replacing the original HD into the computer and it booted fine, and began to run the Windows 7 install process. Any ideas as to how to fix this?

 

random question. would a mSATA work on the new ideapad Y470? I'm looking to add a ssd as a boot drive.

I've tried asking this question on the ideapad thread but no one knows the answer. I was hoping someone would know here. Thanks in advance.

 

Just finished installing the Renice K 3 VLAR 120GB m-SATA in my W520 - it was very easy to install. I plan to use the K3VLAR for all of my installed program files and my C drive for storage. Plenty of room for programs to be installed on the Renice with 120 delicious GB's of space!

 

Please let us know how fast it is with performance. Curious how it compares to Soda Creek.

 

This is normal because UEFI Only needs GUID Partiion Table (GPT) in order to boot automatically. Just choose the Intel 310 to install Windows and Win7 will create GPT automatically provided your mSata drive doesn't have any partitions from previous installations (just delete them during installation if there are any; you have to have the entire drive as "unallocated").

 

LoanWolf, IDK if I am blind but cannot see a place to PM you. Would love it if your signature said 128GB MyDigitalSSD mSATA and willing to send you one for review. They are the best price/performance mSATA SSD on the market and they live up to their name made in Taiwan by the 2nd largest IC chip manufacturer in the world and we are about to announce huge price drop to increase demand and sales. I would love to share more please PM me.