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    msata upgrade on x220

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by tw1x, Nov 27, 2013.

  1. tw1x

    tw1x Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi, I was wondering is their a specific model of mSata drives that only work with lenovo laptops, or can i use any brand of msata, the local computer shop has some toshiba 32gb msata drives for 20 dollars (used), it seems like a great alternative to an SSD for someone who just wants improved speeds (SATA 2) without sacrificing storage or shelling out a lot of money, just looking for a bit faster shutdown and start up speeds, i shouldn't have any problems installing though and is there any special kind of software to set up cacheing?
     
    tw1x, Nov 27, 2013
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  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    You may use any drive that conforms to the mSATA standard. If you're going to put the OS on the mSATA SSD, I'd go with a bit larger drive. As SSDs fill, performance degrades.
     
    ZaZ, Nov 27, 2013
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  3. tw1x

    tw1x Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't think I will put an OS on it, if I do it will be linux which is pretty slim as far space goes, my main concern is to get programs to load a bit faster and start ups which I think the msata will be sufficient for
     
    tw1x, Nov 27, 2013
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  4. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    You're looking at two different options here:

    a) You can likely get away with 32GB space if Linux is going to be used OR

    b) The mSATA SSD can be used as a cache drive to speed up the system BUT

    you can't do both with a single drive.
     
    ajkula66, Nov 27, 2013
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  5. tw1x

    tw1x Notebook Enthusiast

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    okay thanks for the info! i will go with cache as far as i can see, linux loads up in 7 seconds with the 7200 rpm drive already, and shutdowns nearly instant, but good to know.
     
    tw1x, Nov 27, 2013
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