Upgrade mSATA on T430S

[lautamas]

Hi All,
I have a current configuration of:
T430S with Main HDD, 2nd HDD Ultrabay, mSATA 16gb

I plan to upgrade the mSATA to 128gb or 256gb and make it as the main boot disk. I plan to use the Kingston SMS200S3.
http://www.kingston.com/en/support/tech ... l=sms200s3

Question:
1. Compability
2. Possible to use the mSATA as main disk
3. Will it be better to use SSD (in sacrifice of the space disk in the main HDD)

Thank You

[ZaZ]

I don't see a problem with compatibility.

I've been using a mSATA SSD on my X220 for three years and it works well.

Better would depend on your goal, which you didn't say much about. A standard drive is probably a bit less expensive, but then you give up the capacity a platter drive offers. You could add a drive to the UltraBay, but then you've got to spend money for a caddy, negating the cost advantage. You won't be able to do internal WWAN if you get the mSATA SSD.

[lautamas]

I don't see a problem with compatibility.

I've been using a mSATA SSD on my X220 for three years and it works well.

Better would depend on your goal, which you didn't say much about. A standard drive is probably a bit less expensive, but then you give up the capacity a platter drive offers. You could add a drive to the UltraBay, but then you've got to spend money for a caddy, negating the cost advantage. You won't be able to do internal WWAN if you get the mSATA SSD.

Thank you for your prompt reply.
1. Size is crucial for me. I will keep the current 2nd HDD Ultrabay that I have now (currently occupied with 1TB 5400rpm)
2. My main HDD at the moment is a 500GB 7200rpm which again I will keep

My goal is to speed things up while maintaining the 1.5TB that has already in the machine as full capacity for storage.
1. Will I get noticable speed improvement if I put OS (Win 7 64bit) on mSATA? May I confirm that on your answer above, it is possible to boot OS from mSATA?
2. I am putting my C:\Users\* on my 500gb 7200rpm (for the reason of easy disaster recovery, I can just image OS back to a certain date when the OS is corrupted with virus). Will putting this c:\users\ affect much of system improvement?
3. Compability wise, is there any brand/type of mSATA I should avoid that is incompatible with T430S?

[ZaZ]

Yes, a mSATA will show a noticeable improvement over a platter drive in terms of latency and throughput, though throughput isn't important for typical usage. It's the latency, how fast things are found and read, where SSDs shine. I'm booting from the mSATA, so it's definitely possible. Windows will see the mSATA as another drive.

I've heard different things about this. When I first got my mSATA in 2011 and was using True Image 2010(which I'm still using), the conventional wisdom was that it's better to do a clean install first rather than re-imaging the drive or using the recovery discs because neither would properly align the partition for best performance. Once the clean install is done, you can use image the ISO back. I've done this more than a few times and never had an issue. I don't know if the newer software is better, but I haven't kept up on it. I have seen people say they've done it, but I don't have any firsthand knowledge.

Honestly, I'd buy on price from a reputable brand, in whatever size you need. The performance difference between SSDs is very small and they're all fast. Failure rates for all SSDs are fairly low, but a good brand should get you better service on the small chance a problem arises.

[lautamas]

Thank you.
One last thing, will there be much difference in speed comparing a reguler SSD and if I use mSATA as my boot disk?

[ZaZ]

The mSATA SSD uses a SATA II controller while the main bay has a SATA III controller. This is due to the chipset only having two SATA III ports and Lenovo chose to use them elsewhere, but has been fixed in the newer ThinkPads. A SATA III controller will get you faster throughput, but like I said, for most uses, it's the latency that matters and the latency for all SSDs is like .1ms. They're all fast. Now there are a few things that put a heavier load on the controller like copying and pasting files would be one example, but typical notebook usage like Office, Media and Internet, the throughput doesn't matter much.

In fact, the machine that I've owned that seemed the fastest to me, including my quad core i7 desktop, was my old R60e. It had an ancient 16GB Kingston SSD and the R60e used a SATA I controller, but man did that thing fly. It booted in like seven seconds and was very snappy, mainly due to the low overhead Linux I ran on it.

[lautamas]

In fact, the machine that I've owned that seemed the fastest to me, including my quad core i7 desktop, was my old R60e. It had an ancient 16GB Kingston SSD and the R60e used a SATA I controller, but man did that thing fly. It booted in like seven seconds and was very snappy, mainly due to the low overhead Linux I ran on it.

Thank You.
I will try to use a Kingston SM200S3 120GB on my mSATA slot hoping to get an increase in speed

[lautamas]

By the way, while we are at disk, do you have any certain brand and model that you can recommend me to buy?
http://www.plextoramericas.com/index.php/ssd/msata/m6m
http://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/s#sms200s3

Unfortunately, in my current country, I dont have Samsung as an option.

[ZaZ]

They don't sell Samsung in Pasadena?

Like I said, I'd buy on price from a reputable brand, in whatever size you want.

[lautamas]

They don't sell Samsung in Pasadena?
Like I said, I'd buy on price from a reputable brand, in whatever size you want.

I am currently located in Indonesia for the past 2 years. Those two are my option besides intel. As far as SSD, I get quite plenty of choice.
Thank you again for all the replies above.

[RealBlackStuff]

Maybe change your location in your User Control panel?