Two ssds in x230?

[TOTAL]

Is it possible at all to put two ssds into the thinkpad? I have one sata but it becomes too small. Considering two options: a single bigger sata or keeping this one for OS and buy another internal for extra capacity.

[ZaZ]

Yes, you can add a M.2 SSD.

[TPFanatic]

there are mSATA lanes in the WWAN slot that opposes the wireless card. it's actually not m2 but the older form factor. It would look like one of these: https://www.google.com/search?q=msata+s ... d=sivnmbtz

[TOTAL]

Integral msata? Okay. Thanks.

[kiterunner]

1. yes you can add more ssd on your X230, however, you have to understand that the msata ssd only runs at SATA II speed.
2. the max msata ssd that i put in my X230 is 512GB, its get along ok with the 2TB SSD on the main bay

[TOTAL]

Luckily I have ordered and delivery of a 512 gigabyte disk. many thanks.

[TPFanatic]

There are two other ways to put more storage in an X230.

1. Get an ultrabase and ultrabay SATA storage adapter, usually 2.5” but ngff versions also exist now. Downside is you have to be docked.

2. Get an expresscard to m-key NVME adapter and a short 2242 or 2230 NVME SSD. Downside includes expresscard instability.

Just buying higher capacity SSDs works just as well or better though.

[ZaZ]

If you just need storage, not speed, SDCard would work.

[TOTAL]

That's an interesting point, never considered that.

How would it affect the speed of opening applications?

I understand that apps have their workspace on c anyway so that shouldn't be a concern?

That is what I will consider as my third repository because I've just ordered it and SSD which costs pennies.

[ZaZ]

It'll likely be slower, but probably depends on the application/file. Anything that requires more throughput would make it slower, but presumably less so on small files.

[RealBlackStuff]

If that size laptop suits you, have a look at the X240 or the X250.
They each can take THREE internal SSDs!
- 2.5" HDD/SSD SATA in main drivebay
- NGFF SATA M.2 2242 in WAN-slot
- NGFF SATA M.2 2242 instead of smart-card-reader

If X240:
- you'll want to swap its Clunkpad (check the post above this).
- unfortunate limitation: max. 1 x 8GB RAM.

If X250:
- it can take max. 1 x 16GB (expensive) RAM.

[TOTAL]

Many thanks but I have read somewhere x260 or 280 opinion by an electronic musician - their processors are sprinters but don't sustain top performance.

Meanwhile, I think I have identified a strong candidate: L14 with Pro Ryzen 5 processor. Absolute beast compared to say L490 with intels, let alone my x230. Up to 200 gbp on ebay is what I will be on the lookout for.

I can see you have expert knowledge, based on your presence and contribution here. If you are aware of anything even more suitable or have doubts about L14, I would appreciate a hint.

Meanwhile, I am about to install the mSATA III and replace the keyboard today on my x230 ^^

[TPFanatic]

L14 sounds great to me. still used sodimms too. Only downside is LCD resolution tops at 1080p, there’s a good chance the motherboard is not provisioned to support higher resolutions as Lenovo has done in the past with other budget models.

[TOTAL]

Good to know. Migrating this to viewtopic.php?f=71&t=136156&p=877057#p877057 Many thanks, TPFanatic.

As for the ssd, the msata is up and running, indexed in search everything. Very happy about the purchase.
The only dilemma is exFat vs NTFS. Chosen exFat as it might be useful for Linux if I ever use it. Can undo fragmetation and could live without linux if ntfs offers substantial advantages.

[TOTAL]

I have installed the new drive,
integral inssd256gmsa msata iii 6gbs refurbished.
next to my old 75% good crucial.
Ghosted the system - and my windows 10 has started to run like a at 5200rpm. Installations get stuck, operations are taking long to pick up, the machine has also started to get hotter than before, up to 90 degrees doing seemingly simple app installation. That despite some extra dusting inside.
Not sure if this is related to that extra chip though.

On paper, both should be equally fast but tests show otherwise.

https://ibb.co/RztgpGF
https://ibb.co/0tfhw97

Is it normal? Can my Crucial still serve as the OS disk given its age (*2017) ?

[axur-delmeria]

What's the brand and model of the new SSD? Also, you mentioned it was refurbished, how's the drive health?

[TPFanatic]

What do you mean by ghosted? Cloned? Some programs do this better than others with respect to alignment. SSDs will perform worse if they’re not aligned.

[TOTAL]

new disk is Integral INSSD256gmsa
msata iii

health is 100% according to crystal disk - as compared to 75% of my old crucial.

According to the AOMEI Partition Assistant, the disk is optimised so there is no need to align it.

Partition starting offset is
in the refurbished Integral 1048'576 bytes
in the old crucial 159'901'548'544

I used cloning (indeed - not ghosting) tool called paragon hard disk manager. I selected the option for the partition to cover the whole disk - not sure if this could have caused any issues.

[axur-delmeria]

I'd try a fresh install. If it doesn't resolve the issue, then it could be the SSD.

[TOTAL]

OK, thank you. There are some hardware symptoms that make me think this could be the refurb ssd. Crystal disk shows its temperature always 40 whereas all thinkpad heats up like hell when this ssd is running the OS.
CLean install plus configuration would take too long overall and system failures (in case the old crucial breaks down) are no longer such serious issues as all data is on cloud anyway.
What I will do is I will keep my old crucial as the OS disk and use this added ssd for storage and see how it behaves. just copying a huge volume data onto it without any issues or lags whatsoever, which might indicate issues with OS cloning indeed. That said, I paid 15 pounds for that ssd and probably got an equivalent of what I paid. Anyway, a lesson for the future. In any case, I have 3 months seller's warranty so there is no rush.

Many thanks.

[RealBlackStuff]

Lesson learned: do NOT buy any unknown/obscure SSDs.
Look for the likes of Samsung, Crucial, WD, Kingston.

[TOTAL]

Sounds reasonable So do you believe OS lags and cpu heat are a hardware issue rather than ssd data misalignment caused by less than perfect os cloning? If so, that would entitle me to a return for a refund.

[TPFanatic]

Integral seems a reasonable brand to me and the specs say it is an MLC drive which is in theory better for longevity. Could still be a dud but I’d encourage trying a fresh install before writing it off. Windows 10 installer off a usb iso can finish under 15 minutes, without network access it’ll be totally snappy before it can try phoning home and triggering all it’s slow updates and telemetry.