New SSD opt. for T4x : mSATA-to-IDE adapter ST663FD9 *PICS*

[coors]

Kryptex mentioned in a former post that the only Marvel controller that he's seen in a caddy-adapter is one made by Fenvi. I found an eBay seller, from Shenzhen, China, by the name of "Feniparts" and everything that they sell seems to be listed on the Fenvi page that I perused beforehand. So I took a chance and ordered one of the Ultrabay-Slim caddy adapters, with the slanted edge.. specific to the T4x series. It arrived today, so I removed the board and photographed the controller:



I assume this is a Marvel controller. If anyone could confirm this, I'd appreciate that, very much!

[axur-delmeria]

Looks like it is a Marvell chip: http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/88SA8040-TBC1

[coors]

@axur-delmeria Thank you! Other thoughts about this adapter: it seems to have addressed every shortcoming that I found with the first (non-Fenvi) adapter I bought. The blue window, that flashes while the drive is working, is very subtle and does not light the entire right side of the room at night. Also, the drive fits perfectly in this caddy and the little locking-gate fully closes. It comes with 8x hard rubber stoppers that push into the drive's 4x side screw holes, so there are enough for 2x drives. Rock solid fit with these rubber screw-substitutes. It also comes with a thin plastic sheet-spacer that lies under the drive.

[KrypteX]

@coors Great find ! That surely is a Marvell 88SA8040-based caddy. Would you please give us a link to the ebay auction ? or at least the item number or its title. I want to order a couple of these
The ones that I have at the moment are branded "Fenvi", with the same Marvell 88SA8040 chip inside, ordered from ebay seller cityeliter.

*Edit: I think I've found it: item 161050673181

[coors]

@Kryptex Yes, that's the very one that I have.

[shicky256]

YMMV, but for me at least the Minerva SSD adapter works fine with an Intel 310 Series SSD (I'm not the seller, but I bought minehere) The system boots Windows 7 in 20-25 seconds (It took 40-50 on the old 5400 RPM drive), and suspends in 2-3 seconds (It used to take 15-20 seconds). TRIM works, and Windows was installed without any trouble.

[Johan]

YMMV, but for me at least the Minerva SSD adapter works fine with an Intel 310 Series SSD (I'm not the seller, but I bought minehere) The system boots Windows 7 in 20-25 seconds (It took 40-50 on the old 5400 RPM drive), and suspends in 2-3 seconds (It used to take 15-20 seconds). TRIM works, and Windows was installed without any trouble.

Shicky:

Thanks very much for signing up and reporting/sharing this very, very interesting news; greatly appreciated!

A couple of questions:

a) On exactly what laptop are you using the Minerva ST663FD9 adapter (what model laptop, what CPU, how much RAM?), and

b) Would you be able (and willing!) to share benchmarks for your setup, e.g. using the free CrystalDiskMark? (= something simelar to the benchmarks reported in this post).

Final thing: If anyone in the USA is willing to buy (on behalf of me!) one of these 80 GB Intel 310 mSATA SSD's from this link provided shicky256, and have it shipped to me here in Denmark, I would be utmost grateful!

► Update Feb. 23, 2015: The above request ("Final thing") is no longer relevant.

Johan

[GACrabill]

Final thing: If anyone in the USA is willing to buy (on behalf of me!) one of these 80 GB Intel 310 mSATA SSD's from this link provided shicky256, and have it shipped to me here in Denmark, I would be utmost grateful!

The eBay seller does ship to Denmark if that makes it easier for you.

[Johan]

The eBay seller does ship to Denmark if that makes it easier for you.

Yes, I already read that, but the thing is that eBay's international shipping - via their "Global Shipping Program" - is very slow (takes up to three weeks!), as reported in the thread: *SOLVED* Tracking eBay international shipment w/UPAAA number - which was why I asked.

Johan

[shicky256]

a) On exactly what laptop are you using the Minerva ST663FD9 adapter (what model laptop, what CPU, how much RAM?), and

b) Would you be able (and willing!) to share benchmarks for your setup, e.g. using the free CrystalDiskMark? (= something simelar to the benchmarks reported in this post).

Sure thing. I have a T41 Model 2373 (No Bluetooth). The processor's a 1.6 Ghz Pentium M, with 2 GB of RAM and Windows 7. The hard disk activity LED works fine. Here's my CrystalDiskMark score:



Oh, and TRIM works fine.

[felix_w]

Has anyone found an adapter IDE 44pin to SATA 7+15pin, but with Marvell 88052 chip ?

I am looking for this type of adapter: http://www.ebay.de/itm/381167144688?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT

or http://www.ebay.de/itm/141540039508?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT

Every single adapter i have found is with the JM20330.

There is a naked Samsung 850 Pro available for purchase, without warranty, which i would like to use. I tested it with an IDE 44pin to micro-sata adapter (JM20330) and got the following: http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh20 ... g~original

[GACrabill]

Has anyone found an adapter IDE 44pin to SATA 7+15pin, but with Marvell 88052 chip ?

I am looking for this type of adapter: http://www.ebay.de/itm/381167144688?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT or http://www.ebay.de/itm/141540039508?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT

Every single adapter i have found is with the JM20330.

Are you trying to attach a 2.5" SATA SSD to an adapter and then place it into a laptop ?
There isn't room in the slot for both.

If you are attempting to connect it to an IDE desktop, then the Startech 'IDE2SAT2' seems to be very popular (I have no experience with it). It contains the Marvell - 88SA8852 chipset.
http://www.startech.com/HDD/Adapters/25 ... r~IDE2SAT2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351046104468?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310896394020?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

[Johan]

Has anyone found an adapter IDE 44pin to SATA 7+15pin, but with Marvell 88052 chip? I am looking for this type of adapter or this. Every single adapter I have found is with the JM20330

@ Felix:

First, thanks for sharing your experience - much appreciated!

Next: I would like to encourage you to read this entire thread from page 1... and you will learn that many people recommend the Lycom/Addonics/Aleratec/DeLock/Kuroutoshikou etc. or the the Minerva ST663FD9 mSATA-to-IDE adaptor for use in laptops born for use with 2.5" PATA/IDE drives. You will obviously need a mSATA SSD for use with this adaptor - but the end result will be as good as it gets!

As to the possibility of using an adaptor of the type you mention, with a full-size 2.5" SATA drive (in e.g. the main-HDD bay of a T4x/p ThinkPad), this is actually possible (although quite cumbersome!), and has already been done:

Finally, and in relation to the previous, it is also possible to use a 2.5" SATA drive as the main drive in e.g. T42/p's; this is discussed in the thread T40p and SATA drive w/o swapping with cdrom, more specifically in this post. It however seems that this modification is "easiest" in 15" models, due to the very restricted space in 14.1" models. This modification too is however very delicate, and require quite some technical experience.

and

Final remark (a "related addition"?): Just stumbled over yet another adapter; Adapter SATA Seria A-ATA Festplatte an 2,5 Zoll IDE 44 Controller which looks to be identical to this: 2.5'' SATA Hard Drive Adapter to IDE ATA 44 Pin Cable (in the case that one or both of these eBay advertisement should "die"/dissapear, I've posted the relevant images here and here). By a quick glance it could seem to fit in a 15" T4x/p. The controller is the JMicron 20330 (I found this adapter first mentioned in this post to actually fit in the main T4x/p HDD-bay with a full-size 2.5" SATA drive!)

and

I don't know about Windows, but on Linux I have no problems with TRIM on an Intel (520 series, 120 GB) SSD through an 'ebay-special' PATA-SATA adapter.

The drive fits in the drive bay with the adapter plugged between drive and motherboard. There is no need (nor space) for a drive cage but you'll need to move the optional black plastic distance ring from the top of the drive to the bottom to get the connectors to align. Use a drive bay lid from a T42 (minus the 'p') and you should be set, alternatively adapt the existing T42p lid by removing the extraneous metal and plastic bits. When pulling out the drive, the adapter stays in place in the PATA socket on the motherboard, effectively turning the T42p into a SATA-capable machine. I used this adapter.

(the adapter mentioned by Yetanfou also seems to be based on the JM20330).

Unfortunately, I know of no such SATA-to-IDE/PATA adaptors using the Marvell 88SA8052 controller... the only adaptors of this type, that I've seen, is using the (partly: Infamous!) JM20330.

Subsequent update: For fun, I just Google'd for "88SA8052 adapter" and found the thread SATA to IDE adapters: which/what/why? pointing to IDE-SATA07 (PATA to SATA Host Mode Bridge Board featuring Marvell 88SA8052 Bridge Controller) - maybe you can modify it, and fit it inside a laptop? Seems to be available from e.g. here and here.

Also, you might find the images in this post (showing the interior of a 2.5" PATA OWC Mercury SSD) very interesting!

More updates; how about the StarTech IDE2SAT2 40-Pin PATA to 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD/ODD Converter adaptor using the Marvell 88SA8052 controller or the ADAPTER Konverter SATA auf IDE UDMA parallel ATA - both are also too high to fit directly inside, but with a few modifications, maybe?

Johan

[felix_w]

Thank you both for your fast replies.

The key to this idea is the word "naked". I am quoting myself so it is clear for what I am talking about.

There is a naked Samsung 850 Pro available for purchase, without warranty, which I would like to use.

The word refers to just using the internal PCB from a 2.5" SATA 3.0 drive, specifically the Samsung 850 Pro. You can see photos below:

http://www.hardwareluxx.de/images/stori ... pro-04.jpg
http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/content/ ... review.jpg
http://www.legitreviews.com/wp-content/ ... o-Open.jpg

As you can clearly see, there is a lot of space for the mod to fit, because the PCB of the above drives is half in size, does not have the case's full length and width. Also, the bay is 2.5", not 1.8".

The adapter I had in mind but uses JMicron bridge, is horizontal and self-powered. It does not have connectors vertically soldered on the PCB, so it is compact.

Some of the ones you linked to, can be modified of course. I do have the equipment and knowledge to do so, but I was asking in case there is a ready-to-fit product first.

Another question I have is whether the Marvell Bridge (88052) offers better performance in terms of read/write speeds and access times. I only have tests with the JM20330 bridge.

I have extensive tests of the same laptop with same bridge and almost all Samsung drives, Crucial M4 and Vertex I Turbo. As soon as I upload them, I will post them here.

Thank you again for your replies.

Moderator edit: Snipped excessive quoting.

[Johan]

I have extensive tests of the same laptop with same bridge and almost all Samsung drives, Crucial M4 and Vertex I Turbo. As soon as I upload them, I will post them here.

That would be extremely interesting to see!!! Also, kindly post your experience about the stability of the various SSD's, that you have tried, with the JM20330 bridge (as mentioned earlier, certain SSD's will play nicely with the JM20330, while others will e.g. "freeze", and/or will not support TRIM etc.). Please state what OS you have used with the various adaptors/SSD's (XP or Win7 or perhaps some Linux distro?).

A small hint: Many owners of ThinkPad X41's (and other "X"-ThinkPad's of the IDE/PATA generation) have used various adaptors to fit a SATA SSD in their smaller laptops. You might find some useful information about their endeavours in the (very lenghty!!) thread Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? *PICS* I'd suggest that you read this thread from "the end" since the start of that thread dates all the way back to 2007... and much has obviously happened since then!

Johan

[felix_w]

I used to have a 2.5" IDE SSD, the Photofast G-Monster IDE V2 (Indilinx & Sunplus bridge), very snappy disk, exceptional 4K results :

Photofast G-monster 2.5" IDE V2 64GB (Orange) - XP Sp3

This one died on me, 2 days after flashing the latest GC firmware, so i was sent a replacement drive from the store, a RENICE E7 (EastWho EWS720 native IDE) 128GB :

RENICE E7 (EastWho EWS720 native IDE) 128GB - Win 7 Ultimate

Because of the big difference in performance and lack of aggressive GC or TRIM, i started trying other SSDs with the use of a JM20330 adapter.

Samsung 840 Vanilla 250GB - Win 7 Ultimate

Samsung 840 Pro 128GB - Win 7 Ultimate

Samsung 840 Pro 128GB - Win 7 Ultimate /// Reboot Time

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB - Win 7 Ultimate

Crucial M4 128GB - Win 7 Ultimate

and finally my old OCZ Vertex I 30GB, firmware modded to Turbo Version :

OCZ Vertex I 30GB Turbo - Win Xp SP3

I never got my hands on a Samsung 840 Evo, so i don't know if the performance would be similar to that of the 850 EVO with the 3D NAND, the 850 EVO had weirdly low read values, maybe it could not cooperate with the JM20330 bridge well.

I searched around the web a bit, and i think that the Marvell 88SA8052 is pin compatible with the JM20330 ( at least the pinout diagramms show the same naming for the pins) so i may try and mod a bridge with JM20330 and fit a Marvell chip.

That's it for now, until i borrow another SSD model from someone....

[Recife]

Hi All, a big thank you for everyones contribution. I´ve been avidly following this thread among others regarding this subject.

I have a T42 and have just bought a secondhand msata ssd , http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351323307797, I believe it is an Intel 310 80gb, paired with the Lycom msata to IDE adaptar am I likely to have a relatively stress free time?

Ideally I´d have a crack at putting windows 7 on the 80gb ssd and I would have a 320gb WD in the ultrabay caddy.

If the intel ssd is likely to be troublesome my gf has an x230 that could make use of it!

[nebbs16]

Hello,

For your information, I have just installed a new Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD with an Aleratec mSATA to PATA adapter (Marvell 88SA8052 chip) into my old Dell M70 (Intel 915PM chipset). A fresh install of Windows 8.1 or 7 would not work properly (very low I/O perf, lots of freezes, etc.), but cloning a fresh Windows 8.1 install on an HDD with TRIM deactivated to the SSD (as indicated earlier in this thread) works perfectly!!

Thank you for the very useful information you guys gathered on this forum!

Here are my Crystal bench results:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 90.340 MB/s
Sequential Write : 85.070 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 86.817 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 84.535 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 21.983 MB/s [ 5367.0 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 36.083 MB/s [ 8809.3 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 25.480 MB/s [ 6220.8 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 46.818 MB/s [ 11430.1 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 35.3% (13.0/36.9 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2015/02/28 19:03:00
OS : Windows 8.1 Pro [6.3 Build 9600] (x86)

[felix_w]

Must find an 840 EVO to test....

I have just installed a new Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD with an Aleratec mSATA to PATA adapter (Marvell 88SA8052 chip) into my old Dell M70 (Intel 915PM chipset). A fresh install of Windows 8.1 or 7 would not work properly (very low I/O perf, lots of freezes, etc.), but cloning a fresh Windows 8.1 install on an HDD with TRIM deactivated to the SSD (as indicated earlier in this thread) works perfectly!!

What mode does the IDE controller work ? ATA100 or ATA133 ?

[nebbs16]

According to Intel's documentation, the ICH6-M, southbridge of the 915PM chipset, is only capable of ATA100 (http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ ... sheet.html - page 184, section 5.16.3). Interesting fact, this docs indicates that ATA100 can achieve read transfer rates up to 100 MB/s and write transfer rates up to 88.9 MB/s. The crystal benchmark result I have posted yesterday is very closed to these maximum speeds.

So far, I am very satisfied with my system performance. For further information, here is a cleaned CPU-Z report of my system.

Also, I struggled a little to find working drivers for the sound and the video on Windows 8.1. I found a working driver for the sound on Realtek website: http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downlo ... Down=false and I found a working video driver on Laptopvideo2go.com forum: http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/ ... it-nvidia/

CPU-Z TXT Report
Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU-Z version 1.72.0.x32

Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processor 1 ID = -1
Number of cores 1 (max 1)
Number of threads 1 (max 1)
Name Intel Pentium M 780
Codename Dothan
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 2.26GHz
Package (platform ID) Socket 479 mPGA (0x5)
CPUID 6.D.8
Extended CPUID 6.D
Brand ID 22
Core Stepping C0
Technology 90 nm
Core Speed 2260.7 MHz
Multiplier x Bus Speed 17.0 x 133.0 MHz
Rated Bus speed 531.9 MHz
Stock frequency 2266 MHz
Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2
L1 Data cache 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 2048 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control yes
FID range 6.0x - 17.0x
Max VID 1.388 V

Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northbridge Intel i915PM/GM rev. 03
Southbridge Intel 82801FBM (ICH6-M) rev. 03
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 2 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 266.0 MHz (1:2)
CAS# latency (CL) 4.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 4
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 4
Cycle Time (tRAS) 12
MCHBAR I/O Base address 0x0F0000000
MCHBAR I/O Size 4096
Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR2
Module format SO-DIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Corsair (7F7F9E00000000000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Part number VS1GSDS533D2
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
AMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-9-11 @ 200 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-12-15 @ 266 MHz

DIMM # 2
SMBus address 0x52
Memory type DDR2
Module format SO-DIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Corsair (7F7F9E00000000000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Part number VS1GSDS533D2
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
AMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-9-11 @ 200 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-12-15 @ 266 MHz

Storage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drive 0
Device Path \\?\ide#disksamsung_ssd_840_evo_250gb_msata_________ext42b6q#5&f4873ab&0&0.0.0#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}
Type Fixed
Name Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB mSATA
Revision EXT42B6Q
Serial S1KPNSAG100219D
Capacity 232.9 GB
SMART Support Yes

Display Adapters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Display adapter 0
Name NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400
Board Manufacturer 0x1028 (0x019B)
Revision A1
Codename NV41
Technology 0.13 um
Memory size 256 MB
PCI device bus 1 (0x1), device 0 (0x0), function 0 (0x0)
Vendor ID 0x10DE (0x1028)
Model ID 0x00CC (0x019B)
Performance Level Default
Core clock 125.0 MHz
Memory clock 332.0 MHz
Performance Level 2D Desktop
Core clock 200.0 MHz
Memory clock 400.0 MHz
Performance Level 3D Applications
Core clock 275.0 MHz
Memory clock 590.0 MHz

Win32_VideoController AdapterRAM = 0x10000000 (268435456)
Win32_VideoController DriverVersion = 9.18.13.768
Win32_VideoController DriverDate = 12/07/2012

Monitor 0
Model ()
ID LPL0000
Serial
Manufacturing Date Week 0, Year 2004
Size 15.4 inches
Max Resolution 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
Horizontal Freq. Range 0-0 kHz
Vertical Freq. Range 0-0 Hz
Max Pixel Clock 0 MHz
Gamma Factor 2.2

Software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows Version Microsoft Windows 8.1 (6.3) 32-bit (Build 9600)
DirectX Version 11.0

[ajkula66]

According to Intel's documentation, the ICH6-M, southbridge of the 915PM chipset, is only capable of ATA100 (http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ ... sheet.html - page 184, section 5.16.3). Interesting fact, this docs indicates that ATA100 can achieve read transfer rates up to 100 MB/s and write transfer rates up to 88.9 MB/s. The crystal benchmark result I have posted yesterday is very closed to these maximum speeds.

This is incorrect.

Check the posts in this thread by lophiomys and myself showing results on SATA-modded T43p units utilizing the same chipset. Well over the speeds predicted by Intel.

[nebbs16]

I meant only capable of ATA100, versus ATA133. But ICH6-M is also natively capable of SATA 1 (150MB/s) for those of us who have the chance to have a motherboard featuring it. There is no Dell M70 SATA mod that I know of.

[axur-delmeria]

There is no Dell M70 SATA mod that I know of.

Doesn't mean it can't be done. If it has the same 915PM/GM chipset, and also uses a IDE-SATA bridge chip, then it's doable.

[Johan]

Hi All, a big thank you for everyones contribution. I´ve been avidly following this thread among others regarding this subject.

I have a T42 and have just bought a secondhand mSATA SSD, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351323307797, I believe it is an Intel 310 80 GB, paired with the Lycom mSATA to IDE adapter am I likely to have a relatively stress free time?

Ideally I´d have a crack at putting Windows 7 on the 80 GB SSD and I would have a 320 GB WD in the ultrabay caddy.

@ Recife:

Welcome to the forum!

See this post where user shicky256 has reported the Intel 310 to work well with the the the Minerva ST663FD9 adapter. Whether if the Intel 310 mSATA SSD would also work well using the Lycom/Addonics/Aleratec/DeLock/Kuroutoshikou adapter; that I don’t know. I suggest you read this thread from post one… I believe something’s mentioned somewhere about the Intel 310 with the Lycom etc. adapter, but you find it! If using an Intel 310 mSATA SSD in a T42 but with an adapter based on the JMicron JM20330, note:

If I use an OCZ Nocti (SandForce) or an Intel 310 mSATA SSD (G2 controller) instead of the Crucial M4 (Marvell), I get a full system freeze or even a BSOD when deleting the files (not even Windows can be installed on the Nocti/Intel without terrible freezes and several forced restarts). So there is obviously a certain TRIM-related incompatibility between some SSDs (certain SF and Intel controllers) and the JMicron JM20330 SATA-PATA bridge

If you did not want/need the 320 GB WD in the Ultrabay, then you could simply get a full-size 2.5” SATA SSD and put in the Ultrabay; see the sticky GUIDE: Make your T4x *FAST* by replacing the HDD with a SSD! and search there for: "Alternatively, the idea of getting a (relatively cheap) 2.5" SATA SSD to work in the UltraBay" and for: "Update of Dec. 1, 2012 ... about how to use a very cheap, fast 2.5" SATA SSD (or a 2.5" SATA HDD) as the main boot drive in the T4x/p UltraBay, and WITHOUT the 30 sec. boot-delay”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ fnebbs16:

Very welcome to the forum!

... and thanks a lot for signing up to share your utmost interesting results; very, very much appreciated... thanks, friend!! Please don't go away; kindly stay here with us ThinkPad'ers!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ felix_w:

Thanks a lot for sharing the benchmarks for the many 2.5” SATA SSD’s in your Acer Aspire 2020; highly interesting! Could you please explain (and sorry if you’ve already said so, but I’ve missed it?) how you connected these drives to your Acer (using the “IDE 44pin to micro-SATA adapter JM20330”); did you manage to fit both the adapter and the 2.5” SATA SSD in the main HDD bay of your Acer??

As to your benchmarks, they are absolutely interesting; the fastest mSATA SSD (and using the Lycom/Addonics etc. adapter) benchmarks I had previously seen were for the Intel 525 as reported in this post. The Intel 525 is faster than the Samsung 850 in some benchmarks, and slower on other… so I wonder which of the two would be fastest in e.g. a ThinkPad T42(/p), overall? Which of the many SSD's we have seen so far (used in our dear, old 2.5" PATA/IDE-based laptops) would you believe would "feel" overall fastest; boot-time and loading/running applications?

There is a naked Samsung 850 Pro available for purchase, without warranty, which I would like to use.

Felix: Notice the comments by nebbs16 about results with a Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD with an Aleratec mSATA to PATA adapter (in a Dell M70 laptop with the Intel 915PM chipset) in this post. I believe that the Samsung 840 EVO is using a proprietary (= Samsung) "3-core MEX Controller" while the Samsung 850 EVO is using the (likewise proprietary Samsung) "MGX" controller. I haven’t tried to find out the difference between these two, but given the fact that the ‘840 EVO/MEX does not play well with the Lycom/Addonics etc. adapter adapter and TRIM enabled, then one could “perhaps” (?) expect that the ‘850 EVO/MGX would also not work with TRIM? Assumptions...!

What is however strange/interesting is, that in this customer feedback on Amazon.de a user ("Carlos") has reported success with Lycom/Addonics etc. adapter and a Samsung MZ-MTE120BW = Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD (120 GB). No details about what HW, what OS, and whether or not TRIM is enabled (I've already asked "Carlos" about this, in a comment to his feedback, but unfortunately never got any reply). Also, see this customer feedback on Amazon.de where another user ("tandem") on 29. Januar 2015 has reported success with a Samsung 840 EVO mSATA (120 GB) SSD in a ThinkPad X31 using the Lycom/Addonics etc. adapter. In:

I use a "Samsung MZ-MTE120BW mSATA interne SSD 120GB silber". I bought it novmeber 2014 at amazon for € 76,90.

I run hdaprm on my 32 bit unbutu 14.04 system with the following output for read operations ...
/dev/sda: Timing buffered disk reads: 92 MB in 3.01 seconds = 30.55 MB/sec

About other Samsung SSD’s used with the Lycom/Addonics etc. adapter:

Benchmarks for a Samsung 810 mSATA SSD in a T42p is reported in this post. In this post I am making reference to a Japanese fellow who is using a PM830 (if you wish, try if you can understand the details from the Google Translate’d Japanese site). In this post user KrypteX claim that the JM20330 chip can pass TRIM correctly on a number of SSD’s, incl. the Samsung 830 and PM830 (I don’t know where this information is from; KrypteX himself or someone else?)

BTW, try search for more information on Youtube (Google e.g. for "SSD + T42" or "mSATA to IDE"), if you wish – maybe there’s some interesting and relevant information that can be digged up there. Also, see this post where it is discussed how to (potentially!) use one of the newer NGFF/M.2 SSD's in a 2.5" IDE/PATA-based laptop. Maybe there's a Marvell-based adapter coming up for use with these new NGFF/M.2 SSD's??

Felix: I have an offer for you that you can’t refuse! If you wish to try modify one of the (x)SATA-IDE adapters built around the JM20330 to the Marvell 88SA8052 (if you can get hold on one of the latter?) let me know, and I will send you (for free) a 1.8” micro-SATA to IDE adapter of the type shown in this post.

Alternatively, if you wish to start play with a mSATA SSD (in your Acer Aspire 2020) and an adapter based on the Marvell 88SA8052 (although this obviously require that you have access to mSATA SSD’S!), let me know and I will send you an Addonics ADMS25IDE adapter which you can borrow (but please don't modify it; I will need it for a mSATA SSD in one of my ThinkPad T42p's). Once you have tested the mSATA SSD’s that you wish to test using the adapter (in your Acer laptop or whatever), then just return the ADMS25IDE adapter to me… all it’s going to cost you is the return-postage to Copenhagen, Denmark. Send me a PM with you full name and street address if interested in any of these "free play-options"!

Wonderful how active and interesting this thread has become, again! Keep it coming, friends!

Johan

[Recife]

@Johan Thanks for the welcome and suggestions.

As I have already invested in a second hand 320gb-WD HDD + Ultrabay caddy as well as the 80gb Intel 310 I decided to go all out and bought the Lycom ST-173-7 msate-IDE adapter as well as a Plextor 128gb PX-128M5M. Whichever of the two works best in the T42 (ideally the 80gb) the other will go in my gf´s X230.

While it doesn´t make economical sense it´s a labour of love as I´ve already put in a new fan, motherboard, screen + 2GB RAM over the 6 or 7 years of use. Also it looks like the caddy will fit my gf´s old laptop a Microboard Innovation if say the motherboard in the T42 goes again.

Finally for both the T42 and X230 am I right in thinking I can have windows 7 installed on the SSD and the HDD and should the SSD fail I can simply change the boot drive over to the HDD? Neither setup will particularly miss the additional 20gb or so.

[felix_w]

@Johan

Thank you for your kind offer!

Next month i am having a hot-air SMD rework station and this adapter, which i believe is the same with Addonics and Delock (based on 8052 Marvell).

I am planning to also get a normal IDE to msata with Jmicron ( a sintech one ) and an adapter (whichever i find more available) with Marvell 8052.

I will try to compare the 8052 to the existing results that i have from the Jmicron adapter.

Also, from the above two adapters, i will try and solder the 8052 Marvell on the Sintech board, fingers crossed. So far, i haven't found the 8052 datasheet, nor have i found a proposed typical board configuration for the Marvell. I will try to compare the circuits first, but in favor of the testing here, i may burn one or two chips.

I still need time for all the planned testing, waiting for equipment and board to come.

I will let you know of my results.


As for the fastest SSD in benchmarks and overall feeling simultaneously, i believe is the 850 Pro. The benchmarks you saw from me are @ ATA100 and on the older ICH4M Southbridge, not the ICH6M that comes with the 915M chipset. Also, notice that the benchmarks provided by LYCOM Support have definitely been conducted at ATA133, because the platform they claim (KA790GX platform) uses an ATA133 IDE controller. Since i own such a system, i will make some benchmarks on ATA133 with the JM adapter, but i can only use the Samsung 840 Pro for these.
I am almost sure that it will be faster than the sandforce-based Intel 525 .

Also, i just have a Pentium M755 @ 2.0GHz, your systems are faster and newer, so the 850 pro would get better numbers in your laptops.

For fast booting and general speedy usage feeling, you need to look at the 4K Numbers, the QD1 ones.

I believe that the EVO ssd's are outperformed by the Pro when downgraded at SATA 150 while working with an IDE-TO-SATA bridge, because their performance in desktops depends on the pumped-cacheing internal function and the faster MGX controller, which might downgrade also while in SATA 150 mode (just guessing, can't prove).

The adapter used in my testing with my laptop is shown in the following photos :

1, 2

The adapter is the microsatacables one (used by user tomatenfisch here), IDE44-to-microSata, combined with a microsata-to-sata7+15pin cable i got. I got the adapter while having the original plan to buy a 1.8"microsata SSD,but this planned was cancelled due to lower performance of the available SSD's of this size.

[ferrari21]

I'm using the Addonics msata to IDE adapter, and it is working great on my Dell Inspiron 6000. I did need to disable TRIM with my particular setup which includes a SAMSUNG Solid State Drive SSD mSATA 64 GB MZ-MPC0640/00000 MZMPC064HBDR-00000 and I am running Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 9926. I disabled TRIM after I installed the OS, which was using 100% of the disk resources prior to disabling TRIM. It did take about 20 minutes to open the command prompt as an Admin, but once I did it was pretty simple to shut it off.

Below is my benchmark results.



This old computer moves, what a huge difference.

Thanks to everyone on this thread who got me motivated to do this upgrade. It was well worth it!

[felix_w]

@Johan

Next month i am having a hot-air SMD rework station and this adapter, which i believe is the same with Addonics and Delock (based on 8052 Marvell

Ordered the Lycom adapter, waiting for the delivery in 25th of March.

The SMD rework station and an msata SSD left in my wish-list...

Tomorrow i'll also order 2 more cheap IDE-to-SATA adapters, one with Jmicron 44pin_IDE-to-7+15pin_Sata and one with Marvell 8052 (whichever type, i don't mind), so that i can proceed with the mutant adapter for 44pin_IDE-to-7+15pin_Sata with Marvell chip and relevant testing.

[jdrou]

I meant only capable of ATA100, versus ATA133. But ICH6-M is also natively capable of SATA 1 (150MB/s) for those of us who have the chance to have a motherboard featuring it. There is no Dell M70 SATA mod that I know of.

Can also get a SATA caddy for modular bay though (which I have somewhere).
Same caddy is apparently used for all Latitude D-series so it may be using an actual SATA connection rather than a second bridge. An Amazon review from someone with a D610 claimed to see 150MB/sec burst in benchmarks.

EDIT: Also note the Precision M70 and Latitude D810 (and probably D610) also use the Marvel 88SA8040 IDE-SATA bridge for the internal drive.

[Recife]

2 GB RAM - 17 Dollars
2.1 GHz CPU - 28 dollars
Battery - 15 dollars
Lycom adapter - 16 dollars
Caddy - 10 dollars
80 GB Intel 310 mSATA SSD - 30 dollars

= 114 dollars on a 10 year old T42..

I should have just thrown it out and bought a newer one!!

10 weeks till my parts get brought over to me in Brazil, hopefully I´ll get a good year or two more out of the old girl!!