SATA SSD in PATA IDE Thinkpad X31

[atnt]

Hi!

I want to upgrade my slow 2.5" HDD with a newer, faster SSD. Problem is my X31 has a 40-pin 2.5" IDE slot, and all 2.5" PATA SSDs are slower and more expensive than SATA.

I found a SATA to 2.5" IDE Female Hard Drive Adapter Card that seems to be just what I need, but I'm not quite sure if it will fit, or if the SSD will stick out of my laptop because of the adaptor.

If anybody tried this, please share your experience. Thanks!

[ThinkDan]

I'm running a Transcend TS32GSSD25-M PATA SSD in my X31, bought from another member here. Definitely faster than the standard mechanical drive, and I'm so pleased with it I've bought another for my X23 which now seems painfully slow by comparison.

Two variants of this drive exist under the same part number; the later one marked 'JMICRON' is the faster version and the one I have. I have no complaints about the performance of this drive in general usage; have used it both with WinXP and Linux. General speed and battery life are both improved markedly. Ironically the JMicron controllers get slated elsewhere on SATA drives but I suspect the PATA interface is the limiting factor so any controller issues are not apparent.

More discussion and benchmarking of this drive here.

I believe the PATA controller will always limit performance, even with a PATA/SATA converter attached.

[atnt]

Thanks for the tip, but will a SATA SSD with a PATA/SATA converter fit nicely into the HD slot or will it stick out?

[RealBlackStuff]

Apparently you can use a PATA-microSATA converter in combo with a 1.8" SSD.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardwar ... -sata.html