Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

Best HDD configuration for W530

W530/W540/W541/W550 Series
Post Reply
Message
Author
olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Best HDD configuration for W530

#1 Post by olddog » Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:59 am

I have a new (to me) W530 with a 500GB HDD, I7-3740QM, and 8GB RAM.

It's no slouch, but I would like to make it go faster without spending too much money.

Leaving aside a RAM increase (which I will probably do anyway), what would be the most cost-effective way to speed things up? An Msata cache drive, or replace the HDD with an SSD?

It seems a shame not to use the Msata option, but SSDs are much cheaper now than when the W530 was new, and perhaps I should consider Msata to be obsolete technology and just go for a 500GB SSD.

Any thoughts?

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23812
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Feb 07, 2019 9:20 am

An SSD will definitely speed things up nicely.
I suggest a 250/500 GB Samsung 860 EVO and get a caddy for a 2nd drive to put your old 500GB HD in the CD-slot for storage.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#3 Post by olddog » Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:24 am

Thanks for your suggestion. I think it's the way I will go.

Cheers

w0qj
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1187
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2004 9:53 pm
Location: Hong Kong

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#4 Post by w0qj » Sun Feb 10, 2019 2:04 am

I second this proposal; it's a cost-effective way to greatly expand your storage needs ;)
RealBlackStuff wrote:
Thu Feb 07, 2019 9:20 am
An SSD will definitely speed things up nicely.
I suggest a 250/500 GB Samsung 860 EVO and get a caddy for a 2nd drive to put your old 500GB HD in the CD-slot for storage.
Daily Driver: (X1E3) X1 Extreme 3rd Gen | mobile broadband (WWAN)
Current Thinkpads: X1E3 | X1E1 | X1C10 | X1C9 | X1C4 | X1C3 | X230
Retired Thinkpads: X250 | T410 | T42 | 560 (circa 1996)

olex126
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 401
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 3:46 pm
Location: London, Ontario, CANADA

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#5 Post by olex126 » Sun Feb 10, 2019 2:04 pm

I went with a Samsung 860 Evo 500 Gb mSata SSD and a Samsung 850 Pro SSD in the regular HDD slot in my W530.

Since I'm usually scurrying around trying to purchase "almost-or-soon-to-be-obsolete" parts, I latched onto six Samsung mSata SSD's of varying capacities for various x20 and x30 units.

Also presently upgrading various other older Thinkpads with the appropriate adapter.... currently shoehorning one into an x41T model. (First attempt with a Startech 2.5" mSata SSD adapter and Win XP Tablet Edition works very well, except that the form-factor leaves a portion of the drive extended from the case...next to try with a 1.8" adapter.)

Regards.

Dave
Previous & Collection Thinkpads: 701C A22m A30/A31p T23p x2 T30 T41 X31 various 750's 760's & 390's.

Test Benches: X41T, X60T & X61T's, various T42p-T43p's, x200 x201 x220T x230 T520 W530 T601F LED (X9000/8Gb/250SSD/W7 U)

DD: P50

"Life Is A Journey...Enjoy The Ride!"

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#6 Post by olddog » Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:38 pm

I would like to go the mSATA route, but mSATA drives cost much more than normal SDDs and it seems are slower. If I needed to fully max out the storage I suppose mSATA would be necessary, but as it is I think I will go for the cheaper, perhaps faster, and less expensive route of a caddy and a normal SSD.

However, if in the next year or two there are more mSATAs around than there is demand for them, the prices will fall considerably. At that stage, I will probably bite.

Thinkpad4by3
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2670
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:25 am
Location: N. Bellmore, ny

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#7 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:49 pm

olddog wrote:
Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:38 pm

However, if in the next year or two there are more mSATAs around than there is demand for them, the prices will fall considerably. At that stage, I will probably bite.
Nope! M.2 has already taken the market segment from mSATA...and no machines come with mSATA ports anymore except for maybe the WiFi card.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#8 Post by olddog » Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm

Thinkpad4by3 wrote:
Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:49 pm
olddog wrote:
Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:38 pm

However, if in the next year or two there are more mSATAs around than there is demand for them, the prices will fall considerably. At that stage, I will probably bite.
Nope! M.2 has already taken the market segment from mSATA...and no machines come with mSATA ports anymore except for maybe the WiFi card.
I think you are confused. The fact that no new machines come with mSATA ports means that demand for mSATA drives will largely disappear. If suppliers are sitting on unsold stocks of mSATA devices, then demand will fall, and so will prices. It's basic economics.

Of course, there may not be large stocks of unsold mSATA drives, in which case prices won't fall.

Thinkpad4by3
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2670
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:25 am
Location: N. Bellmore, ny

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#9 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:25 pm

olddog wrote:
Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm
Of course, there may not be large stocks of unsold mSATA drives, in which case prices won't fall.
mSATA wasn't ever really TOO popular so the chance of having large stocks in a warehouse is small. There are cheap chinese mSATA drives that you could use instead.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#10 Post by olddog » Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:22 am

Thinkpad4by3 wrote:
Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:25 pm
olddog wrote:
Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm
Of course, there may not be large stocks of unsold mSATA drives, in which case prices won't fall.
mSATA wasn't ever really TOO popular so the chance of having large stocks in a warehouse is small. There are cheap chinese mSATA drives that you could use instead.
if it wasn't too popular then it is possible that manufacturers might have over-estimated demand, and produced too many!

But this is all idle speculation. Only time will tell.

axur-delmeria
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 3810
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
Location: Metro Manila, Philippines

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#11 Post by axur-delmeria » Fri Feb 15, 2019 8:38 am

olddog wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:22 am
if it wasn't too popular then it is possible that manufacturers might have over-estimated demand, and produced too many!

But this is all idle speculation. Only time will tell.
There are only a handful of laptop models with mSATA slots, most of them released between 2011 and 2012 (maybe up to 2013). So there's not much impetus for manufacturing mSATA SSDs.

Then again, at least Samsung EVO mSATA SSDs are available. M.2 2242 SATA SSDs have it worse, as none of the big brands (Samsung, Crucial, Sandisk) make them; of the ones I've seen in Amazon, Transcend is the only brand I recognize.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#12 Post by olddog » Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:49 pm

Coming back on this, I acquired a hard drive caddy for the DVD/CD space, but have now acquired a newish 1TB drive from a defunct Apple MacBook. After a full format it seems to work fine.

So that will go in the caddy. Looking again at the mSATA drives, it appears that an 860 Evo 500GB is not much more expensive than a standard SATA Evo of the same spec. Is there any reason why the mSATA should be slower than the standard SATA SSD? I read somewhere that it was, but I don't know why.

If it's not, or if the difference is small, I will buy one and clone the existing HD and boot from the mSATA. Then when funds permit I will perhaps upgrade the HD to an SSD. If I need the space.

Thinkpad4by3
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2670
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:25 am
Location: N. Bellmore, ny

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#13 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:53 pm

olddog wrote:
Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:49 pm
Coming back on this, I acquired a hard drive caddy for the DVD/CD space, but have now acquired a newish 1TB drive from a defunct Apple MacBook. After a full format it seems to work fine.

So that will go in the caddy. Looking again at the mSATA drives, it appears that an 860 Evo 500GB is not much more expensive than a standard SATA Evo of the same spec. Is there any reason why the mSATA should be slower than the standard SATA SSD? I read somewhere that it was, but I don't know why.

If it's not, or if the difference is small, I will buy one and clone the existing HD and boot from the mSATA. Then when funds permit I will perhaps upgrade the HD to an SSD. If I need the space.
The mSATA bus is limited to SATA II(300Mbps) on those machines while the regular port is SATA III(600Mbps).
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#14 Post by olddog » Wed Mar 06, 2019 6:57 pm

I have been trawling the net for hours to find whether there is any observable difference in practice. A number of people say that any difference wouldn't be noticeable, or would be only barely noticeable, but I haven't found anybody to say that they have tried both.

I have two T61s in daily use, and one has an EVO in it, the other a 320 HDD (but more RAM and a faster chip). Both boot up quickly and in fact there is not much difference between them. The W530 already boots up much more quickly than the T430, but it has twice the RAM and a much faster CPU. Both have HDDs at the moment. And both are much, much, much slower than the much older T61s because the former are currently on Win 10, and the T61s on Puppy Linux.

My oldest TP is a recently acquired X30 using Win XP, and it boots up more quickly than the hugely more powerful Win 10 machines. Microsoft is not exactly making progress.

Thanks for your input, 4x3.

Thinkpad4by3
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2670
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:25 am
Location: N. Bellmore, ny

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#15 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:19 pm

olddog wrote:
Wed Mar 06, 2019 6:57 pm
I have been trawling the net for hours to find whether there is any observable difference in practice. A number of people say that any difference wouldn't be noticeable, or would be only barely noticeable, but I haven't found anybody to say that they have tried both.

I have two T61s in daily use, and one has an EVO in it, the other a 320 HDD (but more RAM and a faster chip). Both boot up quickly and in fact there is not much difference between them. The W530 already boots up much more quickly than the T430, but it has twice the RAM and a much faster CPU. Both have HDDs at the moment. And both are much, much, much slower than the much older T61s because the former are currently on Win 10, and the T61s on Puppy Linux.

My oldest TP is a recently acquired X30 using Win XP, and it boots up more quickly than the hugely more powerful Win 10 machines. Microsoft is not exactly making progress.

Thanks for your input, 4x3.
Actually quite the contrary, I find Win8 and Win10 to boot faster than any other operating system before it. Also note Win10 is DESIGNED for SSDs, and when you give Win10 a SSD, it will boot the machine in around 10 seconds. RAM and CPU should have little effect on boot speed, I've actually found more RAM to slow down boot speeds, granted the test was on an old Dell Dimension, but still an observation.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

olddog
Freshman Member
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Best HDD configuration for W530

#16 Post by olddog » Fri Mar 08, 2019 4:51 am

More RAM slows booting? Interesting. Any ideas why it should? I would have thought that if anything it would speed it up, or else make no difference.

Presently I have old machines running W95, Win 7, and Vista, and all are quicker than the much more powerful T430 and W530 with Win 10.

But when I have time to clone the disk I shall try the SSD in the W530. It sounds as though I need to forget mSATA for booting.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “ThinkPad W530/W540/W541/W550 Series”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests