Crucial M4 mSATA SSD 256GB

[Modzy]

Hey All,

Noticed this came on the market here in Aust the other day......
I haven't installed my mPCIe card Yet......,,, But, this got me wondering.....

Any speed advantage to be gained with installing this drive on the mPCIe card and loading it with Games or OS...???

[Chino]

You're better off getting a normal SSD which is faster and cheaper. For example the Samsung 840 250GB goes for like $20 less than that Crucial M4 mSATA SSD 256GB and it's far superior in performance.

[TenBlade]

I still haven´t quite grasped what to use an mSATA SSD for. Did they integrate the option for a specific purpose, or just because they could...

[HiVizMan]

TenBlade wrote:
I still haven´t quite grasped what to use an mSATA SSD for. Did they integrate the option for a specific purpose, or just because they could...

Think folks who have huge mechanical drives and they want to access the stuff they regularly use in those drives. The Intel Smart Response tries to fit that bill. Me I like a SSD for my OS and applications and that is it.

[HalloweenWeed]

TenBlade wrote:
I still haven´t quite grasped what to use an mSATA SSD for. Did they integrate the option for a specific purpose, or just because they could...

mSATA was designed for Ultrabooks and Netbooks, to make them thin - the circut board edge itself is the plug. It is electrically & physically the same as PCI Express mini card but connects to the SATA controller instead. Also, SATA III 6GB specs are available for mSATA.

Interestingly, they are working on a new SATA interface, called SATA Express, just like the desktop mobo PCIe interface, for SSDs. And soon they will be producing mobos and SSDs that plug directly into your desktop PC mobo just like your vid cards.

The Tech Report: SATA Express standard enters ratification phase

Computerworld: Speedy 8Gbit, 16Gbit SATA Express systems coming this year

TechPowerUp: SATA Express Specification from SATA-IO in Ratification

[TenBlade]

Ah, thx for clearing that up for me, HiViz. Well, got to hand it to the people thinking this stuff up, it could be any one particular quality or functionality that just happens to solve an issue for someone, and thus this piece of hardware gets chosen over the other brand. What makes me wonder though, when I first looked into SSDs for that slot, I found them to be generally cheaper here than the regular SSDs, I didn´t scour the entire market though...
K, back to you, Modzy 😉

[HiVizMan]

Yeah that is correct for the Ultrabook and Netbooks but not sure if the motherboard (component) products have the same throughput as yet. HW do you know if any motherboard have mSATA at the same 6GB bandwidth that you described?

[Modzy]

Thanks All..... My Rig Below.... Already SSD'd up.....

[avavioks]

It is electrically & physically the same as PCI Express mini card but connects to the SATA controller instead.