G750JH-DB71 Who has replaced the M.2 drives with larger drives?

[hmscott]

Hi, I am thinking about picking up a G750JH-DB71 and I noticed that someone said that the drives used for the boot RAID 128GB+128GB SSD are proprietary and not replaceable with standard mSATA SSD's. Is this true? Has anyone replaced the original SSD drives with larger drives?

Update: It turns out that the SSD drives in the JH are special interfaces, not mSATA. The closest name I can find that differentiates them is "M.2 NGFF SATA" or "M.2 SATA".

At one point it looked like A110 or X110 might be the unique name, but that is a more generic name for SanDisk SSD's, and includes 2.5" drives.

Recently I tried to purchase the 256GB version of the M.2 SSD, but no luck. And, with all the confusion about the form factor, the retail components place called and ordered what they thought was the right component and were shipped 2.5" 256GB SanDisk drives, I don't feel comfortable ordering off of Ebay - there are some listings that look correct.

The M.2 is longer and narrower than the mSATA boards, and the M.2 has a distinctively different socket/fingers layout.

Here is the original page + a photo of the M.2 NGFF on the left, and typical mSATA boards on the right:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6575/hands-on-with-plextors-ngff-ssds



Wikipedia entry for M.2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

[MrRuckus]

I would also like to know this? I guess we could start to see if we all have the same hardware? Looks like my 128's are Sandisk.

[MrRuckus]

A quick look on google for the model number shows this:

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/notebooks/2013/asus-zenbook-infinity-im-test/

I dont speak german, so I used a txt translator for the website, and this is stated:

"Specifications & delivery

For our test, we draw on a distinctly upgraded standard equipment. The adjustments consist primarily in the doubled to eight gigabytes of memory and mass storage with two SanDisk SSDs with a capacity of 128 gigabytes in RAID0 composite. Alternatively, there is an even bigger solution with 512 gigabytes in RAID0."

If Asus has a Zenbook which has a 256GBx2 option, I would think we may also be able to upgrade. However it looks like the slots in that Zenbook are regular MSATA slots and dont use the SATA card that we have. So it could be a compatibility of the SATA card that we have that can only use 128GB drives. Hard to tell. I do know that you can take them out of RAID in the Bios when you go back to the legacy setup without secure boot.

I would imagine these can be upgraded. Whether or not Asus would support such a thing I bet they would not. But if these drives are used in other devices, then it doesn't seem they are proprietary to this laptop. The card though they use is unique.

[MrRuckus]

I also saw this:
http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/lite_on_dual_module_msata_ssd_achieves_up_to_942mbs.html

While that is an old review of over a year old, I have a feeling these are going to become more common in laptops especially. I know the card we have has a RAID Bios like any other RAID card, you just have to turn off secure boot to get to it. Unless the RAID card itself is limited to 128GB MSATA drives, I would think we could put bigger ones in it. The price currently though is too much of a gamble for me. With each 256GB MSATA in the $150-200 Range. Im not willing to gamble $400 to see if it will work. heh.

[Ninjak]

MrRuckus wrote:
Im not willing to gamble $400 to see if it will work. heh.

Same here. As mentioned in my own thread asking essentially the same thing, the Canadian DB72 version ships with two standard 2.5" drives as opposed to the mSATA configuration. I doubt the US version includes an extra drive bay bracket for doing our own upgrades, so we'd probably have to grab one from the Asus e-store or a reseller. I upgraded all my existing systems at home to 256GB SSD boot drives because i didn't feel 128GB was large enough as it is. I really don't want the 480GB Sandisk SSD drive in my G73JW to go to waste when I upgrade to a G750JH.

[MrRuckus]

Nice size on that 480GB! heh.

Yeah the Card can be removed and you can use your SSD. The bottom setup is a lot like the G74 (never had a G73 so cant comment on that).
Looks like a drive cage would also need to be purchased as well. Here's the back of mine.

[MrRuckus]

Also would like to note, I haven't touched the drives on this laptop and this is only the second time I have opened the back. QA check should have caught the missing screws. I only have 3 screws on the HDD cage out of 4, and 2 out of 6 screws on the SSD Raid card. Not too pleased with that coming from an almost $2500 laptop. Makes me wonder what other screws could be missing. 😕

Never had screws missing on my previous ROG laptops.

[Ninjak]

MrRuckus wrote:
Unless the RAID card itself is limited to 128GB MSATA drives, I would think we could put bigger ones in it.

Btw, the drives in the mSATA card are not standard mSATA drives. They''re a different shape altogether and can't be replaced with standard mSATA drives. You can see them on the card clearly at about 3 min 30 secs into this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-2_VyyQQWM

Hence I'm trying to replace the entire card with a 2.5" SSD as opposed to upgrading the mSATAs themselves.

[MrRuckus]

I see what you mean, they are definately longer then a standard MSATA drive.

Im curious about this drive:
http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-SD6SF1M-128G-1022-128gb-X110-Msata/dp/B00CIDIRTI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qi...

That drive is very close to the model in the laptop.
Laptop: SD6SP1M-128G-1022
Amazon: SD6SF1M-128G-1022

The drive pictured is not MSATA? Its the same model, which is a "SSD X110" as shown on the Asus MSATA Drives.

The RAID Card itself looks like is proprietary to this laptop and is branded Asus. It says "G750JH_SATA_NGFF_SSD Rev 2.0"

[Ninjak]

MrRuckus wrote:
I see what you mean, they are definately longer then a standard MSATA drive.

Im curious about this drive:
http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-SD6SF1M-128G-1022-128gb-X110-Msata/dp/B00CIDIRTI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qi...

That drive is very close to the model in the laptop.
Laptop: SD6SP1M-128G-1022
Amazon: SD6SF1M-128G-1022

The drive pictured is not MSATA? Its the same model, which is a "SSD X110" as shown on the Asus MSATA Drives.

The RAID Card itself looks like is proprietary to this laptop and is branded Asus. It says "G750JH_SATA_NGFF_SSD Rev 2.0"

I do recall reading elsewhere that it was a pair of X110 drives, more than likely some sort of modified version.