FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

XM15 question - Compatible with Intel's mSATA SSD?

Post Date: 2011-03-28
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
ablahblah View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: XM15 question - Compatible with Intel's mSATA SSD?
    Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 5:10pm
This goes out to DS techs who assemble xm15s (or knows about/can ask about the internals), or anyone who owns a xm15 by DS or a Sager NP5160:
I'm just wondering whether the xm15 model can take one of Intel's 310/Soda Creek line of SSDs, they're the tiny little mSATA models that come in a mPCI form factor? Would be the most ideal way in my opinion to add an SSD to a pc of that size, since it adds on the SSD without having to replace the physical hard drive, and is pretty much the only way to fit a SSD/HDD combo onto a 15.6" laptop. And hey, it's just basically a Intel G2 SSD in terms of random read/write and bandwidth, so I don't see any downfalls there.


Edited by ablahblah - 28 Mar 2011 at 5:11pm
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
Back to Top
Unlicensedhitman View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 292 		  Quote Unlicensedhitman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 5:23pm
I was looking to buy one of those, so I can do an SSD+Hard drive setup on my xm15. The size of the mSATA SSD is about 3 times larger than the Intel N 6300 wireless card. It won't fit because the memory slots are just above the wireless card. I can provide you a picture if you would like to see.
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768)
-Windows 7 HP 64-bit
-Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz
-Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus
-6GB DDR3 ram
-Intel 80GB SSD
-Intel Wireless N 6300
Back to Top
ablahblah View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 5:31pm
Pic would be nice, heh. Thanks for the response too.
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
Back to Top
Unlicensedhitman View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 292 		  Quote Unlicensedhitman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 5:57pm
Red lines are available mini-PCI express slots.


Wireless card.


Another available mini-PCI express slot. With this slot, I don't think it's possible to add the Intel mini-PCIe SSD because the screw hole won't align correctly.





Edited by Unlicensedhitman - 28 Mar 2011 at 6:00pm
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768)
-Windows 7 HP 64-bit
-Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz
-Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus
-6GB DDR3 ram
-Intel 80GB SSD
-Intel Wireless N 6300
Back to Top
ablahblah View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 6:41pm
Hm, could anyone confirm what that second PCI-E slot is for...?


*Ahhhhhhhh.....wait. I see now. The NP5160 was designed with half-size mPCI cards. The mSATA Intel SSD is full mPCI spec.

**Specification directly from Sager
Originally posted by Sager

Built-in Gigabit Ethernet LAN

Integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN + Bluetooth™ V3.0 + HS Combo half mini card module or
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 - 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo half mini card module or
Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN half mini card module or
Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1102 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN half mini card module

I'm noting that the Centrino Advanced-N card doesn't say that it's a half-mini card though, and that the bluetooth card instead is. Can anyone confirm whether this was just omitted, or whether a full size mPCI slot is available on the xm15/NP5160?



Edited by ablahblah - 28 Mar 2011 at 6:47pm
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
Back to Top
Alex View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group

Digital Storm Supervisor


Joined: 04 Jun 2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 16314 		  Quote Alex Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 6:50pm
Correct, I would recommend just going with a real SSD. The mSATA ones are not that fast.
Back to Top
ablahblah View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Mar 2011 at 7:16pm
Eh, the Soda Creek line claims to be as fast as the G2 models though, most reviewers are also reporting random read/write and max read/write speeds comparable to the G2s as well. Just waiting for some manufacturer to start including these things...
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
Back to Top
ablahblah View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 29 Mar 2011 at 5:38pm
Weird...

I got this from a XoticPC rep, supposed to be direct from Clevo.

Two Mini Card slots
- 1st for WLAN half size Mini Card with PCIe and USB interface
- (Factory Option) 2nd for UMTS/HSPA 3.75G full size Mini Card with USB interface

Suggests that a full mini slot will exist somewhere on the laptop. I just checked what I believe is my dell laptop's HSPA card, and it's full size for sure. Sager's site never states a use for that second slot as well, so that's always just sitting there for show, or for that cellular communication card.

Unlicensedhitman, sorry for bugging you heh, could you by any chance make sure that the screw you noted was for a minicard...and whether there's any other securing screw/tab somewhere near that second slot? It might even have clips, I believe these slots work on a sort of springy mechanism which is why it needs a securing mechanism like that...My dell uses clips btw.

It'd be awesome if you could measure the body of your wireless card (don't even have to take it out, when I say body I'm excluding the mPCI-E connector). Double that length, and measure out from the second slot to see whether that intersects the heatsink or not. I believe it might actually not from the pic, but can't confirm anything without someone actually there to confirm.


***Argh, never mind. Don't even know if the system will recognize Intel's 310 or not. Apparantly, the lappies using it at the moment are configured to use the mPCI-E pot specially for mSATA purposes.

Edited by ablahblah - 29 Mar 2011 at 6:31pm
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
Back to Top
Unlicensedhitman View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 292 		  Quote Unlicensedhitman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 30 Mar 2011 at 12:49am
Here's my service manual for clearer pictures.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NE008GS0
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768)
-Windows 7 HP 64-bit
-Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz
-Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus
-6GB DDR3 ram
-Intel 80GB SSD
-Intel Wireless N 6300
Back to Top
Unlicensedhitman View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 292 		  Quote Unlicensedhitman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 May 2011 at 1:38am
You know what... when I looked in the bios today, I found out there is a third SATA option available, and it's not being used. I think it could support a mSATA SSD.
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768)
-Windows 7 HP 64-bit
-Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz
-Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus
-6GB DDR3 ram
-Intel 80GB SSD
-Intel Wireless N 6300
Back to Top
ablahblah View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 19 May 2011 at 7:50pm
o_O....wait...that's odd, since this shouldn't be built for mSATA at all. would have to locate exactly which port to use though.


Edited by ablahblah - 19 May 2011 at 7:50pm
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
Back to Top
Unlicensedhitman View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 292 		  Quote Unlicensedhitman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 20 May 2011 at 6:27pm
In my bios, it says this:

SATA Port 1 = Intel 80 Gb SSD
SATA Port 2 = DVD burner
SATA Port 3 = none
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768)
-Windows 7 HP 64-bit
-Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz
-Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus
-6GB DDR3 ram
-Intel 80GB SSD
-Intel Wireless N 6300
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 5.664063E-02 seconds.