mSATA caching SSD? present in system or not?

Hello all,

I recently purchased an alienware m14x r2 second hand. This question may seem easily determined to many, however after viewing several pages of information i'm not completely sure, but that's what forums are for, right? Basically i'm wondering if the 32 GB mSATA SSD is present in my system or not. Looking to possibly add it if possible. I was told by the seller it was, however, since then i've found a couple things that were told to me to not be the case, like the blu-ray drive, .....it's just DVD.I don't think its there personally. I know, i know, shame on me, but it's only about 4 months old and got it for $800. It has the i73820 , 500 GB HDD, resolution upgrade, and several other amenities. I've looked at the system specs in the C.P. and i used a different program to analyze the specs as well. If anyone could help me out by viewing what i've posted below about this system and let me know if it is there, and if not, can i in fact add one perhaps up to say the 64GB SDD. Also would this work for caching just applications or aid in start up etc as well. Thanks in advance!!

I've posted the general system info, and the the HDD specific info. If anyone needs something else to determine this, please let me know.

Summary
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7 3820QM @ 2.70GHz 51 °C
Ivy Bridge 22nm Technology
RAM
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 795MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
Alienware M14xR2 (U3E1) 28 °C
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1600x900@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4000
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
Hard Drives
466GB W51R7HKP (RAID)
Optical Drives
MATA DVD+-RW UJ8A7
Audio
Sound Blaster Recon3Di
Hard Drives
W51R7HKP
Manufacturer Unknown manufacturer
Interface RAID
Capacity 466GB
Real size 500,105,547,264 bytes
RAID Type Software RAID
S.M.A.R.T
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #0
Size 39.1 MB
Partition 1
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #1
Size 9.22 GB
Partition 2
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #2
Disk Letter C:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 0EDCB974
Size 456GB
Used Space 53GB (12%)
Free Space 403GB (88%)

 

When you first turn on your laptop you should get a glimpse at the intel oROM which shows the drives in your system and how they're working.

According to the thread's title the 32gb mSATA is running as a caching device and therefore the easiest way to check it would be either that or entering your BIOS (F2 at the Alienware logo screen while starting the laptop).

 

An mSata disk will show up in Disk Management. (right click "My Computer">"Manage">"Disk Management")

 

Or that could work haha.. +1

 

No it's not there, just C, recovery sector and an OEM partition. So what specs do i need for finding one i can add? I'm assuming there is a space for it since this is a customizable option?

 

Check out the SSD forum for advice. You can probably use just about any mSata chip. I'm using a Mushkin Atlas 120GB that I'm pretty happy with. You will need to decide what you want to use it for - OS? Cache? Or. . . ? I'm using the mSata for a)cache, b)hibernation partion, c)Temp dir and Pagefile.sys.

FWIW, I had disappointing results with an OCZ Nocti 120GB and a Samsung PM830 32GB.

Have fun!

 

Just an update to all, the mSATA did end up being there, it wasn't visible on anything i tried until i looked in the Intel Rapid Storage Tech window, which shows a 32GB cache drive. I'm surprised it wasn't visible elsewhere. now how to upgrade.....hmmmmm

 

I have an R2 with a 64gb cache drive and the only time I can see it is on start up and with the Intel RST window also. I panicked when it "disappeared" after cache setup! I'm glad you found it. I was considering upgrading my 750gb HDD to a 512gb SSD but I have to save up for a while ... or sell something.... anyone want to buy a 3 yr old Dell laptop with a non-working battery?? LOL

 

If it's set to cache it won't show anywhere but there or in the BIOS.