2011 ThinkPad drive options and speed

Hey,

Have any of you seen a review, whitepaper, guide, or authoritative blog post on the drive options for the X220, T420, T520, W520, etc.?

We are looking to understand about the new microSSD drives and their use, definitive bay sizes, and supported and tested SATA speeds.

For instance, can you have three SSD drives in the T420? It appears the answer is yes. Can the microSSD be used as a boot drive?

What is the height of the primary drive bay in the X220? What about the T420?

Are the microSSD slots, primary drive bay, and ultrabay all SATA III and therefore 6GB speed interfaces?

None of the reviews I've seen have touched on this area.

Thanks

 

-mSATA ssd's are full size pcie cards.
-They can be used as boot drives (that's the desired config in a X220).
- They've been tested.

-I don't see why you couldn't have three ssd's in the T420.

-Primary drive bay in the X220 is 7mm tall, 9.5mm in the T420. User bsoft has pointed out that the X25-M is a 7mm drive once the spacer is removed.

-The 310-series ssd's are SATA II according to the review. Can't speak for any of the motherboard interfaces, but I'd think at least the full size drive bays are SATA III considering where the ssd market is now.

 

Right, although I should add that the T420 s is 7mm like the X220. So if you want a 9mm drive in the T420s, your only option is to put it in the UltraBay with the SATA adapter (instead of a battery or optical drive).

7mm hard drives are pretty easy to find and they aren't really any more expensive or slower than the 9mm versions. The only downside is that the largest 7mm disks are 320/500GB (7200/5400rpm) vs. 750GB for 9mm disks. So if you need a ton of storage the X220 isn't a great option and the T420s is only a good option if you don't mind losing the bay battery/optical drive.

7mm SSDs on the other hand are a problem. Other than the Intel X25-M G2 there aren't a lot of options here. There's the X25-M G2 in 80GB and 160GB, which is a great drive but not the fastest thing on the market any more. It's also easy to get. Lenovo also has a 128GB SSD option, which is probably Samsung, but it might be an OEM-only part which could rule it out.

1.8" SSDs might also be an option, but I'm not aware of any adapters that are 7mm currently.

I'm planning on re-using my X25-M G2 160GB when I get a T420s or an X220 (I haven't decided which yet).

 

Thanks for the info on the Intel 310 series but I was already aware of that. I'm up to speed on the storage device speeds and interfaces. The interface speeds in the notebook is an entirely different ballgame as we learned with the T61p.

 

Would Newegg.com - Intel 310 Series (Soda Creek) SSDMAEMC080G2C1 mSATA 80GB mSATA (mini PCIe form factor) MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD work in a t420s or w520 as a boot drive?

Is Lenovo blocking drives that aren't purchased from them?

 

I've asked this question, but we won't know until someone tries.

 

In one of the threads it was said the X220 7mm drive has a spacer on it so as to occupy a 9.5mm bay, ie: the bay itself can take a 9.5mm drive.

 

That would be amazing if it were true . Can anyone else confirm this?

 

I've no idea one way or the other. Maybe because it's late and I've not thought this through clearly, but if I look at my X200t and the pics from the X220 tabook, it looks like the drive cover on my X200t is a bit taller than the drive cover on the X220.

 

I am new to the mSATA ssd. May I know if I install the Intel 310 mSATA to T420, I need to give up wifi of the laptop? (are they using the same port?) Thanks.

 

I think you've got it reversed. What I've read so far is that some Intel drives have the spacer to go from 9.5mm to 7mm. X220 and T420s drive bays are set at 7mm.

 

^^^ That's right: X220 and T420s drive bays are set at 7mm.

Some Intel drives have a black plastic spacer that makes their height 9.5mm (as a standard 2.5" drive). When the spacer is removed, the height becomes 7mm and the drive can fit the X220 bay.

 

No, not wifi. It replaces the 3G modem card.