*** Official Clevo P170EM / Sager NP9170 Owner's Lounge ***

My question concerning mSATA on the Sager NP9170 is:

What is the max speed (SATA LvL) supported for that mSATA port?

SATA3 mSATA drives are slowly popping up and it would be a shame to buy one... and then install it only to find out the port itself is only capable of SATA2.

The one I was looking at earlier was the Mushkin Enhanced MKNSSDAT240GB-DX

mSATA
Capacity: 240GB
Memory Components: MLC
Interface: SATA III
Controller: SandForce SF-2281
Max Sequential Read: Up to 560 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: Up to 530 MB/s
4KB Random Write: Up to 80,000 IOPS

It's got a hefty price tag, but it's also gigantic (for a mSATA SSD), The smaller versions will be trickling down from Intel soon and I want to know I can install SATA 3 mSATA SSD's before I blow the money on it.

Thanks =)

 

I guess the real question would be if I already have a Crucial M4 for OS boot does the SRT provide a real boost in performance

 

But then again - if I have 240GB SSD and 750GB reg HD, do I need to go with SRT? Something tells me ...mmmm..NO!

 

AHHH this is killing me.. on the 8th day of production. Ugh. Just ship the damn thing to me already!! Man I can't stand this waiting crap. I'm definitely going to choose rush order if I ever do another custom lappy.

 

It's more for the people that are using mechanical hard drives in raid 0 for space, and want the same boosts to the OS as people with full SSD's. It's pretty much just making a extremely fast hybrid drive that's configurable to anything the user wants.

 

it has been mentioned here before in this thread somewhere

 

Nope... someone was trying to squish a normal SSD into the msata port, and the question was never answered for them.
I want to know if the mSATA port on this laptop is capable of handling sata3 msata.

The only info about it, is the fact it's there and uses SRT, nothing is stipulated about it's maximum performance. If the msata controller on the hm77 chipset on this clevo board is only capable of handling sata2 msata, it would be relevant to buyers abroad, especially with sata3 msata appearing with the same write and read speeds as standard SSD's.

 

I had asked a similar question the mSATA plugs into an mPCIE slot. Is the mPCIE Slot dedicated to msata ssd, or can the mPCIE slot be repurposed to something else that requires an mPCIE connection like an expresscard board?

 

The answer a few questions that I know of that popped up

The mPciE slot in the 9170 is Sata2, sadly. Its only configured for mSata drives also, due to the wiring required for other devices. I may be wrong, but at the least a wlan card wouldnt work for that reason.

As far as an ssd mSata drive as a cache for another ssd, I dont see virtually any benefit because virtually any full ssd has higher speeds & capacities than most mSata drives (not to mention sata3 vs sata2)

Also note that SRT can only utilize upto 64gb of cache. Anything beyond that you are allowed to allocate as another drive letter; IE if you get a 128gb mSata drive and use it for SRT, you can allocate another 64gb drive letter on it, and itll still use it for cache.

 

I was in the exact same boat not long ago. However, with my workload and how long I work in any given day, the difference between 2.2/2.4/2.5ghz and 3.7/4.0/4.4ghz between hours a day for the lifetime of the laptop, and with the game design market itself and my plans, its a big benefit to me. It might be a few seconds here and there that it speeds things up, but even doing easy math shows it;

1 second a minute speed up = 1 minute an hour = ~10 minutes a day = ~3-5 hours a month = ~2 days +-0.5 a year, could mean 2-4 +-1.5 days compounded difference in its lifecycle, and thats only at 1 second a minute. Probably speeds up more, give or take usage and my patterns in the future and so on. Highly subjective, I know, but it can really add up for someone like me.

 

... now that 64gb limit on SRT is something I never heard about, but I guess if it doesn't benefit my build anyways I'll probably wait for mSATAs to get a little better as it looks to be a nitch group for the ssd market.

 

I definitely see and appreciate your view.

When giving my opinion on CPUs, I always mean to add the caveat "in regards to gaming", but forgot this time.

 

The biggest market for mSATA is in the dual drive configuration area on smaller chassis. It doesn't make much sense on the models like this one that already have two bays, but on the 15" and less- it allows for mSATA + HDD + optical drive. On even smaller models like the W110er, you can do mSATA + HDD. It's a nice compromise when people need a lot of storage, but don't want to be stuck with slower hard drive only configurations. So you're right, it's still a pretty niche product. When they start to equal full size 2.5" drives in speed and cost, I can see them being more popular.

 

This may be a bit of a noob question, but if i've ordered a 170Em with just a dvd drive. Can I just buy any pc bluray drive and it will fit?

 

No, desktop form factor drives are not the same. You need to buy a 12.7mm slim line optical drive. I'd recommend an external Blu-ray drive that connects via USB if you're looking to buy and have more than one machine though. That way you can use it on others as well.

 

Ah k, cheers mate, ill probably just grab one of these Sony BC5540H01 Internal Slim SATA Blu-Ray Reader Combo [BC5540H01] - $85.00 : PC Case Gear

 

You should definitely still check, but I've found that the 12.7mm slim is the common choice in most laptops these days (and previously). I've been able to swap out my 12.7 BD burner in and out of several machines through the years.

 

Yeah that was my plan to I have a bd burner I bought for my wife's dell m2010 that gigantic 20" laptop that is too big for a lap...anyways shortly after installing it, the video drivers changed and we couldn't watch blu rays anymore....

 

Awww, Well I suppose sata2 is better than nothing, makes thing's a lot cheaper with a 64gb cap.
Thanks for the premo info Networkgamer.

 

Dumb question: I see a difference between the Malibal Satori P170EM chassis, and the Sager NP9170. I don't just mean the black mirror finish, but the side panels as well, they look far more "curvy", is this down to individual reseller specs, or just old pic galleries on the part of the Sager resellers? (powernotebook)