Best choice for MSATA SSD in a laptop?

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Anticommon

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I've just recently bought (and received) a Lenovo Y500 laptop and I was wondering what would be the best option for me to choose as an MSATA SSD? I've been thinking about getting a 64GB Crucial M4 and using it as a cache drive simply because of the low cost, and because of the increase in loading speeds for booting/frequently used applications along with ease of use (no installing programs on different drives constantly).

But I've also been considering getting a 128GB MSATA SSD, or even a 240/256GB SSD if I can find one at the right price. Also, finding reviews comparing different drives when used as cache drives has been a big pain and I can't really find any consistent data. So perhaps some people with experience here can help me figure out what route I should invest my money into.

Note: Money is a pretty big factor here, and I'm looking to spend as little as possible whilst also getting something that is worth while. I don't want to invest in a sub-par drive (that doesn't net me much in gains) simply because it is the cheapest, while I'd also like to avoid spending a ton of money on something I wont fully take advantage of.
 
If you don't use the optical drive(ODD) much you can get a hard drive(HDD) caddy($20ish), get a SSD and throw your old HDD in there while using the SSD as the main.

Or if you can boot from MSATA, get that form factor, 60GB min for OS and Apps, maybe a popular game you play alot.
 
If I were to get a 60-64gb MSATA drive wouldn't I be better of using it as cache?

Also, if I spend money on a $20 caddy I might as well simply put that money towards getting a MSATA drive instead of a normal SSD, no? That way I can still use my optical drive.

Come to think of it I actually have no idea if lenovo sells the right caddy to use for my laptop (y500) to put a drive in the CD bay's place.
 
I never used a cache before so I'm not to sure of the benefits between that vs dedicated SSD usage so I posted the caddy option as an alternative.

Also I'm not sure about the price difference between MSATA and SATA SSDs.

Caddies are pretty much simply and come two sizes for 9.5mm and 12.7mm bays. Then there are different face-plate mounts to put the ODD bezel on.
The 12.7mm caddies can either take a 9.5mm or a 12.5mm HDD with as the moment can have a maximum capacity of 1GB and 1.5GB for the later depending on how slim the bottom material is.

Both the caddies below look to be able to mount a 12.5mm HDD.

This one will come without a bezel.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...oogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

This one has a fairly basic bezel but you will not be able to see what type of mounts it has for it if you decide to swap it out down the road.
http://www.amazon.com/Fenvi-Drive-Caddy-Lenovo-Thinkpad/dp/B008DCOYH2

Also you can always swap the ODD and HDD caddy out. My caddy fit snugly in my HP without the securing screw.
 
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ninjaturtle said:
I never used a cache before so I'm not to sure of the benefits between that vs dedicated SSD usage so I posted the caddy option as an alternative.

Also I'm not sure about the price difference between MSATA and SATA SSDs.

Caddies are pretty much simply and come two sizes for 9.5mm and 12.7mm bays. Then there are different face-plate mounts to put the ODD bezel on.
The 12.7mm caddies can either take a 9.5mm or a 12.5mm HDD with as the moment can have a maximum capacity of 1GB and 1.5GB for the later depending on how slim the bottom material is.

Both the caddies below look to be able to mount a 12.5mm HDD.

This one will come without a bezel.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...oogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

This one has a fairly basic bezel but you will not be able to see what type of mounts it has for it if you decide to swap it out down the road.
http://www.amazon.com/Fenvi-Drive-Caddy-Lenovo-Thinkpad/dp/B008DCOYH2

Also you can always swap the ODD and HDD caddy out. My caddy fit snugly in my HP without the securing screw.
Click to expand...

This friday when I finally get my grubby hands on my laptop I'm going to have to take out the CD drive and see what can be done about replacing it to install a 2.5" SSD.
 
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Surprised no one else on this thread.

If you go the caddy route you should clone your HDD to your SSD and use that in the laptop's main bay as the main drive and just put the HDD in the caddy for bulk storage.

Reason being as laptops might have a slower interface for the ODD bay and will not take full advantage of the SSD speed as oppose to the main bay. ODDs just don't need the speed of a SATA 2/3 interface but is fast enough for HDDs.
 
Why bother using it as cache when you can use it as an OS drive? That's what I'm doing. I bought a 64GB m4 mSATA and on it is just the OS, the HDD sits as storage.
 
I have the 256GB M4 mSata, works fine, it's Sata III rated but my mSata port is off of one of the Sata II ports, not the Sata III.
 
So I might be getting a Toshiba 128gb msata ssd for around the same price as the 64gb m4 so I might grab that and call it a day.
 
I was reading that some mSATA drives are not compatible with some models of laptops. Any truth to that? It would suck to buy one and discover it didn't work after installing.
 
I think there is a different type of SSD that connects to a mini PCIe slot, or is 1.8" in size or something along those lines. I've heard there are different types of connections (small form factor) but that MSATA should work in any MSATA slot.
 
Just spoke to a sales rep from lenovo who said that the ultrabay slots won't be available for another 2-3 weeks at best, so msata is the way to go unless I can go without my 1TB drive for a while.
 
ND40oz said:
I have the 256GB M4 mSata, works fine, it's Sata III rated but my mSata port is off of one of the Sata II ports, not the Sata III.
Click to expand...

x2 on all this. I have it in addition to a Vertex 4 in the main HD bay and a regular HDD in the optical bay.


soekev said:
I was reading that some mSATA drives are not compatible with some models of laptops. Any truth to that? It would suck to buy one and discover it didn't work after installing.
Click to expand...

Well if the laptop has an actualy mSATA port, then any mSATA drive will be compatible. The confusion stems from the fact that mSATA shares the same connector with mini PCIe, and some people think they are interchangeable, but they arent.
 
ninjaturtle said:
Do you mean this?
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...80E0E5D6FE77B164&hide_menu_area=yes#techspecs
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I believe the Y500 uses a special type of ultrabay that makes it simply snap into place, and it is quite a bit larger than a regular ultrabay (as it can also be used to add a second graphics chip into the laptop).

I'm going to have to take a closer look tomorrow though and check it out. For an extra $60 though I might as well just get the MSATA drive lol.
 
Anticommon said:
Unfortunately I believe the Y500 uses a special type of ultrabay that makes it simply snap into place, and it is quite a bit larger than a regular ultrabay (as it can also be used to add a second graphics chip into the laptop).

I'm going to have to take a closer look tomorrow though and check it out. For an extra $60 though I might as well just get the MSATA drive lol.
Click to expand...

Yeah, just reading up of that option, can you post a pic of your ODD connection end?
I did see one posted on the web yet.

Edit: found one on another forum I'm on.
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=60d4628c01f8d616&id=60D4628C01F8D616!618

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ide...400-announced-dual-graphics-capabilities.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmVYvJhlhL8

http://service.lenovo.partner-management.com/content/CourseWarePublic/16538/player.html
 
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