mSATA or mPCIe ssd?

[Walter H.W.]

Hey guys, I need your help!

 

My brother wants to add an mSATA ssd to his laptop, i.e. the Asus A56C, because it's just too slow.

If you see in this photo there seems to be an mSATA slot, but I'm not 100% as I've read it could also be a PCIE slot:

 

Note 2 things, one good and one bad:
1. It says SSD on the right side of the slot, why would they write it if not to mount an SSD there?

2. The WiFi module is in a slot named  "12423A" just like what I assume is mSATA.

 

My other question: are there SSDs which aren't mSATA but are mPCIe? 

I couldn't find almost any info on this laptop, that's why I'm asking you.

This is what I'd buy: https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Notebooks-Ultrabooks-SMS200S3-120G/dp/B00CG8GTPO/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1473331505&sr=1-6&keywords=msata

Thanks in advance!

[done12many2]

That's a mSATA header and you'll need to get a mSATA drive, not a PCIe or SATA M.2.   mSATA and M.2 are physically different and not compatible.

[dragoon20005]

100% sure that is mSATA

 

M.2 has an extra notch for keying

[Walter H.W.]

6 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

That's a mSATA header and you'll need to get a mSATA drive, not a PCIe or SATA M.2.   mSATA and M.2 are physically different and not compatible.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I guess I mistook, I meant mPCIe. They look alike but I believe they aren't compatible, or am I wrong?. By the way, how can you be certain it's mSATA?

5 minutes ago, dragoon20005 said:

100% sure that is mSATA

 

M.2 has an extra notch for keying

Yes, I know M.2 is totally different. My doubt is between mSATA and mPCIe.

[dragoon20005]

Just now, Walter H.W. said:

I guess I mistook, I meant mPCIe. They look alike but believe they aren't compatible. How can you be certain it's mSATA?

Yes, I know M.2 is totally different. My doubt is between mSATA and mPCIe.

i think that slot could either accept PCI-E or mSATA.

 

it not unusual to see slot like these

[done12many2]

26 minutes ago, Walter H.W. said:

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I guess I mistook, I meant mPCIe. They look alike but I believe they aren't compatible, or am I wrong?. By the way, how can you be certain it's mSATA?

 

You are absolutely right.  mSATA and mPCIe are not compatible, but their slots and connections look the same.  Does the BIOS for the laptop offer any additional information?  You may see mSATA labeled some where in BIOS even though nothing is installed.  

 

**The attached shot is the only thing I could find with regards to that model number and mSATA.  Sounds like at least one person successfully installed a mSATA.**

 

 

[Walter H.W.]

1 hour ago, done12many2 said:

 

You are absolutely right.  mSATA and mPCIe are not compatible, but their slots and connections look the same.  Does the BIOS for the laptop offer any additional information?  You may see mSATA labeled some where in BIOS even though nothing is installed.  

 

**The attached shot is the only thing I could find with regards to that model number and mSATA.  Sounds like at least one person successfully installed a mSATA.**

 

 

Yep, I saw that guy but I think he doesn't know himself what he's running. He says mSATA but it might as well be mPCIe or what else, even his benchmarks are weird, am I completely off?

 

By the way, checking in the BIOS, there's nothing about mSATA. In the "SATA Configuration" there's only the CD/DVD player and the main HDD. 

[done12many2]

1 minute ago, Walter H.W. said:

Yep, I saw that guy but I think he doesn't know himself what he's running. He says mSATA but it might as well be mPCIe or what else, even his benchmarks are weird, am I completely off?

 

By the way, checking in the BIOS, there's nothing about mSATA. In the "SATA MODE Selection" there's only the CD/DVD player and the main HDD. 

 

Okay bud.  I'm still hunting for information.  I'm multitasking at the moment, but we'll find something soon, I'm sure.

[done12many2]

Okay, so there is very limited information from Asus, but I did find reference to "ExpressCache" within their driver section, which led me to believe that they had an option in one of their configurations to use the slot in question for some type of smaller SSD.  The question of which standard remained.

 

So then I started searching more and I found this.  Slightly different laptop model number, but it is definitely the same motherboard.  Check out the photos and let me know what you think?

 

With that said, I'm fairly confident that you're going to need a mSATA SDD as opposed to a mPCIe.  mSATA was just a lot more prevalent around the time frame that the Asus A56C was released.

[done12many2]

I should add that outlined within the thread that I linked, the OP had to remove one of the standoffs in order to get the larger mSATA SSD installed.  The process looks very simply and I've highlighted the standoff in your original picture.

 

I hope that works out for your and good luck!

 

 

[Walter H.W.]

On 9/8/2016 at 2:58 PM, done12many2 said:

Okay, so there is very limited information from Asus, but I did find reference to "ExpressCache" within their driver section, which led me to believe that they had an option in one of their configurations to use the slot in question for some type of smaller SSD.  The question of which standard remained.

 

So then I started searching more and I found this.  Slightly different laptop model number, but it is definitely the same motherboard.  Check out the photos and let me know what you think?

 

With that said, I'm fairly confident that you're going to need a mSATA SDD as opposed to a mPCIe.  mSATA was just a lot more prevalent around the time frame that the Asus A56C was released.

Looks sweet! I guess I can do the same, either way since I'll buy from Amazon I can always send it back..

 

Although I still have my doubts as the BIOS could not support it even if it's there.

 

Said that, do you think installing windows on it won't be a nightmare?

 

 

[Pendragon]

20 minutes ago, Walter H.W. said:

Said that, do you think installing windows on it won't be a nightmare?

on the mSATA? oh yes it's a bloody nightmare. Really depends on the user. The E5570 had a LTE/mSATA slot and people were having mad problems trying to use it as the boot drive. 

[exercutor5]

29 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

on the mSATA? oh yes it's a bloody nightmare. Really depends on the user. The E5570 had a LTE/mSATA slot and people were having mad problems trying to use it as the boot drive. 

That laptop should be alright though, from the looks of it seems to be made only for SSDs and nothing else.

[Walter H.W.]

3 hours ago, Pendragon said:

on the mSATA? oh yes it's a bloody nightmare. Really depends on the user. The E5570 had a LTE/mSATA slot and people were having mad problems trying to use it as the boot drive. 

2 hours ago, exercutor5 said:

That laptop should be alright though, from the looks of it seems to be made only for SSDs and nothing else.

I guess so, but you know how companies just remove stuff both physically and via software so that you can't use it? Like they could have removed PCB lines or whatever they're called or just made a BIOS which makes them useless. 

 

But now that I think about it, the user from the other forum had it working even if at lower speeds. Maybe I should just give it a try.