What is this slot in my Laptop's motherboard?

[Krasa]

I wanted to install an exp gdc on my laptop to give it some life support. But when I checked my laptop the wifi card was smaller than expected... What's going on?

 

My question is, is this a mini pcie slot or an entirely different being? 

 

I'm installing an exp gdc 8.4 mini pcie variant.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

It looks like mSATA.

[Tabs]

Yep, that's mSata. You won't be able to use an EXP GDC on it because it doesn't link directly to pci express. You need an m.2 slot for that.

[Krasa]

1 hour ago, Tabs said:

Yep, that's mSata. You won't be able to use an EXP GDC on it because it doesn't link directly to pci express. You need an m.2 slot for that.

Well that's a bummer...

[Krasa]

I did some more research and someone said that Sata and mSata is exclusively for storage (makes sense since that's how it works on the PC motherboard). Since this slot is used for my wifi card isn't it safe to assume it's a Mini Pcie slot instead of an mSata? 

 

Unless the wifi card I have is designed for mSata...?

[Meaker]

Yes if it's meant for a WiFi card it will be mini PCI express which is the same physically as msata but offers a 1x pci-e connection. The best card for this connection would be something like the Intel 7260ac card (be warned that also came in m.2)

[Krasa]

21 minutes ago, Meaker said:

Yes if it's meant for a WiFi card it will be mini PCI express which is the same physically as msata but offers a 1x pci-e connection. The best card for this connection would be something like the Intel 7260ac card (be warned that also came in m.2)

Makes sense! Good chance it's mPCIe instead of mSata then. Bonkers how it's not printed out anywhere what type of port it is since mSata and mPCIe is physically the same. I'll do a leap of faith and order the EXP GDC.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

14 hours ago, Krasa said:

Makes sense! Good chance it's mPCIe instead of mSata then. Bonkers how it's not printed out anywhere what type of port it is since mSata and mPCIe is physically the same. I'll do a leap of faith and order the EXP GDC.

I did the opposite: plug an mSATA SSD in the slot for the optional cell phone radio of my laptop. Worked without issues.

Hence, while I can't say it applies to your laptop, there certainly are slots compatible with both mSATA drives and expansion cards out there. So, good luck