mSATA compatiblity for my laptop

[MKD27]

Hi,

does my laptop support mSATA SSD? I'm planning to add a SSD to my laptop. I have 2 options:

1. Add a mSATA ssd 

2. Replace the current HDD with normal SSD and add the HDD using Caddy.

I'm not sure whether my laptop supports mSATA SSD. Can I add it to my laptop?

My computer specifications: HP dv6 7040tx

In the user guide, it has been provided that it supports mSATA of 16 GB. I'm not sure whether I can add 250 GB mSATA.

Thanks

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

It does support an mSATA mSSD but not quite in the way you are thinking. Your laptop uses the first generation of hardware utilizing the mSATA. The mSATA was only used as a "cache" which speeds up a regular mechanical hard drive using Intel Rapid Storage technology. These are usually no larger than 32 gigs and when activated, bond with the mechanical drive in a type of RAID array. The cache holds boot files and commonly accessed program files and does speed the operation up quite a bit. It is just not as good as a pure SSD for sustained read and write operations. If a regular 2.5 inch hard drive is present in the main SATA bay the mSSD cannot be the boot drive. 

Your best and speediest configuration is to place a 2.5 inch SATA SSD in the main bay and then if you need storage use a DVD drive caddy. I don't really like those arrangements and since the price of SSDs has come down a bit a 1 TB is actually a viable option and should be all the storage anyone really needs. What with the cloud and all. And the mSATA disks are no faster than a 2.5 inch SATA SSD. 

Post back with any more questions. 

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