mSATA gaming advantage?

[Finewine789]

Hi,
Can anyone explain what real advantage in using mSATA SSD (the miniature type that clip straight onto motherboard) for gaming. They don't seem to have very large memory. Does they make it faster for gaming? I've read somewhere that they enable intel 'fast start'. What does that really mean?
Using Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard.
Thanks

 

[yashiro]

They're an interim solution for people still using mechanical drives.

A proper SSD > Intel Cache SSD + Mechanical drive > Mechanical drive

 

[drakioned]

hmm, what do you mean they don't have very large memory?

I have a 256gb Crucial m4 in mSATA in my laptop...

It's just like any other drive... I mean, yeah, you can configure it to be used as a cache I suppose.

 

[Finewine789]

Thanks.
Would 128Gb mSATA be adequate for gaming or is the gaming speed more limited by RAM? I have 16Gb Crucial RAM installed.
You'll have realised that I'm not especially 'techie' but getting there slowly.
Does the mother board give the mSATA any kind of priority over other drives? Or is the control for RAID configuration etc completely flexible to include the mSATA just as any other drive?

 

[wazza300]

the cost of msata ssd's are high compared to propper full on ssd's so your better getting a propper one imo

and msata are only sata2 speed not sata3

however caching does work verywell and will speedup your hdd and any game loading ect

its as fast as a regular ssd only slightly slower at startups

 

[drakioned]

Thanks.
Would 128Gb mSATA be adequate for gaming or is the gaming speed more limited by RAM?

Gaming speed is primarily limited by graphics card power. SSD primarily affects loading time, not anything like fps.

I have 16Gb Crucial RAM installed.

This is plenty, no games will use that much at the moment and probably for the near future.

You'll have realised that I'm not especially 'techie' but getting there slowly.

Ok.

Does the mother board give the mSATA any kind of priority over other drives?

No.

Or is the control for RAID configuration etc completely flexible to include the mSATA just as any other drive?

May depend on your board, but it should just show up as just another drive. mSATA vs 2.5" is really a matter of physical dimensions rather than anything else.

the cost of msata ssd's are high compared to propper full on ssd's so your better getting a propper one imo

OcUK lists:
Crucial M4 256GB mSATA Solid State Drive - (CT256M4SSD3) [CT256M4SSD3] for £158.99
Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2) [CT256M4SSD2] for £164.99

and msata are only sata2 speed not sata3

- Interface: SATA 6Gb/s (SATA III)
from Crucial M4 256GB mSATA Solid State Drive - (CT256M4SSD3) [CT256M4SSD3]

However, just like regular SATA, there are SATA 2 mSATA slots and SATA 3 mSATA slots.

 

[wazza300]

it depends on the motherboard then,some support sata2 and some sata3 so youll need to check ect

 

[Finewine789]

Thanks all.
Great to know there's help out there!
Slowly the cloud of confusion is lifting.