1) You unscrew the riser and use the screws that previously held your 7mm hard drive in place in your laptop or buy some M2-3mm, it's not rocket science for someone who is already changing the drive in their laptop.
2) Screw it back on before RMA - how would they know? Many manufacturers ask you to reattach optional parts before RMA in my experience.
At least Intel give the option and make it possible and allow a drive to be reused in different laptops.
The Lenovo x220 uses 7mm drives and it was a hassle having limited SSD options. An mSATA drive was also an option but some people don't want to go that route and storage limitations existed. Now you can do both!
Sure, HDDs. And then they use an mSATA SSD for the "cache" drive. Those are only offered for a cheap solution.
Anything using only an SSD uses either an mSATA SSD or ones that are soldered into the main-board. I can't think of a single reason why a manufacturer would want to use a 7mm 2.5" SSD in an Ultrabook when there are already better options to choose from.
1) mSATA drives are MUCH slower than a dedicated SSD 2) soldered SATA drives are too expensive and leave no option for upgrading.
So neither of those options is actually superior to thinner SSDs in laptops. If they can make faster mSATA drives and there is more available options in the industry, then I could see mSATA becoming a good alternative.
1) mSATA uses a modified miniPCI-e interface. There's nothing remotely slow about them. They're as fast as any SATA 6Gb/s drives. 2) Soldered NAND does NOT cost more for the manufacturer. Not by a long shot. They're much cheaper to implement. It's only a con for the consumer, not the manufacturer.
So yes, mSATA is superior in every way to thin 2.5" based SSDs when it comes to Ultrabooks.
The interface is fine, but you can't put as many NAND packages onto them. This limits the amount of parallel channels to ~8, whereas "full size" SSDs can easily make use of 16.
Sure, many use mSATA SSDs but especially Ultrabooks that have models with standard HDDs use regular 2.5" SSDs as that allows the OEM to use the same design.
The risers actually go on the top of the SSD -- the power and SATA connectors are always on the bottom in the same position. So unfortunately you can't mount, say, an Intel riser onto an OCZ SSD (unless it's designed to take the riser).
Why do you need to screw in the riser? it's just a spacer, so just placing it on top should do the job. A thin piece of cardboard would work as well - I've had to do that with some of my external USB enclosures.
That would also then require a custom form factor that hard disks wouldn't be able to fit into easily. The point of these low profile drives is that they are still standard components, and will fit anywhere a 2.5" drive will - to replace hard disks in laptops for example.
Using miniature SSD's will be a good long term proposition for when SSD's become both large enough (capacity) and resilient enough to last the lifetime of the device it's placed into, being the only primary drive. The ultrabook format is definitely the main area where this would seem promising, since as you say it could be used to save space and fit a larger battery.
So you post an article about a low profile Vertex 3.
But you do not post anything about the recent Vertex 4 firmware updates and their performance enhancements.
Nor do you post any reviews on the lower capacity vertex drives (64gb, 128gb, etc).
And you guys are supposed to be the premier SSD website. Ha.
In other technology news, how about an article on why Ivy Bridge gets so hot during O.C. What the hell is wrong with you guys? An article on a low profile vertex 3 is somehow more important and newsworthy than anything else i've mentioned here?
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28 Comments
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DigitalFreak - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Seems like a waste of money to have two separate product lines that are identical aside from the thickness of the drive. Intel is doing it right.Guspaz - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Intel is doing it completely wrong. Why? Two reasons:1) The screws included are too long to use with the bracket removed: if you want to remove the bracket, you need new very hard to find screws
2) Removing the bracket voids your warranty. Yes. Really. See message 8 here: http://communities.intel.com/message/129550
MrSpadge - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
"Completely wrong" due to 2 reasons which could easily be fixed. Sure...kingpotnoodle - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
1) You unscrew the riser and use the screws that previously held your 7mm hard drive in place in your laptop or buy some M2-3mm, it's not rocket science for someone who is already changing the drive in their laptop.2) Screw it back on before RMA - how would they know? Many manufacturers ask you to reattach optional parts before RMA in my experience.
At least Intel give the option and make it possible and allow a drive to be reused in different laptops.
jmunjr - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
The Lenovo x220 uses 7mm drives and it was a hassle having limited SSD options. An mSATA drive was also an option but some people don't want to go that route and storage limitations existed. Now you can do both!Taft12 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
A good industry trend IMHO, I expect ultrabooks to quickly transition to this form factor.Is 7mm the same height as the Seagate slim rotational laptop drives?
Solidstate89 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Nah, they'll either use integrated/soldered on NAND chips or they'll continue using mSATA form factor. This is too large.Kristian Vättö - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
Some Ultrabooks already use 2.5" 7mm drives.Solidstate89 - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
Sure, HDDs. And then they use an mSATA SSD for the "cache" drive. Those are only offered for a cheap solution.Anything using only an SSD uses either an mSATA SSD or ones that are soldered into the main-board. I can't think of a single reason why a manufacturer would want to use a 7mm 2.5" SSD in an Ultrabook when there are already better options to choose from.
RussianSensation - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
1) mSATA drives are MUCH slower than a dedicated SSD2) soldered SATA drives are too expensive and leave no option for upgrading.
So neither of those options is actually superior to thinner SSDs in laptops. If they can make faster mSATA drives and there is more available options in the industry, then I could see mSATA becoming a good alternative.
Solidstate89 - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
1) mSATA uses a modified miniPCI-e interface. There's nothing remotely slow about them. They're as fast as any SATA 6Gb/s drives.2) Soldered NAND does NOT cost more for the manufacturer. Not by a long shot. They're much cheaper to implement. It's only a con for the consumer, not the manufacturer.
So yes, mSATA is superior in every way to thin 2.5" based SSDs when it comes to Ultrabooks.
MrSpadge - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
The interface is fine, but you can't put as many NAND packages onto them. This limits the amount of parallel channels to ~8, whereas "full size" SSDs can easily make use of 16.B3an - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
mSATA drives are not slower. Where did that come from??Infact not long ago on Anandtech they had an article on the Micron C400 mSATA. Go look it up. It's fast.
All Ultrabooks use mSATA for SSD's because they make far more sense.
Kristian Vättö - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
Not all Ultrabooks use mSATA SSDs. E.g. Acer Aspire S3 uses Micron's C400, and that's the 2.5" version:http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-a...
Sure, many use mSATA SSDs but especially Ultrabooks that have models with standard HDDs use regular 2.5" SSDs as that allows the OEM to use the same design.
cjb110 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Don't both types have their bottom screws in the same place?So everything should be made low profile, and risers for those that want higher profile.
JarredWalton - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
The risers actually go on the top of the SSD -- the power and SATA connectors are always on the bottom in the same position. So unfortunately you can't mount, say, an Intel riser onto an OCZ SSD (unless it's designed to take the riser).kmmatney - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
Why do you need to screw in the riser? it's just a spacer, so just placing it on top should do the job. A thin piece of cardboard would work as well - I've had to do that with some of my external USB enclosures.dagamer34 - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
Considering there are gumstick SSD form factors, LP seems like a waste of space that could be better used for a larger battery.Omoronovo - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
That would also then require a custom form factor that hard disks wouldn't be able to fit into easily. The point of these low profile drives is that they are still standard components, and will fit anywhere a 2.5" drive will - to replace hard disks in laptops for example.Using miniature SSD's will be a good long term proposition for when SSD's become both large enough (capacity) and resilient enough to last the lifetime of the device it's placed into, being the only primary drive. The ultrabook format is definitely the main area where this would seem promising, since as you say it could be used to save space and fit a larger battery.
dananski - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
How have we ended up with standard units of drive size being a mix of SI and imperial?Guspaz - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
America. That's how. Hurry up and join the rest of the planet already. It's annoying.silverblue - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
I'm not sure the author is American...Denithor - Friday, May 18, 2012 - link
What an odd word to use when referring to hard drives. I like it when other things jiggle, but hard drives?;-)
phoible_123 - Saturday, May 19, 2012 - link
I wonder why that could be? Is the higher-density flash memory significantly slower than the lower-density flash?alacard - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
So you post an article about a low profile Vertex 3.But you do not post anything about the recent Vertex 4 firmware updates and their performance enhancements.
Nor do you post any reviews on the lower capacity vertex drives (64gb, 128gb, etc).
And you guys are supposed to be the premier SSD website. Ha.
In other technology news, how about an article on why Ivy Bridge gets so hot during O.C. What the hell is wrong with you guys? An article on a low profile vertex 3 is somehow more important and newsworthy than anything else i've mentioned here?
What the hell is wrong with you?
dac1319 - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
Zanax is a helluva drug.You are welcome.
alacard - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
I'll look into that.Thank you.
Enigmat - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
As title suggests, is this the Vertex 3 with LP or is it the Vertex 3 MAX IOPS with LP?If its MAX IOPS LP then this would be perfect for the coming Zenbook Prime? :)