Mini PCI-E SSD's on a standard computer?

[psyopper]

Lots of the netbook manufacturers are offering system drives in SSD form (we all know this) but of interest is both Asus and Dell offering them in Mini PCI-E format. And now this format is gaining ground in the retail world as well, Newegg lists 5 different models of Mini PCI-E drives.

My question is thus - This appears to be a PCI-E 1x channel; any chance one of these could be plugged into a standard PCI-E slot to operate as a system drive?

Seems that they are relatively cheaper than the SATA versions of SSD's. Might make a good drive for a SFF machine where internal space is at a premium. Possibly open up some otherwise congested air paths.

[Strid]

Lots of the netbook manufacturers are offering system drives in SSD form (we all know this) but of interest is both Asus and Dell offering them in Mini PCI-E format. And now this format is gaining ground in the retail world as well, Newegg lists 5 different models of Mini PCI-E drives.

My question is thus - This appears to be a PCI-E 1x channel; any chance one of these could be plugged into a standard PCI-E slot to operate as a system drive?

Seems that they are relatively cheaper than the SATA versions of SSD's. Might make a good drive for a SFF machine where internal space is at a premium. Possibly open up some otherwise congested air paths.

You can use a PCI-e <-> mini-PCI-e adapter like this:
How fast are they? They might not be much cheaper than a MTRON SSD on eBay. I got a 32 GB MTRON SSD for ~$200 (on eBay).


http://hwtools.net/Adapter/MP1.html

[psyopper]

How about $119 for a MLC drive, reportedly 40/70 mbs write/read.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RUNCORE-32GB-MINI-P ... 6110QQcmdZ

[wsc]

Personally I wouldn't go that route. Newegg has the OCZ 1SLD30G for $70. It's an MLC drive with the JMF602 control chip. 160/90 MB/s sequential speeds. It's been working great for me. It does slow down quite a bit during unzipping or other times of lots of small writes, but for $70, I'm not complaining.

[m^2]

Personally I wouldn't go that route. Newegg has the OCZ 1SLD30G for $70. It's an MLC drive with the JMF602 control chip. 160/90 MB/s sequential speeds. It's been working great for me. It does slow down quite a bit during unzipping or other times of lots of small writes, but for $70, I'm not complaining.

Yeah, it depends on how you look at this. I know that stuttering would drive me nuts. My nerves are worth much more than $50 price difference and for this reason, I advice to avoid this, though I know some are satisfied.

I'd rather wait for OCZ Vertex / Super Talent than buy the PCIe one though. Similar price and much better performance..

BTW RunCore lists them as 45/65 MB/s.
http://www.runcore.com/prodshow.asp?ID=161

[psyopper]

The thought on this was not really to replace a system or storage drive.

I was more along the lines of "Hey - is it really PCI-E compatable"? In that if you found them on the cheap you could pop them into any spare PCI-E slot on your computer for some extra storage without having to add extra drives.

FWIW - my current system drive is a WDC 150BB. That's right, an 8 year old ball bearing PATA drive. And testing it shows that it doesn't best these numbers...

[Gocra]

I'm interested in the kind of adapters you're talking about here, but can they be bought anywhere?! Hwtools is not a reseller and I cannot find another place to buy these adapters from Aeneas.

Unless anyone of you have an answer I'll try to mail the company.

GC

[curtisfong]

http://www.orbitmicro.com/global/pciexp ... p-771.html

[FartingBob]

If im going to spend 10 times as much on an SSD compared to a normal HDD its got to be at least as fast. Having it half the speed, a quarter of the capacity and 10 times the cost is NOT worth it just to cut down on noise and heat IMO.