Question about the new Toshiba Qosmio X70 and intergrated SSD storage

[Supacat]

Hi guys,

I know this is a new laptop but I was hoping someone might know Integrated Intel® Turbo Memory, mSATA and SSD tech better than I and can maybe explain it better as I called Toshiba support and even they couldn't explain it lol.

I just purchased the X70 and during configuration, you have the option of actually having 2 hard drives and a 256GB mSATA SSD drive. I only choosed 1 drive figuring I will upgrade later when money is better.
Toshiba says they do not sell the mSATA drive direct and it must be configured during purchase. Does anyone know if you can buy an after market mSATA SSD and intall it after so essentially you will have 2 hard drives and an SSD? I called Toshiba support and they were nice but clueless and there is no manual released yet for this model. I am looking for a model that would work or will any mSATA drive do?

Also on the Toshiba site they list the SSD as Integrated Intel® Turbo Memory. I know what that did a couple years back but dont know if its the same in these new laptops meaning 256GB is a lot to use as a hard drive cache so is this basically just a typical SSD where I would install my OS onto?

Any help would be super appreciated!

From the spec sheet of the new X70
Storage Drive
Note: Customers may select from 1-3 drives. SSD drive will serve
as the default primary drive if selected. Otherwise drive in slot 1 is
primary.
SSD Drive
 None
 256GB mSATA solid state drive(SSD) (optional)
Hard Drive - Slot 1
 None (optional)
 750GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive
 500GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive(optional)
 1TB(5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive(optional)
 1TB (5400 RPM) Hybrid 8G Disk Drive (optional)
Hard Drive – Slot 2
 None
 500GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive(optional)
 750GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive(optional)
 1TB(5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive(optional)
 TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor)

 

[jaguarskx]

1. You can buy a mSATA SSD drive. Below is a link to the various mSATA SSD drives they have.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msata+ssd&N=-1&isNodeId=1

You can also check out what's available at Amazon. Simply search for the term "mSATA SSD" which is what I did at Newegg.


2. By default laptops will not install the OS on the mSATA SSD, perhaps the Toshiba's BIOS will allow you to do so. Perhaps not. In any case, there is a work around using a program called Easy BCD. Below is an article I found on how to install a mSATA SSD in a Lenovo ThinkPad T430. The steps should be more or less the same for any laptop. This was something I planned on doing myself when I ordered a ThinkPad T530 from Lenovo, but they sent me a T530 with the wrong configuration. I decided to wait until Lenovo releases the next gen ThinkPads with Haswell CPUs.

The article has all the steps you need to following including links to free software to clone your HDD to the SSD and the program I mentioned about; Easy BCD. Hopefully is it as easy as the author says it is. Good luck.

http/blog.laptopmag.com/triple-your-speed-how-to-install-an-msata-ssd-boot-drive-in-your-laptop?cmpid=492396

 

[Supacat]

1. You can buy a mSATA SSD drive. Below is a link to the various mSATA SSD drives they have.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msata+ssd&N=-1&isNodeId=1

You can also check out what's available at Amazon. Simply search for the term "mSATA SSD" which is what I did at Newegg.

2. By default laptops will not install the OS on the mSATA SSD, perhaps the Toshiba's BIOS will allow you to do so. Perhaps not. In any case, there is a work around using a program called Easy BCD. Below is an article I found on how to install a mSATA SSD in a Lenovo ThinkPad T430. The steps should be more or less the same for any laptop. This was something I planned on doing myself when I ordered a ThinkPad T530 from Lenovo, but they sent me a T530 with the wrong configuration. I decided to wait until Lenovo releases the next gen ThinkPads with Haswell CPUs.

The article has all the steps you need to following including links to free software to clone your HDD to the SSD and the program I mentioned about; Easy BCD. Hopefully is it as easy as the author says it is. Good luck.

http/blog.laptopmag.com/triple-your-speed-how-to-install-an-msata-ssd-boot-drive-in-your-laptop?cmpid=492396

Thanks so much for the info! I think I will go with this 1. http/www.amazon.com/Crucial-256GB-mSATA-Internal-CT256M4SSD3/dp/B0085J17UA/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp

Toshiba will only offer the mSATA $300 256GB on build and you cant buy it from them after. This helped a lot!

 

[Supacat]

So after a little research it turns out that this 1 might be best in terms of speed. Its a M5 mSATA.
http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B5BRIF8/ref=oss_product