intel Turbo Memory on older laptops with mini PCl?

[coolVariable]

It seems intel's new Turbo Mary is available for sale from various retailers. Since it is essentially only a mini PCI card does it also work in other older laptops? E.g. I was hoping it could run in Laptops with a GM 950/945 chipset that run Vista

 

[coolVariable]

??

 

[Ruptga]

It will work (assuming you haven't got a CardBus Card with an Expresscard laptop, or vice versa), why wouldn't it? The only question is how well it will work. 33MBps isn't that great for a hard drive, but flash doesn't ever need to spool up, so boot/hibernate times should still be better, and you'd still have your power savings.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: ADDAvenger
It will work (assuming you haven't got a CardBus Card with an Expresscard laptop, or vice versa), why wouldn't it? The only question is how well it will work. 33MBps isn't that great for a hard drive, but flash doesn't ever need to spool up, so boot/hibernate times should still be better, and you'd still have your power savings.

What do CardBus and Expresscard have to do with Mini-PCI?

Aren't those the formats for the "PCMCIA" external slot?

I have two laptop that I might consider this for:
Dell Latitude x300 with an empty miniPCI slot for bluetooth
Lenovo x60 with an empty miniPCI slot for WWAN.

 

[Ruptga]

I see, I thought you were equating miniPCI with Cardbus, nevermind then, at least you got some bumps out of it.

I was just figuring that they wouldn't release something as easy to install as a PC card without some kind of major warning that it wouldn't work on older laptops.

 

[jkresh]

its possible that you could get a minipci card (one option would be to configure a dell with and without turbomemory (same model though) and see if they list the part # for the minipci card) if they do you might be able to order it (though I cant guarantee it will work in your system) as it may be part of santa rosa's chipset that controls it. Also unless I am mistaken for vista's purposes you will get a similar boost out of a usb key or a hybrid hard drive.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: jkresh
its possible that you could get a minipci card (one option would be to configure a dell with and without turbomemory (same model though) and see if they list the part # for the minipci card) if they do you might be able to order it (though I cant guarantee it will work in your system) as it may be part of santa rosa's chipset that controls it. Also unless I am mistaken for vista's purposes you will get a similar boost out of a usb key or a hybrid hard drive.

If you search for intel Turbo Memory there is a ton of retailers selling these Mini-PCI cards.

I am just not sure if it is some part of the new Santa Rosa chipset that allows these Turbo Memory cards to be accessed/used. I believe that Vista should be able to use it from a software point of view. The only question is if it can be used hardware-wise with older chipsets ... not sure but don't you need your BIOS to support it????


Anyone?

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: coolVariable

Originally posted by: jkresh
its possible that you could get a minipci card (one option would be to configure a dell with and without turbomemory (same model though) and see if they list the part # for the minipci card) if they do you might be able to order it (though I cant guarantee it will work in your system) as it may be part of santa rosa's chipset that controls it. Also unless I am mistaken for vista's purposes you will get a similar boost out of a usb key or a hybrid hard drive.

If you search for intel Turbo Memory there is a ton of retailers selling these Mini-PCI cards.

I am just not sure if it is some part of the new Santa Rosa chipset that allows these Turbo Memory cards to be accessed/used. I believe that Vista should be able to use it from a software point of view. The only question is if it can be used hardware-wise with older chipsets ... not sure but don't you need your BIOS to support it????


Anyone?

thought this would interest more people since it is a great way to upgrade computers (especially laptops) beyond their RAM limits.
I have an old laptop that only has 1 RAM slot which is limited to 1GB sticks ... this could breath some new life into it.

 

[coolVariable]

I find it very disappointing that so few people are interested in this.

Wouldn't this be a great way to upgrade older laptops?



Anyone have a new intel Turbo Memory laptop that is willing and able to test it on an older laptop?

 

[Old Hippie]

I am just not sure if it is some part of the new Santa Rosa chipset that allows these Turbo Memory cards to be accessed/used.

Everything I've read indicates it needs the Santa Rosa chipset. I have read nothing about backward compatability, and figured it would be a selling point if it was.

 

[coolVariable]

Would be nice if AT could do a test.

I cannot find any literature saying anything about intel Turbo Memory and whether it needs a specific chipset.

All the stores that carry it also only advertise that you need an empty miniPCI slot.



Please can AT or someone with technical knowledge give this a try?
I would be willing to do it if someone sent me their Turbo Memory or bought it for me ... I just don't want to run the risk of buying it and then not being able to use it.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
It seems intel's new Turbo Mary is available for sale from various retailers. Since it is essentially only a mini PCI card does it also work in other older laptops? E.g. I was hoping it could run in Laptops with a GM 950/945 chipset that run Vista

It's a mini PCI-E card, not mini PCI, to my knowledge. It'll be incompatible with your notebook. Unless of course, you have a mini PCI-E slot, but I'm pretty sure thats going to be rare in an older laptop.

Best you can do is use a USB stick for readyboost, or hope they come out with a Mini PCI card.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: BD2003

It's a mini PCI-E card, not mini PCI, to my knowledge. It'll be incompatible with your notebook. Unless of course, you have a mini PCI-E slot, but I'm pretty sure thats going to be rare in an older laptop.

Best you can do is use a USB stick for readyboost, or hope they come out with a Mini PCI card.

What if you have a laptop that is not the new Santa Rosa chipset but has an available mini-PCIe slot ?
(e.g. my Lenovo x60 has 2 miniPCIe slots ... and I am only using 1 for the wifi)

I would love to see a tech site test this. (Hello AT ... anybody listening?)

Take a non-Santa Rosa laptop with a last gen chipset (e.g. intel950/945) and slap a Turbo Memory Card in it to see whether it works.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: coolVariable

Originally posted by: BD2003

It's a mini PCI-E card, not mini PCI, to my knowledge. It'll be incompatible with your notebook. Unless of course, you have a mini PCI-E slot, but I'm pretty sure thats going to be rare in an older laptop.

Best you can do is use a USB stick for readyboost, or hope they come out with a Mini PCI card.

What if you have a laptop that is not the new Santa Rosa chipset but has an available mini-PCIe slot ?
(e.g. my Lenovo x60 has 2 miniPCIe slots ... and I am only using 1 for the wifi)

I would love to see a tech site test this. (Hello AT ... anybody listening?)

Take a non-Santa Rosa laptop with a last gen chipset (e.g. intel950/945) and slap a Turbo Memory Card in it to see whether it works.

As long as you can get the intel driver, I dont see why it wouldnt work. At the very least, if its recognized as storage it can be used for readyboost with a little tweaking.

 

[WackyDan]

Let me end the debate.

Both INtel and Microsoft are only supporting Turbo Memory (Robson) on Vista and Santa Rosa. By supporting I mean at the OS level, as well driver and firmware level.

To further complicate things, even if intel did support it on older platforms, it would still be up to the OEM of the system, or system board to provide the additional updates to support it as well. ie; bios.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: coolVariable

Originally posted by: BD2003

It's a mini PCI-E card, not mini PCI, to my knowledge. It'll be incompatible with your notebook. Unless of course, you have a mini PCI-E slot, but I'm pretty sure thats going to be rare in an older laptop.

Best you can do is use a USB stick for readyboost, or hope they come out with a Mini PCI card.

What if you have a laptop that is not the new Santa Rosa chipset but has an available mini-PCIe slot ?
(e.g. my Lenovo x60 has 2 miniPCIe slots ... and I am only using 1 for the wifi)

I would love to see a tech site test this. (Hello AT ... anybody listening?)

Take a non-Santa Rosa laptop with a last gen chipset (e.g. intel950/945) and slap a Turbo Memory Card in it to see whether it works.

As long as you can get the intel driver, I dont see why it wouldnt work. At the very least, if its recognized as storage it can be used for readyboost with a little tweaking.

I agree. It would be nice if one of the better tech sites (e.g. AT) did a test.

 

[coolVariable]

Thought someone on this board might already be the proud owner of a Santa Rosa lappy with turbo memory as well as the owner of an older laptop with an empty miniPCIe slot ...



any takers?

 

[coolVariable]

Amazon now has it for $27 with free shipping and no tax in all states but KS, ND, WA


http://www.tabletpcreview.com/...etPCReview.com+Coupon+ Tool+Forum&merchantID=280364&productID=85102&merchantPricingID=5825087&couponID=25334&cnetProductID=32136364

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
Thought someone on this board might already be the proud owner of a Santa Rosa lappy with turbo memory as well as the owner of an older laptop with an empty miniPCIe slot ...
any takers?

If you read the latest review, it practically guarantees, Turbo Memory needs the Santa Rosa chipset and Vista.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

Originally posted by: coolVariable
Thought someone on this board might already be the proud owner of a Santa Rosa lappy with turbo memory as well as the owner of an older laptop with an empty miniPCIe slot ...
any takers?

If you read the latest review, it practically guarantees, Turbo Memory needs the Santa Rosa chipset and Vista.

Doesn't say anywhere that it needs the chipset.
If someone orders me a Tubro memory card, I will gladly test it in my x60.

 

[WackyDan]

The firmware on your x60 does not support it. Have fun.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: WackyDan
The firmware on your x60 does not support it. Have fun.

Please post a link or pics of you trying it.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

I am just not sure if it is some part of the new Santa Rosa chipset that allows these Turbo Memory cards to be accessed/used.

Everything I've read indicates it needs the Santa Rosa chipset. I have read nothing about backward compatability, and figured it would be a selling point if it was.

yeah that was my understand as well. i thought to properly support it, you need the Santa Rosa chipset?

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: coolVariable

Originally posted by: WackyDan
The firmware on your x60 does not support it. Have fun.

Please post a link or pics of you trying it.

Numerous people here including myself have told you it can't be done. Some of us work in the industry......

Go ahead and buy the card.. try it... waste your money.