mSATA connector on my motherboard use?

[donfm]

Ok I've been out of the computer building tech loop since my last build.

The Z77 LGA1155 motherboard I'm looking at for my new build has an mSATA socket. What are the main uses of this internal socket? Can you add an mSATA SSD and use it like another system drive or is it for other peripherals? Seems I read some place it was to work with the new 3rd gen Intel processors somehow.

I'm also going to need some advice on selecting a mobo to go with my i5 3570K for my new system if anyone cares to give a suggestion. I am thinking a mid price reliable board since I'm not really into severe overclocking that much but would like the capability in the future if I so choose. Some things I'd like are:

Z77 chipset
usb 2.0
usb 3.0
DDR3 1600 minimum speed buss
eSATA
HDMI
Good onboard HD audio 7-1 chip (Realtec maybe)
under $200 something like the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H

 

[AkumaX]

I think its only for mSATA SSD drives
Note that if you use it, it will disable one of the regular SATA ports (like port 5 or 6 - of 6 total)

You can use it for 1) as an actual regular drive for OS installs or 2) as an SSD caching drive

 

[ShintaiDK]

Its simply a SSD you add. And they look like this:

It performs no different than a regular SSD.

 

[tidy]

.

 

[donfm]

Thanks for the help. I appreciate the input.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I think the general intention was that you use the micro SSD with Intel's caching tech, but otherwise you can just use it as a normal system drive.

I'm pretty sure it's restricted to SATA II speeds, right? Because one of the standard SATA II ports generally becomes unusable while the M-SATA drive is installed (as opposed to one of the SATA III ports becoming unusable).

It can be SATA3 too. Its purely up to the mobo makers. But due to only 2 SATA3 ports, it will first be on 8 series chipset that we see it as SATA3 on the mSATA slot.