Will there ever be a motherboard with...

Probably not that far off, this Gigabyte already has 20GB built-in. Although it's only used for intel's smart response for now...But 60GB for OS/Program sounds feasible soon, no?

Can't post a link yet, but look up Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD

Cheers,
Laverdure

I hear you assassin, can't wait till SLC/MLC becomes more integrated with everything, heck they might be able to think of a few more creatives uses for sdram type memory.

The future looks good, but these advancements just never come fast enough.


I'm betting that board was assassin's motivation in creating this thread.

I hear they are going to enable the SRT cache feature in current P67 boards with a bios update soon. If so it'll keep me from wanting to upgrade to a Z68 mobo, and i have a Intel G2 drive just waiting to drop in.

And dedicated DDR5 iGPU memory.

More sitting on the fence time...

I'm sure Gigabyte has already looked into patents.

As soon as someone comes up with an integrated 60GB SSD, Microsoft will release an OS that requires 61GB.

I'd be just as happy if they started putting those mSATA slots on more mATX and mITX boards. This would allow you to grow the "integrated" storage as MS continues to bloat...

Zotac is doing it (and filling it with a WiFi card), but I can't believe it isn't offered on more boards. Seems like this would be an obvious feature for the HTPC market...

Why not just use a miniPCIe based SSD?

what happens if the drive fails do i have to send the mobo out for rma?

There are a few problems with SSD on board the high initial cost will scare people away. Failure and replacing the whole board like MoNkLorD said and also not being able to choose the size or performance of the drive. If you want something small and low profile there are more options than the 2.5 SATA format. You have mSATA, SATA FDM & DOM, Mini PCIe, IDE Modules and IDE ZIF.

What I'd like to see would be a mounting slot for a 2.5" SSD with a fixed power and SATA III connector already in place, sort of like the way a drive is put in a laptop. Eliminate the cables.

Makes me nervous to embed the SSD because of the risk that the entire board would be shot if the SSD failed. But if it was a simple "plug in your SSD here", that I would like.

I don't think it would be like that. Even on current mobo's, if an integrated feature is toasted (onboard NIC or video, for example), it's easy enough to disable it and use an add-in solution. I am sure the same holds true for any embedded SSD solution.

Don't get me wrong, like I said above, I think mSATA or mini PCIe is the superior solution, but I suppose an integrated solution could make sense, if there were actual cost-savings, which doesn't seem to be the case today.

There are SATA flash drives you can plop straight into your board's SATA plugs if that's the sort of thing you are interested in, but they are really only used in industrial builds because they are made using low-capacity chips and the speed is nothing to get excited about. If you wanted to make an basic HTPC with the emphasis on internal storage, using one of those would free up a space in your drive cage.

Other than miniPCIe SSD, all the solutions mentioned so far require the use of separate power adapter, which is not idea, IMO. (all the wires, etc)



Other than miniPCIe, there is also eUSB SSD. Which plugs directly onto a USB head, which has power. But its speed is limited by USB. Unless you have a USB 3.0 head and a eUSB 3.0 SSD. I don't know one exists.

It is called miniPCIe, and it is already here - at least on some laptops. You want the drive socketed somehow, not soldered.

There are several desktop Z68 boards with mSATA slots, and you don't have to use an intel 311 or enable SRT.

There are already various mSATA drives available up to 128gb, 256gb is on the horizon.

Unless you are going into a super packed ITX build though, I don't see a real point since it drives up the cost/GB. You won't beat the dedicated boxes in the size department, and those still use 2.5" drives. (even as small as the zotac nano)