New to SSD's. First install attempt with bad read/writes

[whs]

I am glad that I am not in thast camp

 

[njneer75]

Ok so I finally called Gigabyte and found out that my particular model of mobo is only Sata2 @ 3 Gbs and does not have the ability in the bios to set AHCI mode for the controllers. Is this what is throttling my read/write speeds?

 

[whs]

Sata2 is sufficient for running the OS. Running in IDE mode may slow you down. That will depend on the SSD. I have a couple where I did not notice a big difference.

 

[njneer75]

Sata2 is sufficient for running the OS. Running in IDE mode may slow you down. That will depend on the SSD. I have a couple where I did not notice a big difference.

Thanks but the purpose of this thread was because Im aiming higher than sufficient.

 

[essenbe]

A SATA 3 SSD will run well on a SATA 2 port. I have a SATA 3 SSD in my laptop. It does quite well. But, you could get better performance with AHCI mode. If I understand you correctly, that is not an option for you. All SSD Manufacturers that I am aware of recomend AHCI mode for best performance. We can help make sure that it is set up properly, but as with most everything else, you are limited by the capabilities of your hardware. Saying that, I would still think you should get better performance than you are getting from the SSD even in IDE mode. But, you seem to be properly aligned and Windows 7 will take care of most everything else. Have you run the Windows experience index? What was your score for the hard drive? If not run it, it will make windows recognize it as an SSD, if it hasn't already. As an afterthought, by setting the sata controllers to raid, it should load AHCI drivers I believe. But, not being familar with raid, I'm not sure whether it will boot if you change it now. And, yes you can set the ports to raid and not run raid. Maybe someone with experience with raid could help.

 

[njneer75]

My overall WEI score is limited by my damn ssd at 7.3. If that would be better, i would be maxed at 7.9,

 

[Wishmaster]

7.3 - 7.6 ish is about right for a SATA 2 SSD. Nothing wrong with that.

Some of the newer gen SATA3 SSDs can get a 7.9, but again, thats running in SATA3 with AHCI mode.


I wouldnt worry 7.3 is just fine for SATA2 speeds.

 

[whs]

I have one Vertex2 where the score is 6.9 - and that is my fastest system (out of 6 systems with SSDs) even though it has only an i5. That is to say that the WEI does not mean much in real life.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

7.3 - 7.6 ish is about right for a SATA 2 SSD. Nothing wrong with that.

Some of the newer gen SATA3 SSDs can get a 7.9, but again, thats running in SATA3 with AHCI mode.


I wouldnt worry 7.3 is just fine for SATA2 speeds.

Bit of a hijack.

I recently moved my SSDs out of raid. Was getting 7.9. Now I get 7.6. Never gave it much thought but that clears it up.

 

[njneer75]

any suggestions/reccomendations on a new mobo thats sata3 capable and will run in AHCI? must be...
socket Am3
micro atx
pic-e graphics
min 3 sata ports
able to take 2x4 gb memory sticks

tanks

 

[essenbe]

I believe any matx board with an 890 or 990 chipset will do what you want and more. The 990 chipset will be AM3/AM3+

 

[Dave76]

To check your alignment and firmware version download AS SSD, you don't need to run the benchmark, just open it and in the upper left corner you will see the information.
Controller brand
Firmware version
Driver
Alignment info (Green font means it's ok, Red font means it's not)
Available space in GB


Is this your motherboard: GA-M68MT-S2P (rev. 1.0)

You can look on the top left of your motherboard for the revision number.

The NVIDIA GeForce7025/ nForce630a chipset may cause the SSD to be a little slower.
It has SATA 3Gb/s & RAID, RAID setting in your BIOS will be better than IDE.
According to a quick search, NVidia RAID will work on the SATA ports, not sure about the driver for that port.
Maybe someone will confirm.