Speed difference going from AHCI to IDE


  1. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #1

    Speed difference going from AHCI to IDE


    I had some reason for moving from Sata mode AHCI to IDE (Reason in this thread)
    Most material I read didn't have any compelling speed disadvantage so I did some informal speed tests. Results for those interested (This not an SSD):
    CrystalDiskMark speed tests don't show any significant difference.
    The first row is a sequential 1GB R/W test. Next rows are various random R/W tests.

    Speed difference going from AHCI to IDE-ahci-speed.jpgSpeed difference going from AHCI to IDE-ide-speed.jpg

    A four thread unindexed search for a text string in
    1,164 pdfs (1.7GB)
    from 253,302 files (173GB)
    Took: 2min 12 secs for AHCI and 2min 5 secs for IDE
    Speed difference going from AHCI to IDE-arsearch.jpg

    Informal conclusion: No significant speed difference.

    Add: In addition to specs listed. Seagate 1TB (ST31000528AS), AMI BIOS.
    Last edited by mjf; 19 Dec 2010 at 01:15. Reason: Add
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  2. Posts : 19,383
    Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64
       #2

    Compelling indeed. Do you think the resuts might be different for varying brands of SSD?
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  3. Posts : 627
    win 7 ( 64 bit)
       #3

    i think the AHCI advantage is for ssd's drives.
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  4. Posts : 19,383
    Windows 10 Pro x64 ; Xubuntu x64
       #4

    scrooge said:
    i think the AHCI advantage is for ssd's drives.
    Ahh, my bad
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  5. Posts : 7,683
    Windows 10 Pro
       #5

    If you read here.... Reason in this thread you'll note the OP isn't using an SSD drive.

    GeneO said:
    Does IDE support TRIM for your SSD? I would think that important.
    mjf said:
    GeneO,
    I'm not running an SSD so is trim important?
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  6. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
    Thread Starter
       #6

    I was able to run sata mode AHCI enabled in the BIOS after making the msahci registry change and driver change due to my Nvidia nForce board. But no speed improvements for a conventional HDD.
    Speed difference going from AHCI to IDE-ahci-speed2.jpg
    But still had a problem with Hirens boot disk running mini XP not recognising the sata drive. Probably due to the Nvidia board.
    So I'm staying with the IDE mode setting for now.
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  7. Posts : 5,642
    Windows 10 Pro (x64)
       #7

    Does the board and drives use SATA 2 or greater? Your benchmarking misses one important benefit of SATA using AHCI and that is Native Command Queuing. Native Command Queuing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  8. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
    Thread Starter
       #8

    I've seen reference to the NCQ and the Wikipedia article represents the depth (or lack of) my knowledge. The last 4 rows in the speed test tables are various size random R/Ws. I might have thought this NCQ effect in terms of performance imrovement would have shown up here?

    My BIOS has been previous set to AHCI since I owned the PC (default setting).
    It is only that I want to boot to the Hirens (12.0) boot CD/USB using mini XP that I've changed the setting.
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