Show us your SSD performance

[Gildor]

1. Should I try to go back to the Windows 7 driver or should I stick with the Intel driver (and is it worth it to install the 1025 update) and use the toolkit to clean up the drive manually until a new TRIM supporting driver is released.


2. Should I hack the registry to get AHCI turned on, or don't I really need that?


3. Should I face the fact that I am too @^%#*^$ stupid to do a drive replacement and be happy with my Raptor.

Thanks for taking the time to read this rant and any help will be greatly appreciated

Tom

Basically, what I would recommend is that you bite the bullet and do a clean install of Win 7 on your SSD. Windows is smart enough to recognize you have an SSD and install the right drivers and other things so that it is optimized for the SSD. Make sure you have the latest firmware and AHCI enabled prior to installation and you should be good to go.

I realize its a PITA to re-install, but to get the best out of your system, that's what you should do. If you just clone your mechanical HD based install, the above mentioned optimazations will not be there and you will have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get your system up to par. Maybe you'll be lucky and it will be minimal amount of work to get it working and maybe you will be unlucky you never will get it to work properly. There just isn't a whole lot of data yet on how to get the most out of SSD's when you start off from less than optimum configurations. Unfortunately there just isn't any step by step procedures for situations such as yours.

I did a clean install with my G2 160 and I found it to "just work", without having to go through all the gyrations you see on the Net. Good luck and welcome to the SSD club!

 

[nate42nd]

You don't need AHCI to have TRIM

Stick with the Microsoft driver for now, Intel will be a god option soon, but for now (as far as I know) stick with MS.

Yes, get an SSD as soon as you know enough to buy one confidently.

The current SSDs don't need a bunch of "hacks" if you don't want to bother. just get a good one and enjoy it.

 

[b00bie]

[/QUOTE]
Basically, what I would recommend is that you bite the bullet and do a clean install of Win 7 on your SSD. Windows is smart enough to recognize you have an SSD and install the right drivers and other things so that it is optimized for the SSD. Make sure you have the latest firmware and AHCI enabled prior to installation and you should be good to go.

I realize its a PITA to re-install, but to get the best out of your system, that's what you should do. If you just clone your mechanical HD based install, the above mentioned optimazations will not be there and you will have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get your system up to par. Maybe you'll be lucky and it will be minimal amount of work to get it working and maybe you will be unlucky you never will get it to work properly. There just isn't a whole lot of data yet on how to get the most out of SSD's when you start off from less than optimum configurations. Unfortunately there just isn't any step by step procedures for situations such as yours.

I did a clean install with my G2 160 and I found it to "just work", without having to go through all the gyrations you see on the Net. Good luck and welcome to the SSD club![/QUOTE]

Just so I am clear you are saying I should be sure the firmware in the SSD is at the latest version and that I should turn on AHCI in the bios BEFORE I start the install.

Thanks for the info.

Tom

 

[b00bie]

You don't need AHCI to have TRIM

Stick with the Microsoft driver for now, Intel will be a god option soon, but for now (as far as I know) stick with MS.

Yes, get an SSD as soon as you know enough to buy one confidently.

The current SSDs don't need a bunch of "hacks" if you don't want to bother. just get a good one and enjoy it.

How would I go about getting the Windows driver back into the system. The roll back driver button is grayed out in the device driver. Is it as straight foward as just telling it to update the driver and having to search for it on the net.

Thanks for the help.

Tom

 

[Gildor]

By far, most of what I have read, including on the Intel website, say you should use AHCI to get the most out of your SSD.

You can burn the the firmware from Intel to a bootable disc. You can boot and install from the firmware disc without even having an OS installed on the SSD. And yes, switch to AHCI in BIOS prior to installing the OS. In AHCI mode, Windows will know to install the proper drivers during the install.

 

[mpcrsc562]

you can enable ahci without doing a clean install, but you must change the registry first. i did it just last night. (http://thewindows7site.com/forum/threads/14171-Switch-from-IDE-to-AHCI-after-Installation). for my board (gigabyte 790X), i first changed the registry. i then went into bios and changed the setting to ahci. rebooted, no problems. after logging in, the default microsoft drivers installed which required another reboot. after logging on again, i went to gigabyte's website, downloaded the amd ahci drivers, unzipped, updated the microsoft drivers to amd's drivers, then rebooted. no problems at all.

switching to ahci on my system gave me a negligible increase (?) (more like a negligible decrease, huh) i'm going to stick with it like this for a few days to see how it performs. first hd tune pic is prior to enabling ahci. for atto bench, the first pic is prior to enabling ahci (the second pic was a bench just ran about 5 mins ago)

 

[Wishmaster]

Vertex 30GB FW1.5
ICH9R AHCI mode w/Intel Drivers

 

[lightningltd]

Hi

Question for you guru's here. When I built my new machine last year I toyed with the idea of an SSD but went with the 150GB Velociraptor instead. Now with the new G2 160GB drive available from Intel that supports TRIM I am beginning to get the upgrade bug. The only issue I have at this point is that I do NOT want to have to reinstall Windows and start all over again. Is there any way to "clone" the raptor onto the Intel and just swap them out or will Windows have a meltdown. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

Would this do what I need?
EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition: Magic Partition Manager for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 (32bit and 64bit).

Thanks again.

Personally, I cloned my velociraptor using Windows 7 image backup of the first 2 partitions (100 Meg and the next)... BUT first I had to shrimnk the second partition to fit the SSD. I only did this because it was easier for me AND (big AND) the OS on the HD was WINDOWS 7....
IF you are running windows 7: After you restore your images to the SSD and run it the first time, insert the Windows 7 DVD (or usb ) and click setup following the guide here (upgrade install): http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

This will force Windows 7 to recognize the SSD and apply all the optimizations for it without losing your settings and installed software.

After all is dona and you have any other drivers installed, make sure the system is set to ask for password on return from sleep. put your system to sleep, then resume but LEAVE IT AT THE PASSWORD PROMPT for about 30 minutes. This will force the drives garbage collection to work and optimize the drive.

 

[tw33k]

Just tested with AS SSD Benchmark. IDE mode with Windows drivers.

 

[b00bie]

you can enable ahci without doing a clean install, but you must change the registry first. i did it just last night. (http://thewindows7site.com/forum/threads/14171-Switch-from-IDE-to-AHCI-after-Installation). for my board (gigabyte 790X), i first changed the registry. i then went into bios and changed the setting to ahci. rebooted, no problems. after logging in, the default microsoft drivers installed which required another reboot. after logging on again, i went to gigabyte's website, downloaded the amd ahci drivers, unzipped, updated the microsoft drivers to amd's drivers, then rebooted. no problems at all.

switching to ahci on my system gave me a negligible increase (?) (more like a negligible decrease, huh) i'm going to stick with it like this for a few days to see how it performs. first hd tune pic is prior to enabling ahci. for atto bench, the first pic is prior to enabling ahci (the second pic was a bench just ran about 5 mins ago)

While I don't have my SSD yet (but soon) I decided to give this a whirl, it worked great I now have the Microsoft AHCI driver installed and am feeling confident about moving ahead with the purchase of the drive. I reran my WEI after enabling the AHCI and my disk index went from 5.9 to 6.2. In my case with what I have read sp far about the Intel drivers I think that it would be better if I waited to change over until some new ones are released.

I want to thank ALL of you guys for the help and support with this issue and although I doubt it I hope that I can return the favor someday.


Tom

 

[b00bie]

By far, most of what I have read, including on the Intel website, say you should use AHCI to get the most out of your SSD.

You can burn the the firmware from Intel to a bootable disc. You can boot and install from the firmware disc without even having an OS installed on the SSD. And yes, switch to AHCI in BIOS prior to installing the OS. In AHCI mode, Windows will know to install the proper drivers during the install.

I downloaded the latest firmware and burned it to a disk so when I get the drive I will be ready to upgrade it.

I appreciate all the help and support thanks thanks thanks


Tom

 

[whs]

For those that consider cloning a Win7 installation to an SSD, here is a tweak utility that makes the necessary settings for you (not sure about turning on Trim though).
For those who make a clean Win7 install on the SSD, this article may be interesting reading.

 

[thepit]

Here is 2 Vertex Turbo's in raid.

 

[nate42nd]

Here is 2 Vertex Turbo's in raid.

Out standing numbers. My goodness! that's fast! These are MLC Indilinx drives too.

Very nice.

 

[Zahl]

Finally made the jump and i have to say it has been one of the best upgrades ever!

These are from the cheapest 100GB+ ssd I could find, the 128gb the adata s596. Not too bad for a jmicron based ssd

 

[pparks1]

Finally made the jump and i have to say it has been one of the best upgrades ever!

That's what I tell people all of the time. And I've yet to come across a single person who invested the cash into the SSD and said anything different. That speaks volumes. Even though it was costly and space is limited, us SSD owners seem to be perfectly happy with your hardware.

 

[Zahl]

Yup no joke. Usually I feel some regret when I overspend but this time it felt worth it. Although to be honest I really wanted an intel drive but I could not afford the 160gb and the 80gb did not feel as worth it compared to this 128gb. Maybe next time
Enjoy the speedy ssd's

 

[mpcrsc562]

Finally made the jump and i have to say it has been one of the best upgrades ever!

That's what I tell people all of the time. And I've yet to come across a single person who invested the cash into the SSD and said anything different. That speaks volumes. Even though it was costly and space is limited, us SSD owners seem to be perfectly happy with your hardware.

Yup no joke. Usually I feel some regret when I overspend but this time it felt worth it. Although to be honest I really wanted an intel drive but I could not afford the 160gb and the 80gb did not feel as worth it compared to this 128gb. Maybe next time
Enjoy the speedy ssd's

my sentiments as well. matter of fact, i'm seriously going to look into purchasing another within the next couple of weeks to put in a raid array (32 GB Patriot PS-100)

 

[whs]

I am not sure whether Raid is a good choice for SSDs. Does it really matter whether your access is in 2ms or in 1ms - the perception will be the same.
That is a different story with e.g. large Raptors and a mirrored Raid 1 setup. That would increase the data transfer speed to something close to an SSD and provide safety against a crash of one disk at the same time.
But with the small size of the SSDs, you usually cannot afford mirroring.

 

[mpcrsc562]

hadn't thought about that. hmmm... no need in wasting money i guess