Marvel SATA 3 or Intel Sata 2?

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Dleslie212

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Jul 1, 2013
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I am down to the last few pieces of my system. One of the last parts is to install a new SSD. Doing a bit of research, I found quite a few threads about people having problems with the Marvel SATA 3 controller on my board, Asus P6X58-E WS. Technically, the problems were mostly on the standard version of the board instead of the Workstation version that I have, but I'm assuming they're both pretty much the same. Basically, from what I can tell, the SATA 3 ports on my board are controlled by a Marvell controller that pretty much sucks, and that I'd be better off connecting a Sata 3 ssd to the Intel controlled SATA 2 ports, one of the reasons being that the Marvell controller doesn't support TRIM

What I want to get is the Samsung 840 EVO 250 gb SSD. Would I be better off getting two smaller ssds and running them in a RAID0 on the SATA 2 ports? Or should I just get the 250 gb and suck it up and run it on the Marvel SATA 3 port? If it matters any, next week I plan on picking up a set of 4 TB drives to run in RAID0 for regular storage. Thanks in advance for the help!
 
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popatim
If you get it the 250gb one run it on the intel sata2; its faster than the marvell 9128 sata3.

Running ssd's in raid 0 doesnt get you much, increases your boot times (waiting for the raid controller), and sometimes slows you down. Unless you really need the high sequential transfer rates you wont really notice a difference with an SSD on sata2 over sata3

Have a read thru Toms article on ssd's in raid 0
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html
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popatim

popatim

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If you get it the 250gb one run it on the intel sata2; its faster than the marvell 9128 sata3.

Running ssd's in raid 0 doesnt get you much, increases your boot times (waiting for the raid controller), and sometimes slows you down. Unless you really need the high sequential transfer rates you wont really notice a difference with an SSD on sata2 over sata3

Have a read thru Toms article on ssd's in raid 0
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html
 
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Dleslie212

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Jul 1, 2013
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Ok cool. I'd rather not do the raid on the ssds anyway, so thats good news. So basically, for standard, every day use, hooking an ssd to the Marvel controller, i wouldn't notice much difference between that and the SATA2 Intel controller?

Edit - Also, how much should I be worried about the Marvel controller supposedly not supporting TRIM?

Edit 2 - Nvm. Just read that the Marvel controller doesn't support TRIM only when it's in a RAID.
 
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kenrivers

kenrivers

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Dec 29, 2010
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If you are using an Intel SSD I strongly suggest using the Intel SATA 2 vs. the Marvel SATA 3. When I first built my computer I had an Intel SSD connected to a Marvel controller and endured many BSODs before I learned, via Tom's Hardware, to switch it to the Intel controller. I'm not sure if this is an issue for other brands of SSDs.
 
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Dleslie212

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For anybody else reading this, I hooked up the Samsung Evo 840 to the Intel Sata 2 controller, checked speeds using Samsung Magician, then hooked to the Sata 3 Marvell controller and checked again. Speeds were much, much better with the Intel Sata 2 port. I don't remember the specific speeds or the difference, just that it was significant. Thanks for the help, all.
 
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