Vertex 3 running slow?

[sowexly]

I know Windows WEI is a horrible benchmark to compare but I score a 7.3 and I've heard it should be 7.9

I did an ATTO and the highest my Read/Write got was 425MB/s and my Write was always higher, I've done over a dozen tweaks to help but I saw now difference.

Running Windows 7 64-bit
I've checked to make sure ACHI is enabled it is, as is SMART and TRIM
I also checked to make sure I was using a SATA (6Gbs) I was in slot 2 (if it matters on a Crosshair IV Formula)

 

[tecmo34]

Are you running off of the AMD SATA6 controller or native Windows msahci controller?

Do you have the latest AMD driver installed, if used?

My general concern is you are just seeing the limitations of the AMD controller versus the Intel RST controller (similar to what you see with the Marvell controller that seems to top out in the low 400 MB/s range.

 

[sowexly]

Are you running off of the AMD SATA6 controller or native Windows msahci controller?

Do you have the latest AMD driver installed, if used?

My general concern is you are just seeing the limitations of the AMD controller versus the Intel RST controller (similar to what you see with the Marvell controller that seems to top out in the low 400 MB/s range.

I never thought of that, how can I check if I'm using AMD SATA6 controller or native Windows msahci controller?

 

[tecmo34]

If you open up AS SSD Benchmark, it will list the controller the SSD is installed on at the top of the benchmark (no need to run the actual benchmark)

 

[Dereck47]

Here's the link to download the latest AMD AHCI & South Bridge drivers: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/raid_windows.aspx

Hopefully you will see increased performance after installing the drivers.

 

[sowexly]

Here's what I get I did the benchmark anyway and I get a lower score than the first posters Vertex 2 in all but write...

 

[tecmo34]

Based on the image, you are running in IDE mode (pciide) not AHCI

 

[sowexly]

Based on the image, you are running in IDE mode (pciide) not AHCI

EDIT: I found the bios setting but it changes over all of my SATA ports to AHCI and thus all of my drives disappear

 

[ahthurungnone]

Yes, the drives disappear in the BIOS but they will still work. The same occurs if you set the BIOS to use RAID.

Unfortunately, you have to completely reinstall windows with AHCI enabled to achieve the 7.9 rating. If you're using RAID however you do not have this option and are stuck with a 7.5 or less rating. Also, go to the SSD sticky post and follow the "SSD tweaks" post. You may be able to get slightly better performance without having to start over. But if your set on achieving the 7.9 you MUST reinstall with AHCI enabled from the start.

Techmo helped me get the 7.9 rating, so his advice is "gold" as far as I'm concerned.

 

[ahthurungnone]

P.S. No AHCI = No TRIM support. There is a Windows fix for this, but it still is not as good as having AHCI setup in the BIOS.

 

[sowexly]

Yes, the drives disappear in the BIOS but they will still work. The same occurs if you set the BIOS to use RAID.

Unfortunately, you have to completely reinstall windows with AHCI enabled to achieve the 7.9 rating. If you're using RAID however you do not have this option and are stuck with a 7.5 or less rating. Also, go to the SSD sticky post and follow the "SSD tweaks" post. You may be able to get slightly better performance without having to start over. But if your set on achieving the 7.9 you MUST reinstall with AHCI enabled from the start.

Techmo helped me get the 7.9 rating, so his advice is "gold" as far as I'm concerned.

EDIT: I changed it over to AHCI without a reinstall and my SSD and HDD show up and it boots correctly but I score a 7.8...

I also have a very low write speed on the AS benchmark.

 

[tecmo34]

Better numbers...

You have two things going on now... IMO

1) You are seeing the drive throttle due to the amount of benchmarks you have ran... see this thread... http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?85029-Understanding-SF1200-drives-TRIM-OP-area-use-and-Life-write-throttle

2) AS SSD utilizes incompressible data, which Sandforce drives work better with compressible data (ATTO benchmark for example), so you'll see lower number.

 

[sowexly]

Better numbers...

You have two things going on now... IMO

1) You are seeing the drive throttle due to the amount of benchmarks you have ran... see this thread... http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?85029-Understanding-SF1200-drives-TRIM-OP-area-use-and-Life-write-throttle

2) AS SSD utilizes incompressible data, which Sandforce drives work better with compressible data (ATTO benchmark for example), so you'll see lower number.

So assuming it's throttling I should see better write speeds if I wait for a day or so and test again?

Also now that I have my SATA ports in ACHI is there any reason I should reinstall Win7?

 

[tecmo34]

1) I would leave the drive in Idle state overnight a couple of days (meaning leaving your PC on without it going into hibernation or powering down the SSD). This will help the TRIM/GC clean up the OP areas to restore performance.

2) No... there is no need to reinstall Windows 7. As you found, there is an easy register tweak to allow you to switch to AHCI after installing in IDE without a reinstall.

 

[sowexly]

Best answer selected by Sowexly.

 

[sowexly]

1) I would leave the drive in Idle state overnight a couple of days (meaning leaving your PC on without it going into hibernation or powering down the SSD). This will help the TRIM/GC clean up the OP areas to restore performance.

2) No... there is no need to reinstall Windows 7. As you found, there is an easy register tweak to allow you to switch to AHCI after installing in IDE without a reinstall.

Thanks for all the help Tecmo

I'll post back if things don't shake up right in a couple of days.