- Oct 8, 2011
- 22
- 0
- 18,510
Hi guys
I'm setting up a new system based on an ASRock Z68 Fatal1ty Gen3 mobo with an 2600K i7+ Corsair Hydro H100 and a Corsair AX1200 PSU among other things. I would like some advice before buying a new SSD. Initially I wanted to get the 120gig RevoDrive 3 (the cheaper model, not the X2 version - I don't think they do an X2 @120gig):
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120gb-ocz-revodrive-3-25nm-mlc-flash-x4-slot-pci-e-read-975mb-s-write-875mb-s-120k-iops
...but since my mobo supports SATA3, and seeing that the new generation of Sandforce drives seem to perform better than the Revo in benchmarks, I'm currently torn between the OCZ Vertex3 Max IOPS, or the Patriot Wildfire (I really like the 32nm Toshiba NAND). Or the Kingston HyperX (Intel 25nm NAND). No Corsair Force GT for me, if I'm gonna go for 25nm it'll have to be the Kingston.
I'm aware of the issues that plague the latest Sandforce drives, especially on Z68 mobos. I have some questions and I hope that more knowledgable users will help me understand the situation better:
1) Are the current BSOD/disappearing drive problems limited to SSDs connected to the Intel native SATA3 controller? I've heard that connecting it to a 3rd party controller negatively affects performance, but it gives you much greater stability than the Intel controller. Is this correct? And how big (on average) is the loss of performance?
2) So far I've heard of people connecting their SSDs on Marvell 3rd-party controllers to circumvent the Intel/Sandforce issues, and performance seems to suffer a lot. The Fatal1ty mobo features an ASMedia ASM1061 SATA3 controller, has anyone had any experience with this controller and latest generation Sandforce SSDs?
3) Is it better to go for a single 240 gig SSD or 2x120 @RAID0? And if I go RAID, is the SSD's internal garbage collection sufficient when trim is disabled? I do understand that there is the risk of losing all data if one of the drives fail but I have multiple up-to-date backups on different media, so possible drive failure doesn't bother me too much. I also plan to use RollBack Rx v9.1 Server Edition which allows saving disk snapshots on a different drive - and restores much faster than traditional imaging apps. I just want to know from users who've done it: Did you get any real world speed benefits from Raid-zeroing SSDs? And did you have problems with trim off?
3) A good performance on large incompressible file transfers is very important to me as I frequently use mkvmerge to change the container format of my HD camcorder clips from .mov and .mp4 to .mkv. I record bands playing live and a 2-hour set can result into huge x264 HD files which are already highly compressed. I have heard that synchronous NAND SSDs seem to be performing a lot better when compared to asynchronous NAND ones when it comes to large incompressible file transfers, is this correct? Which of the three brands mentioned (MAX IOPS/HyperX/Wildfire) would you choose if large file transfers of incompressible data were important to you? Since they all feature synchronous NAND I don't expect huge differences in speed, but it'd be good to hear your opinons on the matter.
4) If I want stability above all should I go Intel, Crucial or Samsung? (or other??). Which is the fastest non-Sandforce drive out there?
5) Would it better to get one of the latest Sandforce ones and connect it to an ASMedia port at least until firmware matures? Will this combo be slower than going for an Intel/Crucial/Toshiba drive connected to the Intel controller?
I really want to get one or more of the new Sandforce drives, especially then ones with 32nm Toshiba toggle NAND (OCZ or Patriot). It looks like that cheaper 24nm toggle will be the norm in the near future... Process shrink is not a good think performance-wise, so I think I'd better have the newest Sandforce SSDs with 32nm toggle now, while they're still around. Maybe connect them to ASMedia ports for a few months until firmware matures enough to warrant connection to the Intel controller. What do you think? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any replies guys!
I'm setting up a new system based on an ASRock Z68 Fatal1ty Gen3 mobo with an 2600K i7+ Corsair Hydro H100 and a Corsair AX1200 PSU among other things. I would like some advice before buying a new SSD. Initially I wanted to get the 120gig RevoDrive 3 (the cheaper model, not the X2 version - I don't think they do an X2 @120gig):
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120gb-ocz-revodrive-3-25nm-mlc-flash-x4-slot-pci-e-read-975mb-s-write-875mb-s-120k-iops
...but since my mobo supports SATA3, and seeing that the new generation of Sandforce drives seem to perform better than the Revo in benchmarks, I'm currently torn between the OCZ Vertex3 Max IOPS, or the Patriot Wildfire (I really like the 32nm Toshiba NAND). Or the Kingston HyperX (Intel 25nm NAND). No Corsair Force GT for me, if I'm gonna go for 25nm it'll have to be the Kingston.
I'm aware of the issues that plague the latest Sandforce drives, especially on Z68 mobos. I have some questions and I hope that more knowledgable users will help me understand the situation better:
1) Are the current BSOD/disappearing drive problems limited to SSDs connected to the Intel native SATA3 controller? I've heard that connecting it to a 3rd party controller negatively affects performance, but it gives you much greater stability than the Intel controller. Is this correct? And how big (on average) is the loss of performance?
2) So far I've heard of people connecting their SSDs on Marvell 3rd-party controllers to circumvent the Intel/Sandforce issues, and performance seems to suffer a lot. The Fatal1ty mobo features an ASMedia ASM1061 SATA3 controller, has anyone had any experience with this controller and latest generation Sandforce SSDs?
3) Is it better to go for a single 240 gig SSD or 2x120 @RAID0? And if I go RAID, is the SSD's internal garbage collection sufficient when trim is disabled? I do understand that there is the risk of losing all data if one of the drives fail but I have multiple up-to-date backups on different media, so possible drive failure doesn't bother me too much. I also plan to use RollBack Rx v9.1 Server Edition which allows saving disk snapshots on a different drive - and restores much faster than traditional imaging apps. I just want to know from users who've done it: Did you get any real world speed benefits from Raid-zeroing SSDs? And did you have problems with trim off?
3) A good performance on large incompressible file transfers is very important to me as I frequently use mkvmerge to change the container format of my HD camcorder clips from .mov and .mp4 to .mkv. I record bands playing live and a 2-hour set can result into huge x264 HD files which are already highly compressed. I have heard that synchronous NAND SSDs seem to be performing a lot better when compared to asynchronous NAND ones when it comes to large incompressible file transfers, is this correct? Which of the three brands mentioned (MAX IOPS/HyperX/Wildfire) would you choose if large file transfers of incompressible data were important to you? Since they all feature synchronous NAND I don't expect huge differences in speed, but it'd be good to hear your opinons on the matter.
4) If I want stability above all should I go Intel, Crucial or Samsung? (or other??). Which is the fastest non-Sandforce drive out there?
5) Would it better to get one of the latest Sandforce ones and connect it to an ASMedia port at least until firmware matures? Will this combo be slower than going for an Intel/Crucial/Toshiba drive connected to the Intel controller?
I really want to get one or more of the new Sandforce drives, especially then ones with 32nm Toshiba toggle NAND (OCZ or Patriot). It looks like that cheaper 24nm toggle will be the norm in the near future... Process shrink is not a good think performance-wise, so I think I'd better have the newest Sandforce SSDs with 32nm toggle now, while they're still around. Maybe connect them to ASMedia ports for a few months until firmware matures enough to warrant connection to the Intel controller. What do you think? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any replies guys!
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