Samsung 830 Firmware and Intel Rapid Storage tech

level99

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Hi, I posted this in the hard drive section previously but realised it should probably be under the SSD section.

I have a Samsung 830 SSD. I have It on a SATA 3.0 port on a Z68 mobo set to AHCI and have Windows 7 64bit. Installation went well and everything is running great!

However I have a couple of questions. First I forgot to update the firmware of the SSD at install and have already added lots of programs and stuff to it. Will updating the firmware now wipe it all clean?

Also, I have not installed Intel Rapid Storage Technology but did update the intel chipset. Is Intel Rapid storage necessary?

 

Soda-88

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i replied in your old threat but i guess i'll reply again

read the release notes of the firmware, if it says it's a destructive firmware it means it will destroy your partitions on the ssd, if not then you shouldn't worry

but i recommend you to make a backup of entire partition prior to updating it

also you should definitely install RST (latest version 10.8.0.1003) since you're using intel's controller, the driver is better optimized than the generic one you get with windows

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=20624&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology&lang=eng

if you aren't sure about firmware post the link to it so i can check (couldn't find it on samsungs support page)
 

aqe040466

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You don't have to update the firmware of the SSD if it is running fine, yet Intel Rapid Storage Technology is for SSD caching only and if the SATA is set to RAID configuration.
It will not wipe the SSD but just to make it sure you back up the Data in case you messed up the firmware update, I just upgraded my PC from HDD to SSD(Samsung 830 series 128 GB SATA III 6Gb/s) and it's doing fine (Blazing fast) And I always use the Samsung Magician to optimized the OS and PC performance(tuning and cleaning)
 

level99

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Yeah I got your reply thanks! The link to the firmware is http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/MZ-7PC128N/AM Click on manuals and downloads then on firmware.
 

level99

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Thats the same one I have (Samsung 830 128GB) Am I missing out on speed or anything if I dont update? If so would it be best to update through windows on the magician software? How would I go about making a backup? Making a system image on my secondary drive? Or would it just be better to backup just my programs and files and then just reinstall everything if the firmware does delete everything?

So Rapid share is only for RAID and has no benefit with AHCI? Sorry for all the newb questions :)
 

Soda-88

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rite, silly me, didn't notice additional tabs when i clicked manuals & downloads last night

well, people tend to go by the 'don't fix what ain't broken' when it comes to ssd firmware, but i disagree

like for example, my 60gb vanilla vertex (indilinx barefoot controller) recently got new firmware (ver 1.7) with following improvements:
1) Further improvements in data management, resulting in a significant increase in drive endurance
2) Resolved a corner-case issue that may cause internal data log mismatch when drive is in an ATA sanitary erase operation
and it required 1.6 firmware to be installed beforehand in order to update

reading the notes on your drive's latest firmware you get improvement in future firmware updating, so i'd say go for it
 

level99

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Ok, so I got my firmware updated :)

However, I am still confused as to if Intel Rapid Storage is beneficial to me. My mobo is the Asrock extreme 3 gen 3 and my SSD is hooked to one of the SATA 6gbs ports. Intel Rapid storage is one of the drivers available on the Asrock Website as well as the driver CD.
 

Soda-88

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well, for one, if one of your drives reports S.M.A.R.T errors, you'll get notified immediately by RST

other than that, intel boasts improved performance and lowered energy consumption

i've never bothered benchmarking with and without it so i'm not gonna say anything other than if you really want to know, get AS SSD benchmark tool, run the benchmark without the RST, then install RST and rerun benchmark, see if there's any noticable performance increase; if not, you can always uninstall it

download link is at the very bottom of the page:
http://alex-is.de/PHP/fusion/downloads.php?download_id=9

one other thing, RST uses ~100mb of ram
 

aqe040466

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When you made the firmware update, did you notice any performance increase?
 

level99

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Honestly no. It seems the same to me. Although I didn't run any benchmarks or anything.
 

aqe040466

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Ok then install the RST if it is required by your MB and maybe it might help increase the performance of the SSD.
 

jemm

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Intel Rapid Storage Tech is not just for raid, you do get some benefit from it when it is set to AHCI.

What you have to do is to check with your motherboard manufacturer if it supports Intel Rapid Storage Tech feature, or if you have to update the Bios first. If you update the Bios, you have to set it to Idle, and not in AHCI in your first attempt to boot -- load the mobo default settings if you really want it to boot.

Then go back into the Bios and set it AHCI.