Max Read vs Seq Read?

[lirenyeo]

Hey guys, I just finish building up my PC and installed windows 8 into my OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD.
My motherboard is Asus P8H77-I and I have connected the SSD to SATA 6GB/s slot, and yes I have set it to AHCI mode.

So I ran a SSD benchmark test using AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark and I got 204MB/s Sequential Read speed on both
I was kind of freak out thinking I got a faulty one, but then I found this website:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5785/corsair-performance-series-pro-256gb-review/4

which has this "AS-SSD Incompressible Sequential Performance" and sadly my OCZ falls correctly on that figure. Picture as below:

So I go back to NCIX page and look at my SSD specs, it shows:

So now I'm confused, am i getting the normal speed for this SSD or not? In what way I can get to 400~500MB/s? Is this a really bad SSD? I'm kind of regret now

 

[lirenyeo]

hello....

 

[inzone]

Not only do you want the sata mode to be AHCI and the SSD to be connected to the sata3 port for 6gb/s speed but you also want to make sure that the sata3 port that you connect to is the one that is controlled by the Intel chipset. If it's connected to the sata port controlled by the other sata controller (Marvell or Asmedia) then you will notice a drop off in speed. Some boards will use a Marvell chip and some will use the Asmedia chip to split the controller duties for the sata ports.

 

[lirenyeo]

Not only do you want the sata mode to be AHCI and the SSD to be connected to the sata3 port for 6gb/s speed but you also want to make sure that the sata3 port that you connect to is the one that is controlled by the Intel chipset. If it's connected to the sata port controlled by the other sata controller (Marvell or Asmedia) then you will notice a drop off in speed. Some boards will use a Marvell chip and some will use the Asmedia chip to split the controller duties for the sata ports.

Hi, thanks for your reply. How do I know if my sata port is controlled by intel chipset or other sata controller? I went to device manager to check out the properties of my SSD but it doesn't seem to tell.

 

[lirenyeo]

I have found this from AIDA64:

 

[inzone]

The owners manual of the motherboard will tell you which is which. In looking up your motherboard you only have 6 satas ports total on a mini atx MB so you may not have any other controller chip on your MB.
You can also look in device manager for a controller other than the Intel one. There are two places to look and they are;
Storage Controllers
IDE, ATA/ATAPI Controllers

 

[lirenyeo]

So looks like my ssd is connected to intel SATA controller.
In that case... I guess I'm getting a bad SSD then? I can't RMA it sigh.

 

[lirenyeo]

Okay after some topic searches in this forum I actually found the answer.

SF-22XX based SSD runs ATTO for their benchmark, which deals only with compressible data that's why it shows up to 500MB/s while AS-SSD runs test using incompressible data (which is closer to real life), and it reveals how SF-22XX based SSD like my OCZ is underperforming at only 200MB/s.

since I can't RMA it at all, guess I'll just deal with it.

Just wondering if it is a good idea to get another OCZ agility 3 for RAID0?

 

[inzone]

Hmmmmm......... two bads make a good?
Another idea if your entertaining the thought of getting another SSD is to get a better one and use the Agility as storage.
BTW OCZ has thier own controller in house and it's not Sandforce it's Indelinix and they are using it in the new OCZ vertex 4.

OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-256G 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227792

They are also using it in the new Agility 4.

OCZ Agility 4 AGT4-25SAT3-128G 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227807

 

[JohnnyLucky]

OCZ used to advertise the Agility 3 as a "mainstream ssd" as opposed to a "performance ssd".

Here is a quote direct from the current OCZ Agility 3 product page regarding performance:

"Rated speeds may vary slightly depending on the benchmark used, drivers, windows version, bios version and file size. We recommend using ATTO, IOMeter, and PC Mark Vantage for benchmarking SSDs and to achieve maximum rated specifications. Maximum performance is achieved by using the P67 chipset with Native SATA 6Gbps."

Personally, I don't get excited about synthetic benchmarks. Synthetic benchmarks are called synthetic for a reason. They are not real. The synthetic benchmarks were specifically designed to grossly exaggerate very very minor differences in solid state drives. At best they are only a very rough approximation of real world performance. There are several synthetic benchmarks to choose from. SSD companies choose which synthetic benchmark they want to use and manipulate the settings to present their ssd's in the most favorable light. In reality the typical consumer will not notice any performance differences between modern SATA 3 6Gb/s ssd's.

I recommend you simply keep the Agility 3 and be happy. There is no point in getting a second Agility 3 for a RAID configuration. Modern SATA 3 6Gb/s ssd's are fast enough and there is less chance of something going wrong.

inzone - OCZ is not using their own in-house controllers. Neither OCZ nor Indilinx have any fabricating facilities. Those Indilinx controllers are actually Marvell controllers. It was well documented. I would not recommend buying an OCZ product for another reason. OCZ is not doing well financially. They've been losing money all year; their stock took a massive plunge and isn't worth anything; there's no more available credit; their CEO resigned; nobody wanted to buy the company last April, etc/ etc. Have you seen this morning's new reports about OCZ?

 

[inzone]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6271/ocz-vector-the-first-true-indilinx-based-ssd-barefoot-3-from-ocz

 

[JohnnyLucky]

inzone - we're getting off subject but I find it interesting.

OK! The AnandTech article and several other articles are a little short on information. According to financial news reports Indilinx did the design work. Without any fabricating facility of its own OCZ outsourced the manufacture of the new Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited which has numerous fabricating facilities in Hsin-Chu Science-Based Industrial Park and another location in Taiwan. This was confirmed during an interview with CEO Ryan Peterson. Previously OCZ outsourced the Barefoot 2 to Marvell. The flash memory bears an OCZ logo but has already been indentified as Micron flash memory.

 

[inzone]

Outsourcing a product is not a new process and there are a multitude of companies that do that for the sole purpose of not having to maintain a fabrication plant and all of the expense that goes with it. What is important is the intelecutal property that is owned by OCZ and Indellinix, does it really matter where or who makes it as long as the specifications are followed. Currently Barefoot 3 is inhouse and even if they had another fab plant make the actual dhip it's thier optimizations and firmware that make it what it is.
Don't get me wrong here I'm not championing OCZ or Indelinix by any means and I also don't own any of thier products I was just trying to help the OP with a suggestion and I really don't care if they make thier own products at all.
Your right and this is off topic.

 

[lirenyeo]

Best answer selected by lirenyeo.