Installing New SSD

[tripshot15]

Hi, I just got a new SSD (Muskin Chronos Deluxe) and was hoping someone could let me know the best way to install it. I am new to putting my own parts in a computer so a step by step guide would be really helpful and I would really appreciate it. Anyways, I will be doing a clean install of windows 7, I want to install it on a Muskin Chronos Deluxe 240gb SSD. I don't know if you need my computer specs, but I have an i7 950 @ 3358 Mhz, Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard, 6gb of ram, a 6850 amd video card, asus blu-ray drive, and an internal 10 in 1 media card reader. I would like to know what setting my motherboard should be in (I have seen that it needs to be changed to AHCI, but I don't know how to do that), what driver I need to install, any setting I should change to optimize the SSD, and anything additional I should know. Like I said, a step by step guide would be a great help.

Thanks

 

[maestro0428]

ACHI setting. Go into your BIOS and into the storage area. There should be a setting for ACHI. Tab around and get familiar with it and you will find it. Basically its set up like any other drive. Hook up the sata/pwr cables, boot to Windows, format and install. Then enjoy the new speed you have.

 

[mbreslin1954]

Connect the SSD to one of the two SATA interfaces that are 6 Gbps. Your motherboard specs are here:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3305#sp

According to the spec page, these are the two that you want:
Marvell 9128 chip:
2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3_6, GSATA3_7) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices

The other six SATA ports are half the speed and will choke your SSD drive. If you no longer have your motherboard manual, use the link above to locate your manual, download and take a look at the layout pictures.

You set the SATA ports/drives to AHCI in the BIOS. Hit the DEL key after rebooting or powering on until you enter the BIOS setup, find your way to the storage setup and make the SATA ports AHCI.

You should download all the drivers from Gigabyte's web site before installing Windows 7 on the new SSD. You should be able to find them here:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3305#dl

Put them on a flash drive or burn them to a CD. If Windows 7 doesn't automatically find and identify all of your motherboard devices (Ethernet port, chipset, etc.), which it probably won't, you will need to install those drivers right after installing Windows 7. Once your Ethernet port driver is installed you can go to Windows update to get most everything else you'll need.

 

[tripshot15]

Hey, thanks for all the help. I am going to try and get it done during thanks giving weekend, we'll see how it goes. One more question, do I need all the drivers or are any of them unnecessary?

Thanks

 

[mbreslin1954]

I would get them all, except for the Intel Rapid Storage technology driver. I think that's only if you have a small SSD acting as a cache to a hard drive, which you aren't doing. And you probably don't need the Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility.

 

[tripshot15]

thanks for the quick reply! and do they need to be installed in any order?

 

[mbreslin1954]

Well, the Realtek Ethernet driver should be done first, and might have to be done in advance, if you plan on downloading the rest from the newly-installed PC. If you're downloading them ahead of time, I don't think it matters.

 

[tripshot15]

Ok, I just downloaded all of them and am about to put them on a flash drive. Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it!

 

[tripshot15]

Best answer selected by tripshot15.

 

[tripshot15]

Hey, so I just installed my ssd and it seems to be working, but I don't seem to be getting the speeds that I should. I am only getting 372 read and 215 write according to crystaldiskmark. I believe this drive should be in the mid 500s. I am not sure why this is, however it seems to be running fast. Also, is it a problem that this drive is in a slave port vs a master port? Also I was getting a bit confused in the bios in which settings to change to ahci. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[mbreslin1954]

I can't find the manual on Gigabyte's website, they only offer a one-pager for their extreme hard drive setting. You want to make sure that your SSD is plugged into one of the two SATA ports that are 6 Gbps, or SATA III. The other four ports are half that speed.

Assuming you have it plugged into one of the two 6 Gbps ports, those ports should be set in BIOS to AHCI. I guess wherever you see a SATA setting in BIOS that gives you the option to set it to AHCI, set it.

Having said this, if you've set the SSD SATA port to non-AHCI and already installed Windows, then change it to AHCI now, Windows won't boot -- it should generate a blue screen of death (BSOD), which means re-installing Windows from scratch.

By the way, your numbers are not that bad. I use HD Tach, which only shows me read rates, and mine are 388 MB/s, which is in line with yours. So you might have everything set up and that's the best you'll get. Not sure if drivers are holding you back or what, but it's still three or four times what an average hard drive will give you.

 

[tripshot15]

Hey, So I figure I can live with that speed, as you say it is already faster than i will probably need it to ever be. However, now I have a different question. When I turn on my computer and it goes through the motherboard bios, it begins to say "verifying dmi data pool" which is normal, however after I plugged in my secondary drives that process takes a while. Any bios or settings I can change to speed this up?

 

[mbreslin1954]

I'm sorry, I honestly don't know. I don't have your motherboard and can't see what's going on. Maybe someone with more experience will offer some help.

 

[tripshot15]

I saw an option in the bios for a setting called quickboot. Would you suggest I try to enable that?

 

[mbreslin1954]

Yes, I think that cuts off some of the extra memory checking and other things that slow down the boot process. I usually have that setting ON if it's available. Try it and it should speed things up.