Does this benchmark look right?

Cheetah Designs · 10 Jan 2011 at 13:23

Do the results look right given my drive?

Thanks.

Garmin · 10 Jan 2011 at 14:00

Not the thread I meant to reply in!

Cheetah Designs · 12 Jan 2011 at 00:48

Bumpty.

Andrew Moore · 12 Jan 2011 at 10:03

That looks spot on. Intel X25M 80GB correct?

Cheetah Designs · 12 Jan 2011 at 11:54

Andrew Moore said:
That looks spot on. Intel X25M 80GB correct?

Yeah second generation if that makes a difference?

(or at least i think its 2nd gen)

Andrew Moore · 12 Jan 2011 at 11:58

Cheetah Designs said:
Yeah second generation if that makes a difference?

(or at least i think its 2nd gen)

Speed wise theres very little difference between gen1 and 2. One was 45nm and the other 32nm.. thats all

Cheetah Designs · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:27

Ah fair enough! Is there any program that I can use to tell me what the current firmware of the drive is so I can check if it needs an update.

vertica · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:59

Just run it on my Intel G2 80GB.

Seq results were nearly identical
However I got 19.99MB/s read and 41.22MB/s write for the 4k tests
4k-64 ~identical
Both seeks came out as 0.107ms for me.

Based on that, i'd say your 4k results and seek times seem sub par.

Try downloading the Intel SSD toolbox

Install, run and go into the "Intel SSD Management tools" section
In there it has three tools, one to optimise your ssd (forces a trim operation as i understand it - the software recommends running once a week and you can schedule it from here should you want to), one to check your OS is setup right (corrects if not), and one to erase everything (sugest not using this one

).

the software also features a SMART data reader, gives you drive info and can run diagnostic scans

EDIT: As mentioned below it also depends on the SATA controller being used - for reference I am using one of the secondary controllers on my motherboard - either the gigabyte sata2 chip or the marvel sata 3 chip (i cant remember) as the X58/ICH10R sockets are being used for some arrays. i suspect this may have a small performance hit but its negligible.

Cheetah Designs · 12 Jan 2011 at 13:38

Ran that tool and got this:

Ziggy4 · 12 Jan 2011 at 14:58

As pointed out 4K and access times are a bit slower than they could be but I wouldn't be too worried. Can I ask what controller you are using? It can make a difference. My own on the regular Intel onboard controller for comparison.

Cheetah Designs · 12 Jan 2011 at 15:00

Controller?...what do you mean?

The access times a 4K look worrying to me.

Ziggy4 · 12 Jan 2011 at 15:02

Which chipset you using? Intel, AMD? Which SATA ports? Many motherboards have additional onboard controllers e.g. six ports on the Intel controller, plus a couple of Marvell, JMicron, etc.

Cheetah Designs · 12 Jan 2011 at 15:24

Its Intel HM55 chipset in Samsung Q430 laptop.

Ziggy4 · 12 Jan 2011 at 15:53

So the odds are good it's on an Intel controller. Probably a function of the mobile chipset then. I also have an Intel SSD in my laptop which benchmarks similar to your own, although it is the slower 40GB model but in particular it reports very similar 4K speeds and access times to your own which is where your drive is falling down a little. I've read others have reported less than optimal performance on laptops. Check that you have the latest firmware which you can do through Device Manager or various 3rd party info utilities. If it's a relatively new drive then probably current. Intel did make write speed improvements with the latest. Other than that I wouldn't worry too much. It's certainly not performing at peak but the real life difference is most likely negligible.

Cheetah Designs · 13 Jan 2011 at 16:13

In order to get optimum performance I should upgrade the firmware and do a secure erase through the intel software? (is there any bootable version of this?)

Is that correct?

Ziggy4 · 13 Jan 2011 at 21:11

If it's a new drive(?) it shouldn't require a secure erase and with the latest firmware TRIM will take care of that for you in the background. But yes there is a bootable version of HDDErase avaliable.