SSDs & AHCI?

Tomcat825

Tomcat825

Tomcat825

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I've got an Intel X-25 M G2 sitting in my computer waiting to have my HDD cloned to it and I'm wondering if anyone could give me a little insight as to what the AHCI actually is and if it's required before I clone onto it.

Also, firmware wise, how do I check what firmware it has and whether I need to update it?
 
AHCI essentially lets your SATA controller use all features available to it. IDE mode is purely there for compatibility - it baffles me that it's still the default option on most motherboards. In fact, Windows XP's lack of SATA drivers is probably the only reason IDE mode even exists.
 
Right, ok. Thanks for the replies.

I guess enabling it before I start using it as my main drive won't go amiss.

Anyone have an answer about my Firmware question please?
 
You should probably go over to the makers website and see what the recommend for checking the firmware.

I just recently switched to SSD and didn't even know what AHCI, after a few hours searching forums as to why my mobo wouldn't find the SSD to install Windows I discovered that the AHCI had to be enabled before the SSD could be found.

As soon as I enabled AHCI I was able to install Windows fine.
 
AHCI enables Native Command Queing, Although it's not essential to operation of your SSD, there is a slight performance hit by not using it. You can see below the difference when used and when not and when not.

IDE:
AdmiralADSSDBench.jpg


AHCI:
better.jpg


Still not sure why the write speeds decreases but a significant increase in read.. Ideal for the OS :)
 
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Indeed, some of those results show quite a large increase lol.
Thanks for the replies, will get AHCI enabled after I've cloned to it and before I remove my old drive!

Will also check Intel for the firmware :) Thanks guys.
 
philtorrens said:
If your current HDD is running in IDE mode then have a look at this article first. You can then just clone the HDD once it's running in AHCI mode.
Click to expand...

I guess there's a chance that my motherboard (Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67) had AHCI enabled by default (there was a paper insert about an issue with installing XP using this motherboard) - shall check when I get in from work.
 
Not sure if my Sata drive is running in IDE or w/e atm, will check it in a couple of hours when i'm home. I'll read that article to kill some time though. ;)

Currently, my plan of action when I get home is to: Load computer on HDD with SSD connected > Clone HDD to SSD > Restart computer and enter BIOS to enable AHCI > Power off computer and remove HDD > Power on computer booting off SSD > Run my firmware update that I've pinched off intel site.

Seem ok?


Thanks mate.
 
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If your running in AHCI mode already then fine but if not perform the registry hack and then enable AHCI before cloning your HDD. Then disconnect your HDD, connect up the SSD and perform any firmware updates. You create a bootable CD that will flash the Intel SSD firmware and once finished you can proceed with restoring the system image taken earlier. Once finished make sure you disable the automatic disk defrag schedule and check TRIM is running....

Open command prompt as an elevated user (run as admin).
Type the following: fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify
If the result is '0' TRIM is enabled.

*edit: Make sure you run the Windows experience index assessment too.

Finally... Never do a full format with a SSD, just a quick format and of course don't try to Defrag one either.
 
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Tomcat825 said:
Not sure if my Sata drive is running in IDE or w/e atm, will check it in a couple of hours when i'm home. I'll read that article to kill some time though. ;)

Currently, my plan of action when I get home is to: Load computer on HDD with SSD connected > Clone HDD to SSD > Restart computer and enter BIOS to enable AHCI > Power off computer and remove HDD > Power on computer booting off SSD > Run my firmware update that I've pinched off intel site.

Seem ok?


Thanks mate.
Click to expand...
What's the point in doing all of that? Why not just install straight to the SSD? If you clone from HDD to SSD you'll almost certainly have incorrect sector alignment, which'll give you a big performance hit. If you install Windows 7 to the raw space of an SSD, it'll align the partition(s) correctly.
 
DragonQ said:
What's the point in doing all of that? Why not just install straight to the SSD? If you clone from HDD to SSD you'll almost certainly have incorrect sector alignment, which'll give you a big performance hit. If you install Windows 7 to the raw space of an SSD, it'll align the partition(s) correctly.
Click to expand...

I was going to mention the sector alignment thing actually. A clean install is always much more straight forward in these circumstances.
 
I did a clean install on an SSD the other day, but forgot about AHCI. It might be enabled already; I'm not sure.

If not, would just doing the registry hack work okay and then I'm good?
 
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