Vertex 4 256GB bench on W8 Pro 64bit

thenewoc

thenewoc

thenewoc

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On a fresh install of W8 Pro 64bit with Vertex 4 256GB (FW 1.5) used as System drive with about 10% used so far with the OS install.

This is just using the Windows AHCI driver.

Happyish with the writes but the reads seem disappointing, would using Intel RST help even though am just using a single SSD in AHCI?

28svhw3.jpg


rwjfjd.jpg




Using this as a yard stick..
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18438446
 
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"would using Intel RST help even though am just using a single SSD in AHCI?"

Can't hurt to try. If not happy, you can simply uninstall them and on re-boot, the stock MS AHCI drivers will be re-installed.

Also remember to give the drive time to recover if you've been running any number of these speed tests.

tbth... no two systems will give exactly the same results and more often than not, if you re-run the test/s (depending on what tasks are running in the background etc.) you can find slightly different results even on the same system!

Enjoy...

Edit.

This is my 256GB (empty drive):

SSDATTObenchmarkVertex4256gbrst108.jpg
 
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wazza300 said:
...maybe because your drive was sata2? ...
Click to expand...

Could well be.

I see that the Vertex 4 drive/s come out as PC Formats (magazine came in the post today) top recommended in their multi SSD shoot out. Though they did add a slight caveat regarding it's long term reliability. Nothings perfect I suppose, but can't say I'm aware of any great hue and cry like there was in the early days with the Vertex 3 drives :confused: Time will tell I suppose.

PS. Not knocking any other SSD's here, the Samsung's especially are good value (at least the older 830's).
 
Hi guys, thanks for feedback. I did give the RST driver a try earlier (11.6.0.1030) but had to uninstall as it said my hdd status was incompatible and wouldn't show up in disk management, explorer or device manager. Was fine with the ms driver and is again now I've uninstalled RST. The 11.6.0.1030 driver was the only one I could find that stated it was for W8 so I guess I'll have to wait for intel to release the next version.
 
I'd also keep an eye out on the Manufacturers WEB site for your mobo. If it's a current board, then they should also add a download for it at some point.

Though to to honest, not that much wrong with the performance figures for your drive at the moment :)

Very easy to get hung up on these speed tests.
 
thenewoc said:
Hi guys, thanks for feedback. I did give the RST driver a try earlier (11.6.0.1030) but had to uninstall as it said my hdd status was incompatible and wouldn't show up in disk management, explorer or device manager. Was fine with the ms driver and is again now I've uninstalled RST. The 11.6.0.1030 driver was the only one I could find that stated it was for W8 so I guess I'll have to wait for intel to release the next version.
Click to expand...

theres a bunch of rst driver versions here if you scroll down the page,it lists the one you tried but some previous one might work fine imo,they work for any board,ive installed them on gigabyte and asus without issue

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyt...system-info-benchmarking-stability-tools.html
 
Just a little update as I managed to solve the issue I was having with iRST AHCI driver. I think the mbr of my hard disk had become corrupted. As I had a utility cd to hand I decided to dban it to restore it to a raw state. It then showed up in device manager & initialised it through disk manager. Using the latest iRST AHCI driver 11.6.0.1030, so when I've got the rest of my drivers installed & things configured I'll do another couple of benches for comparison. I've only done a couple of benches as per the above so I don't think a couple more will do any harm.
 
Good show.

Just a heads up and I expect you already know / appreciate this but...

If you ever want to wipe your SSD, then perform a Secure Erase (rather than use something like Dban). This option is available via either the OCZ Toolbox, or a rather handy set of tools that OCZ supply on a bootable Linux ISO. Or even via Parted Magic. Then just let Windows do your formatting for you if re-installing your OS at any point.
 
@mikeo

Thanks, yes I have used the OCZ Toolbox prior to this fresh install but I was lucky that my Vertex was received with the latest firmware so I haven't had cause to reinstall those tools at the moment. I would only use dban for a spinning HDD not an SSD, it was just something I realised I had within easy reach and perhaps overkill to wipe out the mbr but I was being lazy to research a simpler way but also thought it was a way to be sure I was starting fresh with the HDD.

Just wondered actually with your bench that you posted above, have you done that with 'write-cache buffer flushing' turned off on the SSD?

In case your not sure what I'm referring to it's in 'Disk Management', if you right click on the tile in the lower half of the 'Disk Management' window for the SSD and choose Properties, under 'Policies' there is an option to 'Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing...'?
 
Other than disabling hibernate, to free up some space (as I have no requirement for it on a PC). Checking TRIM enabled in Windows / SSD and checking the partition alignment ... I've done no other "tweaks" what so ever (and never have for any of my earlier SSD's either). Not really convinced that many (any?) have that much of an impact really. There's been many threads discussing this sort of thing in the past and as usual, everyone has a slightly different opinion / view. Much like life in general really :)

Here's what it looks like now (just under 50% full after some 4 months use):

SSDATTObenchmarkVertex4after4months.jpg
 
Just did a few tweaks from Sean's SSD optimisation guide over on overclock.net but still left the hibernation file in place as disabling it removes the 'Turn on fast start-up' option from the 'Power Options' > 'Choose what the power buttons do' screen.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1240779/seans-windows-8-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds#

I also tried turning off 'write-cache buffer flushing' but it caused bsod (machine_check_exception) prior to getting to Windows login screen, so wouldn't recommend it with one of these Vertex's.

Using iRST 11.6.0.1030 has indeed improved AHCI SSD performance :D ...

28umow9.jpg
 
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