Vertex 4 benchmark disappointment

martin5454 · 12 Nov 2012 at 14:04

Hi

Just did a ATTO Benchmark on my vertext 4 128GB

I was expecting faster results to be honest, am I wrong to expect any faster?

CPU = 3570K @stock
MB = ASUS z77 v

Latest firmware is installed.

Its plugged into a SATA 6Gb/s port

Free space on drive = 30% (Windows is installed on this drive)

wazza300 · 12 Nov 2012 at 14:33

load as ssd benchmark and post a screenshot,those speeds are very slow so somethings not right,running in ahci mode in the bios?

Surveyor · 12 Nov 2012 at 18:50

martin5454 said:
Its plugged into a SATA 6Gb/s port

Have you made sure it's an Intel SATA 3 (6Gbps) port?

They're the white ones on the motherboard.

martin5454 · 13 Nov 2012 at 02:07

Thanks Surveyor,

Checked the manual and they are NOT Intel ports, actually ASMedia. After a few mins on google it seems thats a bad thing. Apparently intel designed the z77 chipset to have a max of two Sata3s and you should use them before using ASmedia.

Should I will try clearing the CMOS??? Or am I looking at re installing windows?

Surveyor · 13 Nov 2012 at 08:40

Sorry, I should have said that Intel are the best to use.

You should just be able to move the SATA data cable from the ASMedia port to an Intel SATA 3 (6Gbps) one.

This will likely only work with the Intel SATA controller set to IDE mode.

As you want it set to AHCI mode for the best performance then you'll probably need to do this (I'm assuming you're using Windows 7):

1) Boot into Windows with the Intel SATA controller in IDE mode

2) Download and run this reg file: http://cdn.ithinkdiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ahci.reg

3) Restart and go into the BIOS

4) Set the Intel SATA controller to AHCI mode then save and exit

5) Boot into windows again and you'll see the AHCI drivers being installed

6) You may want to also install the Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology) drivers

martin5454 · 13 Nov 2012 at 11:13

Thanks again Surveyor!

With your help I was able to swap the SATA cables with the minimum of fuss

New bmk

Going to update my drivers see if there is anymore improvement.

mikeo · 13 Nov 2012 at 23:06

On the assumption that the comment in your initial post is correct (IE. Free space on drive = 30%)...

If your drive is over 50% full, then it will be operating in standard mode, rather than performance mode. I expect this may explain some of your issues.

If I had been you... to get a base line set of performance figures. I would have initially tested the drive empty.

I would suggest anyone not aware of how this drive / firmware currently operates, reads this:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6074/ocz-vertex-4-review-128gb

quote:

The Performance Mode

With the 1.4 firmware OCZ introduced a two operating mode structure for most capacities of the Vertex 4. As long as less than 50% of the drive is in use, the Vertex 4 will operate in a performance mode - delivering better sequential performance. Once you hit the 50% mark, the drive switches to its standard performance mode (similar to the max performance pre-1.4 firmware).

This mode switching is mostly transparent to the end user with one exception. When you cross the 50% threshold, the Vertex 4 has to reorganize all pages on the drive. During this reorganization performance is impacted. The entire process should only take a matter of minutes, and it only happens once, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Edit: Performance figures from ATTO on an empty drive benchmarked with Intel RST 10.8 on my current system:

martin5454 · 14 Nov 2012 at 02:33

Thanks for the information mikeo,

I had no idea about these modes, that seems to be the best explanation. Think am going to just leave it alone for now until I can test when its empty.