Crucial M4 128GB SSD Questions

[DKrebo87]

Hello all, I'm new here this is my first post/thread, and I'm just looking for some advice or direction towards my best option. I have a Dell XPS 420 from '08, it has the X38 Quad Q6600 CPU ICH9 Southbridge, 4 GB DDR2 RAM etcetera...only on a SATA 2 port. I installed the SSD last night in this order.

1) Plugged in via USB and let Windows install drivers.
2) Disconnected HDD and did a clean Win 7 64bit install to SSD via SATA.
2a) SATA config was set to RAID, on my Dell BIOS I only have RAID or Auto-Detect/ATA. I didn't actually pool the SSD with another drive.
3) Instant improvement obviously, I'm already happy but I just have a couple of concerns.

With my Intel chipset/bridge am I eligible for Intel's new chipset software drivers? I'm confused because I know my BIOS is locked as far as the CPU, does that have any effect? Do the Windows 7 drivers put Trim into effect? I know it's enabled but I've read it still requires new drivers or BIOS with AHCI. I ran AS SSD Benchmark.

I guess it boils down to can I install new chipset drivers with a "locked" BIOS, if I can will I be able to just download them and change the BIOS options or do I have to start from scratch? If I can't install the new driver software what other options do I have until I can get a new set-up going? I've already done slight tweaks like disable hibernating, defrag, system restore and a couple other things (only on the SSD/Boot drive). Is the Win 7 driver sufficient enough to have the SSD Trim, and how bad is it if at all to have the drive in RAID mode while not in an actual drive "pool"?

Any advice and/or input is greatly appreciated and I thank you ahead of time :thumbsup:, I'm just not really sure what my options are and what I should be doing.

 

[razel]

Simplify. You'll want to set your BIOS back to 'Auto' and not 'RAID' since you are not RAIDing. Since you're using Intel SATA disk controller. TRIM works fine with the default MS drivers or the updated Rapid Storage Tech drivers. However I wouldn't bother to change it back to the MS defaults if you have already installed it.

Before changing your BIOS, wait up for what others say about changing this. You may or may not get a blue-screen on boot-up. I wouldn't know. I have only worked with software RAID in Windows.

 

[Burner27]

Exit all Windows-based programs.
Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\pciide

In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0, for each of START keys mentioned in each of the registry keys and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

Now you can switch back and forth between any one of the ICHx modes and not have to worry about not getting back into Windows.

*There is no space in between Servic and es. It's supposed to be 'services' but it's not formatting properly for some reason.

 

[DKrebo87]

Exit all Windows-based programs.
Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\pciide

In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0, for each of START keys mentioned in each of the registry keys and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

Now you can switch back and forth between any one of the ICHx modes and not have to worry about not getting back into Windows.

*There is no space in between Servic and es. It's supposed to be 'services' but it's not formatting properly for some reason.

Hey I tried setting all 3 Start values to 0, and changing the setting but it won't recognize the SSD as a bootable drive unless it's on RAID. The only options I have are ATA or RAID, I'm not sure which is better for the SSD for now. What do you think?

 

[cmdrdredd]

leave it on raid if it works. I guess...it's too bad you don't have AHCI mode. I think with Intel's latest drivers TRIM can be enabled with RAID but I'm not sure. Luckily the M4 drives have pretty good garbage collection on their own.

 

[Burner27]

+1 ^^^


TRIM with Raid does work as long as the drives are NOT in a Raid array. With your single drive that is not in a Raid array on your controller that is in Raid mode, Trim will work.

 

[DKrebo87]

leave it on raid if it works. I guess...it's too bad you don't have AHCI mode. I think with Intel's latest drivers TRIM can be enabled with RAID but I'm not sure. Luckily the M4 drives have pretty good garbage collection on their own.

Thanks guys I appreciate it.

 

[kbp]

Burner is correct. TRIM will work in RAID mode with just one drive.

 

[Dessert Tears]

I have a Dell XPS 420 from '08, it has the X38 Quad Q6600 CPU ICH9 Southbridge, 4 GB DDR2 RAM etcetera...only on a SATA 2 port.

I have a Dell Vostro from around the same time, and I got an M4 about a month ago. It has ICH9R with similar BIOS options, if I remember correctly, IDE and RAID. I switched it to RAID before I did the W7 install.