New Chronos Deluxe SSD - did I setup correctly? Also Intel RST DL?

[gramboh]

Hi guys,

(TL;DR - first SSD, migrated Windows 7, old motherboard, wondering about performance and Intel RST, questions at bottom)

As some of you may have seen from my recent posts, I recently ordered a Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB SSD which also happens to be my first SSD. I picked it up this afternoon and spent the evening getting things setup. Here is what I did:

(Note: I will be wiping the drive and doing a fresh install of Windows 7 Pro x64 in April when I build an Ivy Bridge machine. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of 2 re-installs in 2 months which is why I migrated my old install.)

1) Create image of current 45GB Windows 7 Pro x64 partition using Seagate Disc Wizard (free Acronis basic version)

2) Restore Windows 7 image onto SSD

3) Use Gparted Live CD to align SSD to 2MiB (dividing partition starting offset by 4096 = 512)

4) Reboot and use Windows 7 disc to fix MBR issue, Windows 7 now boots fine and FAST, wow, really WOWWW.

4) Run Windows Experience Index, verify that defrag is disabled for SSD. Verify that TRIM is working (it is)

5) Create ~180gb partition from remaining space, install Origin and start downloading Battlefield 3.

Ran 2 benchmarks with following results:

ATTO (default options):

CrystalDiskMark - default random data, 3 passes:

CrystalDiskMark - 1fill data (incompressible?), 3 passes:

From googling a few reviews, my results seem normal, given that I am on a SATA2 port on an old P965 motherboard with Intel ICH8R controller. Three questions:

1) Do the numbers look reasonable for my config (old motherboard, SATA2, migrated Win 7 install).

2) How can I tell if I am running the MS AHCI or Intel RST drivers? I thought I remembered installing some Intel drivers when I installed Windows but cannot seem to figure it out.

3) Where can I download the Intel RST drivers? When I go the Intel Download Centre (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Default.aspx?lang=eng) and search for Intel RST and click the links for 10.​8.​0.​1003 (Nov 2011) and 11.​0.​0.​1032 (2/10/2012) I get a page not found error? WTF?

Thanks for any help, and special thanks to groberts , exdeath and all the other posters who have shared their knowledge here on SSDs, it was immensely helpful to me in choosing a drive. 🙂 🙂

 

[exdeath]

Numbers are perfect. SATA2 really cripples the performance on these. The protocol overhead for thousands of individual 4k requests consumes a huge chunk of limited SATA2 bandwidth and actually competes with the drives throughput for SATA bandwidth, but on SATA3 the SF2281 runs out of breath before SATA3 is maxed out with command overhead. These drives are capable of 200-300 MB/sec 4KQD32 random on a *good* SATA3 controller.

Device manager will say AHCI in the disk controller name if it's in AHCI mode. You are definitely in AHCI mode as you wouldn't come anywhere near capping out SATA2 with 280/260 R/W if you weren't.

http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews...crystal-diskmark-and-anvil-storage-utilities/

0 fill or 1 fill is compressible because all the data is the same, random is not. As you see in your benchmarks, you aren't going to really notice either way because these drives are so damn fast, even non compressible performance is limited by SATA2 bandwidth before SF2281+Toggle NAND starts to work up a sweat. If you look in the review I linked to see the full power of the drive on SATA3 you'll see that 4KQD32 pretty much exceeds SATA2 bandwidth (including SATA wire command and protocol overhead not included in disk throughput numbers) regardless of compressed or not. Pretty much any benchmark you run on this drive on a SATA2 port is just benchmarking your SATA2 chipset.

 

[gramboh]

Thanks exdeath, helpful as always. I was actually referencing that review earlier, and my numbers do seem to make sense (up until SATA2 limit). I know I am in AHCI mode as I had it enabled previously with just my hard drives, but I can't seem to figure out if I am using MS AHCI drivers or Intel RST drivers, I just found the download link for the new (2/10/2012) Intel drivers, might give thme a shot tomorrow, heading to bed now.

cheers

 

[exdeath]

Check the drive controller driver details, it will say iastor.sys or msahci.sys. Also device manager will say "Intel(R)" on the controller if it's an Intel driver.

Enjoy it, I'm in the same boat with the same exact drive on a ICH9M SATA2 controller in my light duty laptop. The single core Celeron 900 is always at 100% during heavy disk operations like antivirus and rar/zip, with the "disk" access light hardly blinking... :sneaky: :awe:

I actually didn't mean to put an overpowered drive in a weak laptop so much that the $278 price on a 240GB SSD was a red handed STEAL regardless of performance, to replace the 250GB HDD in my laptop.

I also bought a OCZ Agility 3 120GB because it was also a hot deal at $112 + a $15 gift card. I don't know what I'll use the 120GB for, but I'm going to use the $15 card for something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817388031 and turn my old laptop HDD into an external backup... or maybe I'll stuff the Agility 3 in there instead :twisted:

 

[gramboh]

Check the drive controller driver details, it will say iastor.sys or msahci.sys. Also device manager will say "Intel(R)" on the controller if it's an Intel driver.

Enjoy it, I'm in the same boat with the same exact drive on a ICH9M SATA2 controller in my light duty laptop. The single core Celeron 900 is always at 100% during heavy disk operations like antivirus and rar/zip, with the "disk" access light hardly blinking... :sneaky: :awe:

I actually didn't mean to put an overpowered drive in a weak laptop so much that the $278 price on a 240GB SSD was a red handed STEAL regardless of performance, to replace the 250GB HDD in my laptop.

I also bought a OCZ Agility 3 120GB because it was also a hot deal at $112 + a $15 gift card. I don't know what I'll use the 120GB for, but I'm going to use the $15 card for something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817388031 and turn my old laptop HDD into an external backup... or maybe I'll stuff the Agility 3 in there instead :twisted:

Thanks, I'm at work now but I'll check the driver details when I get home.

It's amazing how fast SSD prices are coming down, I think the Chronos Deluxe 240GB launched at $450 (maybe $500?) back in July/August 2011, so it's already dropped 35-40% in price. I've seen Agility 3 and other quality 120GB going for $99 AR regularly now and Vertex 3 120GB for $130 AR. I wonder if demand has been increased due to overpriced hard drives.

I know I'll be getting an SSD in my next laptop, and maybe even replace the netbook with a cheap 120gb for more battery life and snapiness 🙂.

 

[exdeath]

LOL addicted on the first hit. I swear SSDs are worse than cigarettes, weed, crack, heroin, morphine, etc. You haven't even finished shooting up yet and you're thinking about the next two needles already. 😉

I do hope the Chronos Deluxe 240GB price stays and isn't just a sale; $278 for a top of the line 240GB model sticking around for good would set new precedent in SSD prices. It would push non "MAX IOPS" 240GB models under $240, etc.

 

[groberts101]

I swear SSDs are worse than cigarettes, weed, crack, heroin, morphine, etc.

especially for those individuals who may be classified as slightly "power crazed". 🙂

And out of those types?.. you can easily tell the very worst of them by the existence of raid on their systems. LOL

 

[gramboh]

Haha an SSD is like smack, I'm already hooked guys.

Got Battlefield 3 working last night and the load times are comically faster, down from 60-75s to 8-10s between maps. Previously, the game would stutter for 2-3seconds a few times each map, which I'm pretty sure was RAM or VRAM paging. I played for 3 hours last night without a single instance of that.

Damn, it's going to be hard to justify building a new Ivy Bridge machine in April now haha.

Going to try the Intel RST drivers and AS SSD tonight.