New Intel SSD drives are in!!!

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Reads are down a little, writes are up a little. Performance wise its more or less negligible but the promise of a firmware update is what has gotten everyone salivating.

i thought BOTH were up a bit... also IOPS increased by 2.5x

 

[alcoholbob]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Reads are down a little, writes are up a little. Performance wise its more or less negligible but the promise of a firmware update is what has gotten everyone salivating.

i thought BOTH were up a bit... also IOPS increased by 2.5x

Well regarding write IOPS Anandtech compared a beatup G1 vs a G2 in Iometer (probably 256 threads). He basically used the most extreme conditions you can get with a commercial benchmark application and got a 40% increase from G2. I'm not sure how Intel came to this numbers, the queue depth must have been incredible, but certainly such a mock-up is not available to commercial hardware reviewers.

Now AS SSD is a "IOMeter lite" in that it doesn't take 4 hours (or something obscene) to run the full benchmark, not to mention is more consistent in its results. It is however, artificially limited to a queue depth of 64.

At these settings I managed to get 14,504k write iops. Feel free to run AS SSD and see what numbers you get, but a 2.5x increase would actually run around 140MB/s at 4K-64.

http://img156.imageshack.us/im.../5552/intel80gmbsb.png

http://img156.imageshack.us/im.../3387/intel80giops.png

From this review it appears that write IOPS is pretty similar to G1:

http://www.legitreviews.com/im...22/asssd_achi_mode.jpg

So at a queue depth of 64 the difference isn't 2.5 (actually neglible). Let's see what happens when the queue depth increases...

http://www.pcper.com/article.p...=750&type=expert&pid=8

With IOMeter results the difference between G1 and G2 is within 3% except under (the aptly named) File Server, where the difference looks like about 8%, and this is at a queue depth of 256.

Again, these are commercial benchmarks, it's likely Intel has some sort of in-house testing application that's running 1000s of concurrent threads (although ironically, Iometer was developed by Intel), in which case it's entirely possible the G2 is running 2.5x faster than the G1. Still, under those conditions, if you are serving the needs of a small community, you probably would need (and alot of) SLC drives as the longevity of the drive would be under question.

 

[taltamir]

wait... the 2.5x was the intel figure? gah, I can't beleive I was quoting a manufacturer claim... I was sure it was a benchmark...
oh well. a few percent faster than...

 

[hammermill1]

This is my first ssd, so I'm sure even the OCZ's Vertex would be fast, but just installed Adobe CS3 Premium Suite (thats 2.85GB or 25,964 files) - usually takes about half-hour to an hour to install on a desktop 7200 rpm drive, on this intel ssd it took 8 minutes. Just some real-world stats for anyone thinking of getting as ssd drive in general. So far, I'm impressed.

Also received email from newegg about the bios password, but for me it's a non-issue since I don't set a password.

 

[Old Hippie]

but just installed Adobe CS3 Premium Suite (thats 2.85GB or 25,964 files) - usually takes about half-hour to an hour to install on a desktop 7200 rpm drive, on this intel ssd it took 8 minutes.

My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

 

[jimhsu]

I've been using PerformanceMark to try to discover weaknesses and think I finally found one:

Benchmark settings and random performance

http://www.hardforum.com/showp...34429241&postcount=189

Poor random read speeds under a heavy seq write workload

http://www.hardforum.com/showp...34430137&postcount=190

I first discovered this when copying the World of Warcraft data directory to the SSD while opening Microsoft Word at the same time.

 

[subflava]

Interesting...wonder what the explanation is for this. The controller is saturating the flash with so many large writes that it doesn't predictably/fairly intersperse the read requests?

 

[hammermill1]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

Anything that can be done to bring it back up to speed without re-installing the os? I noticed OCZ has a wiper program, but it doesn't work for the intel drives.

 

[DukeN]

Originally posted by: subflava

Originally posted by: DukeN
Can someone advise me if I can replace my notebook SATA drive with one of the intel ones (once they become available)? Or is the form factor one that won't work?

Thanks

Yes, it will work as these drives are SATA format. They'll pretty much work in any "standard" notebook that uses SATA.

But is the physical form factor (specifically the height and width) same as regular notebook drives? Just wanted to see if someone had installed this sucessfully in a notebook.

 

[alcoholbob]

It shouldn't be a problem with the major vendors (HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc). These are I believe legit 2.5" not like the VRaptor 2.5" which just happens to exist for the purpose of a heatsink.

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: hammermill1

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

Anything that can be done to bring it back up to speed without re-installing the os? I noticed OCZ has a wiper program, but it doesn't work for the intel drives.

Not that I know of.

I'm seeing a lot of these "O-My-God-It's-Just-Soo-Fast" comments from novice Intel SSD users and that's exactly my impression when I first installed this drive.

We'll see after a few months what their experiences are.

 

[hammermill1]

Originally posted by: DukeNBut is the physical form factor (specifically the height and width) same as regular notebook drives? Just wanted to see if someone had installed this successfully in a notebook.

Fits fine in a Lenovo T400 laptop. As others mentioned, these drives are standard 2.5" notebook size. It's 7mm high, but comes with a pre-installed 2.5mm removable plastic extension which makes it the 9.5mm height of typical hdd.

If you're looking for more exact measurements, see Inte's Datasheet (PDF).



@Old Hippie
Thanks for your reply. I typically re-install my os (actually from an image) every 18 months in the past since it too slows down considerable, but do you find the ssd performance you're getting now to be close to a hdd making the extra $$ wasteful?

 

[rcpratt]

If the issues really do continue to get bad as they age, it only takes like an hour to clone the drive to a backup drive, HDDErase it, and then clone it back. Small annoyance, but definitely not enough to turn me off to it. I'll waste an hour every 6 months for this speed.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: hammermill1

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

Anything that can be done to bring it back up to speed without re-installing the os? I noticed OCZ has a wiper program, but it doesn't work for the intel drives.

with a G2... install the trim update when windows 7 goes public

 

[imported_spike99]

I've been reading that SATA 3 (6Gbps) is coming out soon and for next-gen SSD... SATA 3.0 is mandatory... Whenever it arrives that is...

So does it makes sense buying an SSD that is only compatible with SATA 2(3Gbps) ? Shoule we be of waiting for SATA 3 motherboards to come out ? I had read that these motherboards will be coming this year...

 

[Old Hippie]

, but do you find the ssd performance you're getting now to be close to a hdd making the extra $$ wasteful?

Absolutely not!

 

[1bigphil]

Update - Amazon removed the 'out of stock' notice on the G2's, but says shipping will take 1-4 weeks ($269 for boxed). Zipzoomfly has the bulk version for $223.25, the best price I've seen, but no ETA yet. Newegg's G2 page, tries to get you to buy a G1 by listing the G1's item number as an alternative, 'Please use this...' interesting. If I wanted a G1, I would have bought one already, cripes it is getting painful to wait.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Originally posted by: 1bigphil
Update - Amazon removed the 'out of stock' notice on the G2's, but says shipping will take 1-4 weeks ($269 for boxed). Zipzoomfly has the bulk version for $223.25, the best price I've seen, but no ETA yet. Newegg's G2 page, tries to get you to buy a G1 by listing the G1's item number as an alternative, 'Please use this...' interesting. If I wanted a G1, I would have bought one already, cripes it is getting painful to wait.

To expand on the ZZF mention, I also noticed that they have two versions listed. The one linked is a few dollars cheaper, but also states that it's 7mm thick, which leads me to believe that it does not include the spacer that brings it up to the more standard 9.5mm height.

 

[Old Hippie]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: hammermill1

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

Anything that can be done to bring it back up to speed without re-installing the os? I noticed OCZ has a wiper program, but it doesn't work for the intel drives.

with a G2... install the trim update when windows 7 goes public

Hopefully that will work for G2 owners.

I've even zeroed this drive with HDDErase and reinstalled the OS but it's just not the same as a virgin drive.

That being said, this drive is still heads and sholders above my 80GB VR and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: hammermill1

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

Anything that can be done to bring it back up to speed without re-installing the os? I noticed OCZ has a wiper program, but it doesn't work for the intel drives.

with a G2... install the trim update when windows 7 goes public

Hopefully that will work for G2 owners.

I've even zeroed this drive with HDDErase and reinstalled the OS but it's just not the same as a virgin drive.

That being said, this drive is still heads and sholders above my 80GB VR and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

Mine performed the same as brand new after the HDDERASE. I used HDDERASE 4.0 for this which some have said isn't compatible, but it worked for me once I put it on a SD flash card instead of a CD.

I think the backup-erase-image process is a big PITA, and generally not worth the trouble as even in the well used state you are still almost never waiting on the drive.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: ZetaEpyon

Originally posted by: 1bigphil
Update - Amazon removed the 'out of stock' notice on the G2's, but says shipping will take 1-4 weeks ($269 for boxed). Zipzoomfly has the bulk version for $223.25, the best price I've seen, but no ETA yet. Newegg's G2 page, tries to get you to buy a G1 by listing the G1's item number as an alternative, 'Please use this...' interesting. If I wanted a G1, I would have bought one already, cripes it is getting painful to wait.

To expand on the ZZF mention, I also noticed that they have two versions listed. The one linked is a few dollars cheaper, but also states that it's 7mm thick, which leads me to believe that it does not include the spacer that brings it up to the more standard 9.5mm height.

there are three versions per size per generation with the same naming... (G1 80GB, G1 160GB, G2 80GB, and G2 160GB), each of those has three versions, one is the "retail"... R1 I think... one is C1, and one is something with a zero, I don't know what the difference between the two non retail is. (the retail comes with an adapter)

 

[jimhsu]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: hammermill1

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
My G1 was like that in the beginning but slowed as it hit steady state.

Not tons of difference but nothing like when new.

Anything that can be done to bring it back up to speed without re-installing the os? I noticed OCZ has a wiper program, but it doesn't work for the intel drives.

with a G2... install the trim update when windows 7 goes public

Hopefully that will work for G2 owners.

I've even zeroed this drive with HDDErase and reinstalled the OS but it's just not the same as a virgin drive.

That being said, this drive is still heads and sholders above my 80GB VR and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

You don't notice a good SSD ... until someone tries to take it away from you.

Sitting here with a conventional hard drive computer - the startup experience (launch everything right after you see the desktop) - is totally different.

 

[taltamir]

an interesting "new" for me is not hearing the hard drive anymore... except when I sometimes access it, i have to hear it spin up, which is quite annoying and jarring compared to the silence of the SSD.
I hear it even over the loud video card and case fans (which I am looking into doing something about)

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: ZetaEpyon
To expand on the ZZF mention, I also noticed that they have two versions listed. The one linked is a few dollars cheaper, but also states that it's 7mm thick, which leads me to believe that it does not include the spacer that brings it up to the more standard 9.5mm height.

there are three versions per size per generation with the same naming... (G1 80GB, G1 160GB, G2 80GB, and G2 160GB), each of those has three versions, one is the "retail"... R1 I think... one is C1, and one is something with a zero, I don't know what the difference between the two non retail is. (the retail comes with an adapter)

That concurs with what I said. ZZF doesn't list a retail version of the G2, only two different bulk models: G2C1 (9.5mm thick), and G201 (7mm thick). Hence the difference between the two non-retail is probably just the spacer.

Interestingly, they've also listed the 1.8" version of the drive (X18M) at the same price as the X25M G201.

 

[AbRASiON]

So, when is the full review coming, when is the product being re-released?