My Intel 80G G2R5 comes in tomorrow. Actually, my entire new build comes in tomorrow and I was planning on doing a clean Win7 install/format. My question is, should I wait until Intel releases their new TRIM firmware or use the stock firmware and update later? Obviously, I don't want to affect the longevity of the drive. What do you guys think?
New X25-M G2 - Install and use or wait until firmware?
- Thread starter bofeity
- Start date
Install and use. New firmware can be applied without wiping your drive... so I'll think you'll be fine.
Hmm, I don't know guys... the safest way is to wait for the new official ware, but that could be what, weeks?
Elcs
Diamond Member
- Apr 27, 2002
- 6,278
- 6
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I have 2 x 500GB drives which house my Vista 64 install and everything else.
I added in my recently purchased 160 Gb Intel X25-M and transferred my Steam folder onto it.
So whilst waiting for new firmware (so I can set AHCI and install Windows 7), I am using the benefit of the SSD in my games and my Page File. Area Transitions in Dragon Age:Origins are barely non-existant.
Personally I am waiting until Intel release a new, official firmware and SSD Toolkit before I move on. I do not think the SSD would have much wear during the period beforehand as long as you remember to disable certain things like defragmenting for the SSD.... but do not quote me on this.
Elcs
Diamond Member
- Apr 27, 2002
- 6,278
- 6
- 81
Nice drive huh ?I love mine.
Not getting much use out of it beside speedy game load times yet.
Just wait until I get AHCI and Windows 7 up and running with TRIM
I guess I am a noob here but you should turn off AHCI with the SSD? ALso, how do you turn it off and why? Excuse the silly question.
Where did you buy your Intel 80G G2R5 ? Can't find a place with it in stock thanks.
Thanks how long did it take for them to process your order please and what shipping method did you choose? Thinking of buying another smaller SSD just for the OS and Applications and use my Intel 160 GB for games.
Their processing really sucks. If you read my post above you will see what I mean. They sa up to 1-2 days of processing. Sounds more like "we don't want to spend the extra money on enough staff so let us have a few days to queue your order." They have a fairly nice shipping deal with FedEx... overnight for $19 for the drive alone (depending on total weight of shipment of course). My first time dealing with zip. I wish NewEgg had it in stock.
Any other suggestions on what one is to do? ... Should I do a fresh Win7 64 bit install with the stock drive? or wait for the new official firmware? Also, what settings or specifics should I know about... AHCI? Anything else? Bios/windows?
I would do a fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit with the stock drive. If you can't wait for the trim then make sure to not use the update tool everyone else was using when messing up their SSDs. The firmware itself wasn't the problem the update tool was. Yes enable AHCI before reinstalling windows 7.
you can install Win7 now with or with out the pulled firmware. The problem everyone had besides a handful of rare cases were all people with Win7 already installed. You shouldn't have any problems reguardless. Just don't install the new (pulled) firmware after you install Win7. Either do it before you install Win7 or wait for a later firmware update.
Even without TRIM (ie the new firmware) its fast.
Set BIOS to AHCI, you get SLIGHTLY better speeds.
Even without TRIM (ie the new firmware) its fast.
Set BIOS to AHCI, you get SLIGHTLY better speeds.
I've been using my G2 drive with Win7 (MSDN rtm..) for some time and the performance doesn't degenerate that fast without TRIM.
You can install the Firmware update whenever you want and just run the manual wiper tool once and it's as good as if you would install the OS on a already upgraded drive.
PS: AHCI is only interesting because of NCQ and that shows - at least in benchmarks - (never used my drive without it.. why would I?) more than just "slightly" better speeds.
You can install the Firmware update whenever you want and just run the manual wiper tool once and it's as good as if you would install the OS on a already upgraded drive.
PS: AHCI is only interesting because of NCQ and that shows - at least in benchmarks - (never used my drive without it.. why would I?) more than just "slightly" better speeds.
Okay guys... so until there is a new firmware from Intel, I am just going to do a fresh Win7 64 install.
What do I need to know? Set AHCI 'BEFORE' windows installation in bios... is there anything else? Anything I should do in windows after installation?
What do I need to know? Set AHCI 'BEFORE' windows installation in bios... is there anything else? Anything I should do in windows after installation?
Just to be clear... what is the manual wiper tool? Wipes the drive, forcing you to reinstall the OS from scratch?
If I install the stock SSD and use it until the official release from intel, the degeneration that would have occured, probably very slight though, would it be reversed when TRIM is active? Would it be the same as if TRIM were active FROM the start? like, assuming the drive had TRIM now and it was working properly, would it be reverted to this state if i use it now without trim and then get trim?
Nah in that case it'd be a rather silly recommendation
The wiper tool is part of the new firmware (?) and manually sends TRIM commands to the drive for all unused blocks - usually it's used for OSes without TRIM support, but you need to do it once with Win7 as well (only if you used the drive for some time that is) to get a clean drive because TRIM only works if you delete a used block, so it would take some time to get rid of old blocks otherwise.
@bofeity: See above. Your other point: Afaik you can enable AHCI after the installation as well, since Win7 already has the needed drivers per se (not sure about this though, but I wouldn't see any reason why there should be problems)
Nah in that case it'd be a rather silly recommendation
The wiper tool is part of the new firmware (?) and manually sends TRIM commands to the drive for all unused blocks - usually it's used for OSes without TRIM support, but you need to do it once with Win7 as well (only if you used the drive for some time that is) to get a clean drive because TRIM only works if you delete a used block, so it would take some time to get rid of old blocks otherwise.
@bofeity: See above. Your other point: Afaik you can enable AHCI after the installation as well, since Win7 already has the needed drivers per se (not sure about this though, but I wouldn't see any reason why there should be problems)
Okay, Thank you! So if I use the stock SSD I can use the manual wipe tool to bring the performance back up? But using it without trim and then getting TRIM via the new firmware, this won't affect the SSD in the long run? It would be as if i had trim all along? I guess i am just worried about using it for a week without trim and then intel releases the new firmware and i would say, well gee gosh, i could have waited a week and not put 1 weeks worth of degeneration on the drive...
Well first of all I've been using my Intel G2 (160gb) for quite some time with win7 without the new firmware (I have the new one, but I think I'll wait for the fix - too much hassle) and the performance degeneration isn't that bad with the new drives (anand came to the same conclusion, so look it up if you want hard numbers!).
So no you won't have any disadvantages of using the drive without the firmware, you'll just have to use the wiper tool once to get rid of all the artefacts and then let TRIM and Win7 do all the work.
Imho the wiper tool maybe more write cycles than just TRIM (because it has to TRIM every unused block of the OS I'd assume, but that's just guessing), but Intel advocates WinXP users to use the tool daily (!) so I wouldn't worry about that, chances are high that you'll need a new drive before you used up all your cycles (MLC has around 10.000 writes per cell, so with perfect wear leveling algorithm you'd have to write an awful amount of data to the drive.. do the math and then half the result, still a lot^^)
So no you won't have any disadvantages of using the drive without the firmware, you'll just have to use the wiper tool once to get rid of all the artefacts and then let TRIM and Win7 do all the work.
Imho the wiper tool maybe more write cycles than just TRIM (because it has to TRIM every unused block of the OS I'd assume, but that's just guessing), but Intel advocates WinXP users to use the tool daily (!) so I wouldn't worry about that, chances are high that you'll need a new drive before you used up all your cycles (MLC has around 10.000 writes per cell, so with perfect wear leveling algorithm you'd have to write an awful amount of data to the drive.. do the math and then half the result, still a lot^^)
taltamir
Lifer
- Mar 21, 2004
- 13,576
- 6
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1. Enable AHCI before installing windows
2. The SSD tool will not do anything without the TRIM firmware
3. The firmware is fine, it is the firmware update tool that has the problem. wait until it has been fixed, then update firmware and run the ssd tool once (after which windows will handle trim without need for the tool)
2. The SSD tool will not do anything without the TRIM firmware
3. The firmware is fine, it is the firmware update tool that has the problem. wait until it has been fixed, then update firmware and run the ssd tool once (after which windows will handle trim without need for the tool)
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