BonzaiDuck
Lifer
Before moving forward with my SSD purchase (Elm Crest 510 series) and the building of my new Sandy Bridge system on the ASUS "V-Pro" with the Z68 chipset, I noted that ISRT caching with an SSD works fine in VISTA-64, but "TRIM" is only implemented natively with Windows 7.
This would be no surprise, and I guessed that Intel would have their own solution for using ISRT in VISTA-64. And -- on digging further -- it appeared so. You would use the "SSD Optimizer" in the Intel SSD Toolbox software.
However, once you implement ISRT caching of your HHD, and after you install SSD Toolbox, you discover that the SSD Optimizer "tool is not supported on the selected drive." And you further discover that the Optimizer does not currently work with "RAID" configurations -- even though the RAID "configuration" used for caching is an INtel technology. And only as an aside here, the tool is not supposed to work on Intel SSD's with 50nm density/hardware. But the Elm Crest drives are something like 34nm.
The firmware on the drive is the latest. The driver for ISRT is the latest. SSD Toolbox runs fine in VISTA-64. The ISRT caching feature is "stunning" in its performance with a single HDD -- very impressive.
But you would think -- with a new line of SSDs, a new technology implemented in a new chipset (Z68) -- that they would've either prepared a revision to the Toolbox software (and SSD Optimizer), or discovered some "work-around" to give you TRIM equivalent under VISTA-64 SP2 with a "RAID" configuration that is part of their new technology.
DID I MISS SOMETHING? IS THERE SOME ALTERNATIVE? I'D LIKE TO KNOW! Otherwise, Intel says it is "investigating" the implementation of "Optimizer"/"TRIM" in RAID configurations generally.
This would be no surprise, and I guessed that Intel would have their own solution for using ISRT in VISTA-64. And -- on digging further -- it appeared so. You would use the "SSD Optimizer" in the Intel SSD Toolbox software.
However, once you implement ISRT caching of your HHD, and after you install SSD Toolbox, you discover that the SSD Optimizer "tool is not supported on the selected drive." And you further discover that the Optimizer does not currently work with "RAID" configurations -- even though the RAID "configuration" used for caching is an INtel technology. And only as an aside here, the tool is not supposed to work on Intel SSD's with 50nm density/hardware. But the Elm Crest drives are something like 34nm.
The firmware on the drive is the latest. The driver for ISRT is the latest. SSD Toolbox runs fine in VISTA-64. The ISRT caching feature is "stunning" in its performance with a single HDD -- very impressive.
But you would think -- with a new line of SSDs, a new technology implemented in a new chipset (Z68) -- that they would've either prepared a revision to the Toolbox software (and SSD Optimizer), or discovered some "work-around" to give you TRIM equivalent under VISTA-64 SP2 with a "RAID" configuration that is part of their new technology.
DID I MISS SOMETHING? IS THERE SOME ALTERNATIVE? I'D LIKE TO KNOW! Otherwise, Intel says it is "investigating" the implementation of "Optimizer"/"TRIM" in RAID configurations generally.
