SSD Read Speed Much Slower than Advertised

[Dr_Zhivago]

Hi Everyone. First time poster here, but I'm no stranger to the internet or forums in general. I'm trying to figure out a weird problem. Wall of text to follow:

The throughput on the Intel SATA 6.0 Gbps ports on my Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard seems low. I recently installed a Samsung 840 (non-Pro) 250GB drive. It's the OS/Applications drive. I used Acronis True Image 2011 to clone the existing OS install from a WD Black 500GB drive. The partition is 4K aligned according to an alignment checking tool. It's connected to one of the Intel SATA 6.0 Gbps ports on the GA-Z77X-UD3H. I have the latest non-Beta BIOS; F18. I did try 2 newer Beta BIOSes, but rolled back to the latest released version since they did not resolve the issue.

I installed Samsung Magician, then the latest firmware, turned off Indexing, Superfetch, Prefetch, Write Cache Buffer Flushing, Hibernation, etc. I installed the latest Intel RST drivers. Everything says the drive is set to SATA 6.0 Gbps, yet the read speeds top out @400MB/s. I've tried 2 different SATA cables and both Intel SATA 6.0 Gbps ports. Write speeds are as advertised @250MB/s. IOPs seem somewhat below advertised, but not horrible. It also performed exactly the same with the firmware it came with.

I get the same read/write performance with the MSAHCI driver. IOPs are lower with the MSAHCI driver, which makes sense.

I've tried turning off all power saving features in the BIOS and using Samsung's High Performance power profile created with Magician with no resolution.

I took another Samsung 840 250GB SSD and installed Windows fresh today. The 2nd drive performs exactly the same, topping out @400MB/s. I should add that ANY SATA 6.0 Gbps capable drive tops out @400MB/s. So, there's something up with the controller, not just the SSD's.

I've installed Samsung 840 250GB drives in other Z77 chipset based systems where they performed as advertised; a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH, for example.

These same Samsung SSD drives meet the advertised spec of 530-540MB/s Read speeds on an AMD 990X platform, also a Gigabyte motherboard, the GA-990XA-UD3. So, the drives are not the problem. All of the other SATA ports seem to work to spec.

Any ideas guys?

Thanks for reading.

EDIT: Based on a suggestion from someone else on a different forum, I pulled the mobo from the case and tested the system on the workbench. No change. Waiting to hear from Gigabyte...

 

[yvesj]

i have one of this drive and to me it not what they it is .
i have been buying a lot of ssd drive and to tell you the true this the wosrt one i ever use .
it suppose to be the number one in thw world [bull] to my .
my 2 crusial m4 are way faster and also my plextor is feaster also .
and that magician well if you read all the reviews about it the expert all say not to bother to even use it .
my 2 cents

 

[yvesj]

by the way i do have to update my signature is is out of date .

 

[yvesj]

and my ass ssd test in 1369 on my plextor .my samsung pro is only 715

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Hi Everyone. First time poster here, but I'm no stranger to the internet or forums in general. I'm trying to figure out a weird problem. Wall of text to follow:

The throughput on the Intel SATA 6.0 Gbps ports on my Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard seems low. I recently installed a Samsung 840 (non-Pro) 250GB drive. It's the OS/Applications drive. I used Acronis True Image 2011 to clone the existing OS install from a WD Black 500GB drive. The partition is 4K aligned according to an alignment checking tool. It's connected to one of the Intel SATA 6.0 Gbps ports on the GA-Z77X-UD3H. I have the latest non-Beta BIOS; F18. I did try 2 newer Beta BIOSes, but rolled back to the latest released version since they did not resolve the issue.

I installed Samsung Magician, then the latest firmware, turned off Indexing, Superfetch, Prefetch, Write Cache Buffer Flushing, Hibernation, etc. I installed the latest Intel RST drivers. Everything says the drive is set to SATA 6.0 Gbps, yet the read speeds top out @400MB/s. I've tried 2 different SATA cables and both Intel SATA 6.0 Gbps ports. Write speeds are as advertised @250MB/s. IOPs seem somewhat below advertised, but not horrible. It also performed exactly the same with the firmware it came with.

I get the same read/write performance with the MSAHCI driver. IOPs are lower with the MSAHCI driver, which makes sense.

I've tried turning off all power saving features in the BIOS and using Samsung's High Performance power profile created with Magician with no resolution.

I took another Samsung 840 250GB SSD and installed Windows fresh today. The 2nd drive performs exactly the same, topping out @400MB/s. I should add that ANY SATA 6.0 Gbps capable drive tops out @400MB/s. So, there's something up with the controller, not just the SSD's.

I've installed Samsung 840 250GB drives in other Z77 chipset based systems where they performed as advertised; a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH, for example.

These same Samsung SSD drives meet the advertised spec of 530-540MB/s Read speeds on an AMD 990X platform, also a Gigabyte motherboard, the GA-990XA-UD3. So, the drives are not the problem. All of the other SATA ports seem to work to spec.

Any ideas guys?

Thanks for reading.
EDIT: Based on a suggestion from someone else on a different forum, I pulled the mobo from the case and tested the system on the workbench. No change. Waiting to hear from Gigabyte...

How many back ground processes r running while your testing the through put? What program are you using to test through put with? Try SSD tweaker?

http://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=ssd-tweaker

All drivers are installed for the motherboard? You have not posted your FULL SYSTEM SPEC'S............... FIRST THING TO DO, if you need help post the FULL SYSTEM SPEC'S. I gave up mind reading long ago.

PS welcome to the forum!!!!

 

[Dr_Zhivago]

Thanks for the responses. Here's the full system specs. Sorry for omitting that. Been a bit preoccupied with this issue:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H (Rev 1.1) - Intel 3570K - 16GB DDR3-1600 - HD 6870 - Samsung 840 250GB - WD 500GB Blue - WD 1TB Black - Xonar DX - CM 700W PSU - Antec ON1E - Logitech G5 - Logitech USB Media KB - AOC 23" LCD - Creative Inspire 2.1 - Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit SP1 w/ all updates.

All drivers are installed. I build, sell and maintain PC's for a living. The problem is definitely with the motherboard. There is nothing wrong with any of the drives. All drives tested work as advertised on other systems without any hoop-jumping. All settings in the BIOS and Windows and drivers are correct. A clean install of Windows shows the exact same problem.

I have opened a support ticket with Gigabyte. I've gotten a basically useless response from them so far, to which I have replied. I'll update this once I know more.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Benchmark software used for testing: Samsung Magician, ATTO, CrystalDiskMark, BlackMagic Designs Drive Speed Test, etc. There is a Brick Wall @400MB/s throughput with ANY SATA 6.0 Gbps capable drive on this motherboard.