SSDs in RAID0 slow as $hit! HELP!

[Baasha]

So I have 2 SLC SSDs (G-SKILL 32GB each) in RAID0 and it's my OS drive. I have a few apps installed on them. I have about 21GB free right now.

I ran the WEI and the "HDD' section gave me a score of 6.8 until yesterday and today it went DOWN to 6.7! n:

I ran 'winsat' from the command line and the results are attached as a pic.

Can someone explain why two SSDs in RAID0 gives such a LOW score in WEI. And here are the specs for the actual SSD from G-Skill: http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=118

As you can tell, the Maximum Sequential Read for that SSD is 100MB/s and the Maximum Sequential Write is 80MB/s. This is for ONE drive. Since I have two in RAID0, you would expect it to be at least close to double those specs. From my screenshot, you can tell the MSR (read) is 146MB/s and the MSW (write) is 167MB/s. I suppose the 167MB/s write is not bad given I've had these drives since May 2009 in the same configuration (no format/defrag etc. since they are SSDs). However, look at the Random Read: 42MB/s! It is supposed to be 80MB/s for ONE drive according to G-Skill! And I can't even find the Random Write time(?).

These are SLC (server-class) drives and the degradation is supposed to be far below that of even the MLC drives.

What could be the reason(s) for such slow times and the low WEI score? Everything else on my system is 7.7/7.8/7.7/7.7/6.7; the last score being the 'Disk data transfer rate'.

Winsat: http://www.overclock.net/attachments/ssd/192611d1296183220-2-slc-ssds-raid0-gives-wei-capture.jpg

CrystalDiskMark: http://www.overclock.net/attachments/ssd/192615d1296185840-2-slc-ssds-raid0-gives-wei-capture3.jpg

HELP!

I have some questions about the Intel ICH10R SATA RAID Controller, and the Marvell 64xx/63xx SAS Controller, and the X58 chipset but I'll wait to ask them later. I am mainly concerned about updating the drivers for those. They all seem to be from 2006/2007 and when I try to "update" in Device Manager, it says I have the "best version" already installed!

 

[Echo147]

Crystal's 4K randoms look pretty flaky, compare this with even the budget class X25-V:

 

[Yellowbeard]

2 suggestions: Ignore WEI completely. It's worse than useless. And, test your setup with ATTO and see what it shows.

 

[Rubycon]

2 suggestions: Ignore WEI completely. It's worse than useless. And, test your setup with ATTO and see what it shows.

Actually it's not as the OP as done - use winsat disk from a command prompt. Just going by the number in Windows (which is based on the lowest of those values - is useless.)

ATTO is OK to measure bandwidth however it's incapable of measuring random i/o which is critical to system responsiveness when handling multiple tasks and higher queue depths.

OP: what is your stripe size? Stripe size has a very large impact on striped arrays - particularly SSDs depending on how their firmware is optimized. Unfortunately there are no set sizes to use because all disk firmware revisions are different. It's a PIA but the best way to find out is start at the lowest value, install the core OS, create an image of that, benchmark, create a new array with the next size, restore, and test and repeat. That's not all though because your alignment usually is not optimal (with Acronis it's not) however that can be resolved by using software called Paragon Partition Alignment Tool. (Last summer they had a free special edition for download however if you're good with finding stuff it's out there. ) Good luck!

 

[Yellowbeard]

What I mean by WEI being worse than worthless is that the criteria for WEI are not publicly disclosed. Or if they are, I have not seen them. It uses some strange criteria that can reflect negatively on what are actually positive changes. This frequently causes less experienced users to believe that they have done something to lessen their performance when they haven't. Disk and memory performance are 2 areas where I frequently see this. This statement may or may not apply to this OP. I don't know his experience level but, he seems pretty knowledgeable so far.

But, here is what concerns me about WEI:

I ran the WEI and the "HDD' section gave me a score of 6.8 until yesterday and today it went DOWN to 6.7! n:........................What could be the reason(s) for such slow times and the low WEI score?

It's worthless as a diagnostic as it is difficult to really use the data from it to diagnose issues.

I have some questions about the Intel ICH10R SATA RAID Controller, and the Marvell 64xx/63xx SAS Controller, and the X58 chipset but I'll wait to ask them later. I am mainly concerned about updating the drivers for those. They all seem to be from 2006/2007 and when I try to "update" in Device Manager, it says I have the "best version" already installed!

Are you looking at the DISK DRIVES or STORAGE CONTROLLERS properties?

 

[fire400]

i've heard of a guy that did a quad set, 2 on 2 over raid 0, he was getting like +400 read and +250 write.

of course it probably cost him a few extra dollars.

 

[Rubycon]

What I mean by WEI being worse than worthless is that the criteria for WEI are not publicly disclosed. Or if they are, I have not seen them. It uses some strange criteria that can reflect negatively on what are actually positive changes. This frequently causes less experienced users to believe that they have done something to lessen their performance when they haven't. Disk and memory performance are 2 areas where I frequently see this. This statement may or may not apply to this OP. I don't know his experience level but, he seems pretty knowledgeable so far.

But, here is what concerns me about WEI:



It's worthless as a diagnostic as it is difficult to really use the data from it to diagnose issues.

This is why it's important to use winsat disk from the command prompt. The index based on the lowest value is silly!

i've heard of a guy that did a quad set, 2 on 2 over raid 0, he was getting like +400 read and +250 write.

of course it probably cost him a few extra dollars.

He should get his money back! Of course over 3 drives on the motherboard is a waste. That's a discussion for another thread, however.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Command Promt (running as Administrator); then go to C:\Windows\system32 and enter:

> fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify

The result will be one of the following:-

DisableDeleteNotify = 1 (Windows TRIM commands are disabled)
DisableDeleteNotify = 0 (Windows TRIM commands are enabled)

10 to one its enabled. Then go into your bios. Look if ACHI is on

 

[Baasha]

This is why it's important to use winsat disk from the command prompt. The index based on the lowest value is silly!

I did run winsat from command prompt. How do they fare with regard to my setup?

He should get his money back! Of course over 3 drives on the motherboard is a waste. That's a discussion for another thread, however.

LOL.. I agree.. what RAID controller do you recommend for a 4-SSD setup?

Is this one good? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-109-_-Product

I would like to get a really good RAID controller that has 4-8 ports and is SATA 3.0/6Gbps compliant.

 

[Baasha]

Command Promt (running as Administrator); then go to C:\Windows\system32 and enter:

> fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify

The result will be one of the following:-

DisableDeleteNotify = 1 (Windows TRIM commands are disabled)
DisableDeleteNotify = 0 (Windows TRIM commands are enabled)

10 to one its enabled. Then go into your bios. Look if ACHI is on

Yes, TRIM says it's enabled but the funny thing is I have 2 SSDs in RAID. In BIOS, it's set to RAID mode. AHCI doesn't recognize the RAID volume so I'm not sure how this pertains to the speed of the disks.

 

[Rubycon]

I did run winsat from command prompt. How do they fare with regard to my setup?



LOL.. I agree.. what RAID controller do you recommend for a 4-SSD setup?

Is this one good? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-109-_-Product

I would like to get a really good RAID controller that has 4-8 ports and is SATA 3.0/6Gbps compliant.

This is a good deal on a solid controller!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16816151045R

 

[sxr7171]

I have that SSD. It's a Samsung SLC, and as I remember it didn't have the greatest random read or write scores in ATTO. It also didn't have a great WEI score, but that score is meaningless. There is a document out there that talks about the criteria MS used to generate that score.

If you want 7.9 you'll have to use 3 sandforce or C300 SSDs in RAID-0.

 

[Baasha]

This is a good deal on a solid controller!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16816151045R

Hmm.. but it says that one is only 3.0Gbps? I thought the SATA 3.0/6Gbps is what the current standard is?

 

[Rubycon]

Hmm.. but it says that one is only 3.0Gbps? I thought the SATA 3.0/6Gbps is what the current standard is?

The 1680ix is a SAS controller with 3.0Gbps per port. The 1880ix series have 6.0Gbps ports. For that price the 1680 is a steal. It's a platform that has matured very well and its performance shows this. In that price range the decision to purchase should be easy.

 

[Rifter]

All i have to say is something is wrong for sure, my 2 x 1TB RAID 0 seagate 7200.12's get higher seq reads/writes than that.

Are you running the newest intel ICH10R Intel drivers? they were just released last month and for me offered very good performance increase(8-10&#37. I noticed you said you are running old drivers maybe? i could see that causing major performance issues. I saw over a 8% increase just from going from the june(2010) drivers to the december drivers. If you are running drivers years old i could see that causing a 40%+ performance loss over current drivers.

here is a link to newest drivers

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...apid+Storage+Technology+(Intel®+RST)&lang=eng