Precision M4500 setup questions

I just got a new M4500 with a Samsung PM800 64GB SSD and a Toshiba 7200RPM storage drive. Both of these drives are set to non-RAID. I noticed when I went into the BIOS that it was set to RAID On instead of AHCI, even though there is no RAID setup between the two drives.

I ran the CrystalDiskUtility and the most it eeks out is at 94%. The built in Performance Utility in Windows 7 currently measures at 6.7

I was told an SSD should equal out to close to 100% and at least 7.0 as benchmarks if I want to utilize all the performance it offers. Is this the best that it can do?

Any info would be most appreciated. Thanks.

 

Wow, no answer.

Maybe I should've bought an HP, instead. I get better feedback over there.

 

This is a user forum, not an official DELL forum...

Anyways, for comparison: I have an Intel M25 120GB SSD as primary HD, and it measures 7.7 in WEI.

As far as the "RAID on" setting instead of "AHCI": as far as I know it is equivalent, with the added advantage that you can switch to an actual RAID config later without data loss. I.e. if you start off with "AHCI" you would need to start from scratch if you later decide to configure a RAID.

 

AHCI mode for modern OS (Vista/7) is the best option. However if you installed in RAID mode you will need to do the registry fix (million articles on google on how to do it) or reinstall Windows in AHCI mode.

 

I know that.

How did you achieve that? Are you in AHCI mode?

So in your opinion, there's no need to switch from "RAID On" to AHCI?

 

The Samsung PM800 is kind of on the old side these days as SSDs go; their performance is better than a platter, but lag behind an Intel or the newer Samsung/Sandforce drives (remember that the PM800 came out back in the Indilinux/JMicron time period). What you might want to check is your storage driver; updating to the latest Intel IRST drivers may give you a significant boost in your WEI.

 

Where would I go to update this Intel storage driver at?

Thanks.

 

Best place is probably the Intel Support and Downloads page here. Download and install.

 

I left the BIOS in "RAID On" mode, based on some limited research that seemed to indicate that it has no downside and only the upside that you can seemlessly go to RAID1 later if necessary. But of course it's a different (more modern) SSD, and that is most probably what makes the difference in WEI.

 

Will I have to reformat the SSD and do a clean install if I do this?