Any R3 owners have Vertex 3 stories to share?

Cool, sounds like my wallet will be even lighter in the near future

 

So, from reading the last 6 pages it sounds like I will get the SATA III 6 Gbps speeds on my M17x R3 when it comes as long as I put it in HDD 1 bay?

I called and talked to an American Tech 2 support agent and he basically said "No we do not support SATA III speeds on the M17x 3, but we may in the future."

I just bought the 256GB Max IOPS edition from Amazon for $550 on sale, although with my discount I'm considering getting the Raid 512GB from Alienware. It comes out to $400 a drive and I'm trying to figure out if it is worth it to for the $550 256gb for the speed...

 

Stick with vertex 3 MAX IOPS, this thing is going to be soldout for a while, Vertex 3 was considered as one of the best SSDs but with the max edition it's pretty much the best SSD now.

Alienware use slower and older SSD.

Vertex 3 MAX speed alone is on par with previous generation SSD with Raid

What is the point of Vertex 3 max on raid really? you wont be able to take advantage of that much of speed, get SSD for OS+ HD combo much better and cheaper.

 

Unfortunately I don't know since there really isn't any way, at least that I have tried, to get a Vertex 3 installed in an M17xR3 without using RAID.

See my sig...haven't had any issues.

I had to definitely had enable hot swap on an ASUS Maximus IV Extreme/i7 2600K/Vertex 3 build that I'm doing otherwise it would completely freeze up every once in a while. Unfortunately no such setting on the M17xR3 that I've been able to find/try.

Exactly, got 3 Gbps on port 0, 6 Gbps on port 1. Benchmarks and RST confirmed it.

Argh!!! First time hearing of the Max IOPS edition. Just ordered from Amazon too to get myself in the queue. Now just need to figure out if it worth returning my current Vertex 3's to Amazon (waiting on benchmark comparsions) or cancel this preorder. Luckily I've got a three weeks to decide.

 

MAX iops is faster and already benchmarked (the 120GB don't know about the 240GB yet)

Amazon been getting those max iops like every few hours (already got 15 120GB in stuck) so expect 240GB max iops to ship sooner than the suggested 1-2month wait, it's funny how Vertex 3 is being #1 best seller on SSD plus being sold over msrp and most people don't know max iops exist because it's kinda hidden also amazon is selling it for less than MSRP price

 

Yeah I'm looking specifically at the 240GB. The percentage increase won't be as impressive as the 120GB, I know that, so want to see them before I go through the hassle of returning and reinstalling another SSD.

My wife isn't happy at the amount of quality time my new computers are getting over her.

 

You should buy her something so she wont complain
Here is benchmarks of the 120GB, 4K speed is really improved which is nice for 120GB users, looking forward to the 240GB results i might get it and return the 120GB who knows

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?88077-Vertex-3-MAX-IOPS-120-G-Open-box

Vertex 3 120GB


Vertex 3 MAX 120GB


Vertex 3 240GB Vanilla


120GB MAX is a beast, it have higher write iops than 240GB MAX (75K vs 65K) also 240GB MAX writing speed was reduced from 520MB to 500MB now.

 

To everyone with the Vertex 3 how is it holding up so far? I heard a lot of horror stories about the Vertex 2 series and even Agility 2 failing in just about no time.

 

Sounds like the 240GB MAX is not too much different than the plain vanilla 240GB which has 60K IOPs. However, it figures they release an updated faster version mere days after I get mine ... I can't imagine it is anything more that a firmware update. Isn't it the same Sandforce controller in both MAX/Standard? I have installed and run CrystalDiskMark and seen the same numbers you post here, which I should see since it is the exact same drive. But good to have confirmation that my drive is working at it's best.

Well, I have had my drive for a total of 10 days. So far, things are holding up well for me. I have Vertex 3 installed the R3 Port 1 location and a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB in Port 0 location. Getting 6GBps SATA III transfer rates on the Vertex. Zero BSOD since install. So far so good.

 

Well, I must be the odd man out, here. I've received constant BSODs since install.

Opened up the case, put the Vertex 3 in Port 1 and left the 320GB stock HD in Port 0. Changed to AHCI, changed the boot order to CD>Disk2(SSD)>Disc1(HD). Put in W7 Pro and rebooted. Install began and at first reboot; a quick blue screen. Reboot occurred and install finalized. Oooohhk...

Began following the install instructions here;

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...install-ssd-instructions-recommendations.html

Upon driver installs from the OEM disc, I began to get random blue screens from rebooting after the drivers completed their installs. But sometimes a reboot would allow me to continue. It finally got down to the point where I would blue screen every time after driver installs, to the point where I could no longer load windows. At all.

Back to the drawing board. I reformatted the disc (again) and began a reinstall (again). Upon first reboot (before the system finalizes its install); blue screen. Constant blue screen. Cannot boot; period.

I'm at a complete loss here and beginning to ponder the notion of a faulty drive.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks.

 

I used AHCI and never changed to raid given everything was working fine and w7 installed fine. The only thing stopped me was nvidia display driver which gave me bsod every time so I gave up for now.

 

During that first reboot, go into the BIOS and switch to RAID, and then let the install finish. BSOD should be gone after that.

Gotta be something different between our environments, I couldn't get AHCI to work without BSOD. I'm running BIOS A04, using Windows 7 Ultimate with SP1, installing from a USB drive.

 

My drives are not the same size, should I really run RAID? And doesn't that slow the system down because it's attempting to match the processes together?

Don't get me wrong, I completely appreciate the insight, just looking for a bit more clarity. Thanks!!!

 

I used the home premium windows cd by dell which has no sp1. I did update my bios to ao4 beforehand.


It seems the nvidia thing is happening to other people as well. I'm going to call dell tomorrow to try and fix this issue.

 

Running in BIOS RAID mode does not mean the drives are configured in a RAID volume, it is just the method of access to the drive. I bought my R3 with only the 320GB drive as well and the original configuration was set up as RAID. I wish I had a more detailed definition for how the R3 implements these technologies.

Did you leave your 320GB original drive as-is? If you did and you were to remove the Vertex 3, reset the BIOS to boot from Port 0, could you get into W7 without BSODs?

Just curious to know if your machine can run without your Vertex installed, could rule out a bad Vertex drive.


It is interesting that BlazeGaj was able to leave his drive in AHCI mode without issue. Like ruderthanyou, I had to start the install in AHCI and switch to RAID to finish the installation. I also have left the drive running in RAID mode.

 

My one was in raid by default. I removed my hdd from the system and put my vertex in port 1.

I changed it to achi of course when I installed my ssd along with upgrading my ram and overclocking my processor a bit since it was underclocked a little to begin with.

Other than that it took around 15 min for w7 to install and everything went well apart from nvidia driver.

 

As he said, he's using the Dell supplied Windows 7 Home Premium disks without SP1. Maybe there are some drivers on the Dell disk that prevent this BSOD issue. My Microsoft Windows 7 image that I used is from Technet with SP1 already embedded.

Anyway, if I end up doing another reinstall because I decide to swap to a Vertex 3 MAX IOPS, then I'll probably look at this again. Otherwise, my machine seems to be really rock solid...well aside from the typical build quality issues from Dell. I can even run OCZ toolkit in RAID mode, so for me no reason to use AHCI (well a slightly faster boot might be nice). Who knows, you'll might even get better support from Dell using RAID since its their default mode.

 

Oh yea before I installed any drivers I completely turned off windows update and driver update/off hibernation/off pagefile and restore feature.

 

I decided to use the Dell supplied W7 Home Premium to rebuild as well. I have read there are differences in image sizes for the Dell supplied disk, but I did not specifically load any special drivers. I just followed your method and it worked.

This was after half a dozen failed install attempts. I always dislike finding a solution and not fully understanding the root cause or what actually fixed things!

I saw someone mention once that running in RAID mode disables NCQ which I think is bunk. SCSI drives have had NCQ command capability for years as well as hardware RAID support. I do not think running in the RAID mode causes any issues with respect to performance.

 

Tell me about it. Deep down I have a desire to try a bunch more install permutations and see if I can really find out what's going on, but must resist and move on.

 

LOL, agreed. Need keep telling myself "be happy it works, be happy it works, be happy it works ..."

 

Changing back to RAID (after the first reboot) seems to be working ok and I can continue with the Windows install. Thanks guys!

Side question - why install the Freeflow Sensor, if it just gets disabled?

 

That's a great question. I wondered the same thing.

I looked at the interface and you have two options, enabled or disabled. It would be different if there where options for each installed drive.

I may just uninstall it as I hate to have a ton of useless processes running in the background using even minute resources for no reason at all ..

 

Does TRIM become disabled when leaving the bios in Raid mode? I'm really on the fence between the Intel 510 and the vertex 3. Just have a feeling Intel might be the smoothest way to go..but the Vertex sure is fast. Almost picked up a Mushkin Callisto 120, Sata 2 only though, but I've had very good experiences with their stuff. Wish they would go to Sata 3, but apparently they don't want to jump on the 25nm bandwagon just yet due to reliability..

Decisions, decisions... :/

 

Go with Vertex 3 Max iops, this thing is fastest 2.5 SSD on earth atm
The difference between regular and max edition is huge for the 120GB i posted benchmark results at the previous page

You basically just change 1 setting in the bios for few seconds, install then edit registry and that's it

 

Alright, I don't get it. Was working just fine, installed all downloadable dell updates and started going through windows updates. Then, right back to blue screening again. Now it just reboots, and when it gets to the windows start up screen, it plays the standard jingle and starts stuttering, then, blue screen. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

And now, it boots to a black screen saying;

For Atheros PCIE Ethernet Controller v2.0.2.6 (09/28/10)

Check cable connection!
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM
No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key


I put in the Windows 7 Pro cd (which is a FULL RETAIL copy which I bought directly from the MS store), I press a key, and it does not reboot. Fine then. A hard restart, it is.

Reboot. Jingle. Stutter. Blue screen. Reboot. Jingle. Stutter. Blue screen...

a few rounds of that and reboot, jingle, stutter, but......log in screen.

I log in and decide to let it sit there. As I'm typing this up, guess what...

*SIGH*



Now, as a former Navy nuclear missile technician, a (3x) MS employee, as well as working in the IT field for over 12 years; I'm pretty sure I'm not an idiot. But I'm left with no inclination as to what I could possibly be doing wrong. Suffice to say, I'm pretty sure this install is corrupt and I have very little faith in the correct operation of this laptop if I continue to install programs/updates as usual. = /

 

Liam try fresh install with steps mentioned in the first page, seems like the windows is corrupted or something, don't install all the rest of the drivers at once, try to use the computer for a while after the very fresh windows install and see if you are getting BSOD/stutter/etc, if there is no problems then begin installing each driver with 1hour rest between each driver using the computer.

That way whenever you start getting BSOD/stutter you would know the cause would be last thing you installed.

 

Think it would help to install the WhoCrashed app first?

 

Here were the steps that I followed for my Fifth install attempt:


Set bios to AHCI

Disk 1 - Install Windows (disk 0 is my original dell-supplied HD, which has since been wiped and will be just used for storage).

Reboot (auto)

Set bios to RAID

Reboot (auto)


Disabled hibernation.
Moved the pagefile from C: to D:.
Reboot.
Verified only about 9GB used on SSD.
Verified System Protection was off for C:.

Began driver install:

a) Intel Chipset HM67 (R289402)
Reboot (prompt)

b) Intel Management Engine (R290940)

c) Realtek PCIE (R289405)

d) USB3.0 (R289408)
Reboot (no prompt, just wanted to reboot before proceeding)

e) Synaptics (R289406)
Reboot (prompt)

f) Gigabit network (R289538)

Came across my first problem here; I let the laptop sit for about 20 mins and the screen went black. Nothing I pressed would bring the screen back, so I was forced to do a hard restart. Of course this threw the "windows did not shut down properly" error, so I started as Normal.

Rebooted just for good measure.

g) Bluetooth (R289410)

h) Wifi (R289412)

Now, I've always had trouble with this one. My R3 shipped with the 5300 card, which I upgraded myself to the 6300. Anytime I try to install this Dell driver, I receive the following error; This software package cannot be installed on your system. The setup application will exit.

So I install the driver direct from Intel instead: ICS_Ds64 (13.5.0.2)

Reboot (no prompt, just wanted to reboot before proceeding)

i) Video (3D 460M [267.64] R300038)
Reboot (prompt)

BLUE SCREEN

Reboot

Slight stutter during the login prompt jingle. Waited a second; blue screen again.
Reboot.
Logged in and went to uninstall the NVIDIA driver. Went to device manager and began to uninstall the driver. Blue screen while uninstalling. Booted to safe mode and verified that the driver went back to the standard VGA.
Reboot.
Slight stutter at login prompt but was able to log in. At this point, I put in the resource DVD from Dell and installed the NVIDIA driver on the disc (R291227); version 266.08

Reboot (prompt)

Blue screen.

Reboot. Stutter at log on screen, but I could log on.
Graphics driver loaded, but rebooted again just for good measure.
I'm still getting that slight stutter during the log in music.


I still have the following drivers to install:

j) Alienware OSD (R289920)
k) Freefall Sensor (R289409)
l) Audio (R289922)

Plus all of the Windows updates.

At this point, should I even bother going any further?

 

Geez, that's a ton of blue screening just to get a hard drive working.

 

Haha, you got bsod with the same driver as I did. It's the nvidia/3d driver problem not the ssd. It seems to be happening to other people as well. Call Dell up and tell them. I'm going to do the same.


Sending mine back anyway.

 

Seems to me problem started once you have used the intel 6300 wireless drivers and nvidia drivers

You should get back to the old card to limit your problems, so change back to stock wireless, try to remove any previous nvidia drivers and install any previous nvidia drivers (not the latest one, or use dell stock nvidia driver)

If it still does not work correctly = send it back to dell to replace it with a new one.

Winodws update sometimes include Nvidia drivers too, (they did break my old laptop with 8400GS, kept getting crashes/freeze/or youtube turn off card then reset and i get Green screen etc, removed the driver and installed old one from nvidia 2009 instead of 2010 and it worked without issue since then

 

LiamSevier,

I have to agree with BlazeGaj, it seems to be something with Nvidia driver. This thread discusses the bsod issues with the Dell 460 drivers http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...7xr3-w-460m-dell-oem-nvidia-driver-issue.html. It does appear to be a common problem. You might want to try looking at this first. By the way, I don't think its the Intel wireless drivers as I'm using the same one from Intel's website with my 6300 (Dell installed).

You might want to try the owner's lounge and see if anyone has any advice on the nvidia driver bsod's if the thread above doesn't plan out.

 

I would try loading the driver from the restore disc first with a clean install. If the system is stable, then upgrade to the latest.

 

Any comments on the Crucial M4?

 

So...What's the verdict? About to drop some change on a 120GB Vertex 3...all the vertex 3's have been getting mixed reviews however,

 

I had an Agillity 2 on my desktop and it was rock solid. Sold it to go bigger and I think I am going to go with the Crucial M4 Sata III. Its a bit slower than the OCZ (only 415MB/s) but cheaper. And crucial seems to have a better track record.

 

I am not concerned about cost as much as performance + reliability...

OCZ seems to kinda work and also the fastest SSD currently

Corsair = fudge, never using them AGAIN their reliability is a JOKE I still have some crap R60's that barely work, can't give these away

Crucial = ?

Intel = Always seems slower than all the competition but HIGHEST reliability of any drive on the market.

 

Well amazon said I'm supposed to get my vertex 3 120gb max on friday. So I'll be messing with that over the weekend with my R3. I'll keep you guys posted then.

Side question, based on the instructions, go to bios and set it to ACHI first, then when computer reboots, set it to RAID. Do we just leave it in RAID forever after that?

 

I haven't had a single issue; been running about two weeks now. Only issues I've heard about is people bsod'ing with nvidia drivers; which could be a concern for you LVNeptune. Not sure its related to the Vertex...as . Hopefully Azureal can chime in on his experience so far - but he also has a 6970m like me. This thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/562420-m17x-r3-bsod.html has some examples of people complaining about bsod and nvidia drivers (and a bit of AMD too).

During the first reboot of the Windows install, yes, set to RAID, and leave it there forever. Hopefully someone can figure out how to get it working on AHCI. I suspect it will be a firmware update from OCZ though. Here is a post on the OCZ forums with people having problems installing Vertex 3 in AHCI http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...t-Set-Vertex-3-to-AHCI-mode-on-DELL-XPS-L702X

 

I have had no issues either same as ruderthanyou. I have been running for a week and a half and everything seems to be working perfectly. Loading of apps and data is crazy fast, I love it.

 

Ok...

Leaving in RAID isn't a deal breaker for me as I am currently running RAID-0, I would buy two for a raid 0 but apparently one of the sata hdd ports is sata 2 not 3 =/

 

Ya, 0 is SATA2 and 1 is SATA3.

 

Any mods to fit a 1TB hd in here?

 

Just ordered:

Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 3 Series – MAX IOPS Edition VTX3MI-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

120gb max iops has $30 coupon

 

So the faster MAX IOPS drive is $20.00 cheaper than the Non MAX IOPS version. Nice.

Let me know if you find something, I've already filled out my 750GB with games. I've got 268 games on Steam alone. And NO I don't play them all.

 

The problem with the vertex or any ssd atm seems to be with the 460m drivers, I didn't realize Raid also activates ACHI so at this point I may even try to keep my Vertex which I haven't returned yet. However I have a feeling your going to run into the same Issue Im having no matter what SSD you buy, its an issue with the graphics drivers so let me know if you know or find a fix to it, I would love to have this bad boy up and running with either of my ssds lol

 

268 eh? Finally someone to compete with the games I own add me "mastag23 - 3x GTX 580"

edit: also you typo'd "Seagate" in your sig.

 

Most of you didn't have the systems since the beginning and when the system was released this was a common issue, inf modding a new driver fixed the issue, in this case the new driver on dell's site should work as well.

 

ok well I guess ill just Dl the internet driver from the resource disk and then get the rest online, if that works then I guess at this point I have to decide between my 240 vertex 3 or my 250 Intel...any suggestions? I'm bad at decisions like this lol

btw, I tried to add you to steam myself, says not found.

My steam is Blackout12091, not sure if my measly 59 games competes with your guys thgh lol