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    Crucial M4 128GB scores...

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by The0ne, Sep 25, 2011.

  1. The0ne

    The0ne Notebook Consultant

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    Been tinkering with my new Crucial M4 and scores seem to indicate SATA-II speeds rather than SATA-III. I read our M17xR2 "goes up to" SATA-III. I read a few SSD scores here and they are twice what I got but most of these are Intels and not Crucial.

    I've tried both ports and get the same benchmark numbers. It's on 009 firmware, fresh install of windows, fresh drivers, some windows tweaks, etc but nothing changed. So now I'm curious how you guys got so high on your scores and what else I can do to get mine that high. I'm using both Crystaldiskmark and AS SSD benchmark and get the same results.

    If I run out of options I'm going to have to return the M4. There's not point if I can't get the optimum speed out of it. My old SSD will do just fine in this case, although half the space.

    Please share your experiences and advice as I think I'm out of options to move further in getting higher numbers. A clear mind is needed here I think :)
     

    Attached Files:

    The0ne, Sep 25, 2011
    #1
  2. DarthPierce

    DarthPierce Notebook Consultant

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    I have an R3, not an R2, but my 128GB M4 (FW0009) gets a crystalmark of:

    Seq 479.6 196.9
    512k 362.7 179.3
    4k 23.33 44.68
    QD32 312.3 179.2

    It definitely looks like you're getting sata2 speeds there.
    Is the drive set for AHCI or RAID in the bios or something else? if it's not AHCI or RAID that could be the problem.
     
    DarthPierce, Sep 25, 2011
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  3. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    here's mine

    [​IMG]
     
    nayilalien, Sep 25, 2011
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  4. TostitoBandito

    TostitoBandito Notebook Evangelist

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    I though the R2 was only SATA2?
     
    TostitoBandito, Sep 25, 2011
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  5. DarthPierce

    DarthPierce Notebook Consultant

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    Nayilalien, are you running bios 0009? Your 4k scores look substantially lower than mine (e.g. QD32 write 13.71 vs 179.2).

    Tostito, I just looked and according to dells specs sheet for the r2,

    Hard drives
    two 2.5-inch drive bays supporting:
    • SATA-II or SATA-III hard drives
    • Solid-state hard drive

    So he should be able to get sata 3 speeds...
     
    DarthPierce, Sep 25, 2011
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  6. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey Darth,

    Yea i'm running 0009 firmware. I'm clueless as to what I should do about it.
     
    nayilalien, Sep 25, 2011
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  7. Brabostaan

    Brabostaan Notebook Deity

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    The ports itself are SATA2.

    You can use a SATA3 SSD but the SATA2 port wil limit it to SATA2 speed if I'm correct.
     
    Brabostaan, Sep 25, 2011
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  8. The0ne

    The0ne Notebook Consultant

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    Yea, the problem is the spec states SATA2/3 drive support but I don't think it can achieve SATA3 at all. I think I've done pretty much I can in tweaking to get higher numbers and this is it. While my old SSD got a boost of around 30MB/s from the tweaks the M4 hardly gain anything, including the firmware. That is why I'm suspecting the R2 ports rather than the drive.

    http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Alw_M17xR2/en/compspec/cs_en.pdf
     
    The0ne, Sep 25, 2011
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  9. TostitoBandito

    TostitoBandito Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah I'm pretty sure that's correct. It says SATA2/3 because it will support either, though you will only ever get SATA2 speed. It is somewhat redundant to have that in the specs, since SATA is backwards compatible.
     
    TostitoBandito, Sep 25, 2011
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  10. DarthPierce

    DarthPierce Notebook Consultant

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    Hmm are you running it in drive bay 1 not 0? Is your bios set to AHCI or RAID and not IDE? bay 0 and IDE are both bad... Do you have the latest drivers for the HM67, Intel management interface, and intel rapid storage drivers? not sure what else it might be...
     
    DarthPierce, Sep 25, 2011
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  11. Red Line

    Red Line Notebook Deity

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    0009 firmware

    [​IMG]

    while AW M17xR2 is based on PM55 chipset it has no sata III support. Also to extend the life of your SSD try to run at least 3x100mb test and not 5x1000mb ones using crystaldiskmark) the test itself runs faster as well, lol
     
    Red Line, Sep 25, 2011
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  12. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    Bios is set to RAID. I have all the necessary stuff up to date. I can't troubleshoot the issue. :(
     
    nayilalien, Sep 25, 2011
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  13. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

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    R2 will only run at sata II speeds.
     
    DR650SE, Sep 25, 2011
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  14. DarthPierce

    DarthPierce Notebook Consultant

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    hmm... i can't really think of anything else to check either. sorry.
     
    DarthPierce, Sep 25, 2011
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  15. flingin

    flingin M17x R2 Mafia

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    flingin, Sep 25, 2011
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  16. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    If you really want to see cores through the roof, go into File, Test data and select 0x00.
     
    widezu69, Sep 25, 2011
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  17. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    if it makes you feel better, my bios is set to raid also so that's not your issue. Here are my numbers...SSD installed on port 1, A08 bios, Crucial 0009 firmware:

    [​IMG]

    One other possibility if all other things seem to be ok is that you have a defective SSD
     
    SlickDude80, Sep 26, 2011
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  18. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    All I can think of now is partition alignment. I cloned my SSD instead of doing a clean win 7 install. That has to be it.
     
    nayilalien, Sep 26, 2011
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  19. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    you're probably going to have to bite the bullet and do a fresh windows install. no other way :(
     
    SlickDude80, Sep 26, 2011
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  20. nayilalien

    nayilalien Notebook Evangelist

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    Clean windows install fixed the issue! ;)
     
    nayilalien, Sep 27, 2011
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  21. zoolian982

    zoolian982 Notebook Deity

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    Remember though Nayilien, the OP has a r2. not an r3. And its apparently limited to Sata II speeds.
     
    zoolian982, Sep 27, 2011
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