'Laptops w. Intel Series 5 chipset can not take full advantage of fast SSDs'

No, this is not a flaw - it is a feature (seriously).

The feature is that we're able to get such great battery life AND great performance when we need to in one package.

This is especially not a 55 series flaw as it also affects the 965 chipsets too.

There is no getting around the fact that to do work, energy must be expended - and to conserve battery power, very little work can get done.

The 'fix' for this is simply for an O/S to see an SSD is installed and run the cpu at the appropriate c-state latency that makes the cpu switching 'invisible' to the SSD.

Right now - the SSD is waiting on the CPU to 'ramp up' - and it never does on a 'default' system.

This will become more and more an issue as SSD's are taken off the limiting SATA connection and placed in more direct communications with the cpu's data pipeline.

But, we're a few years away from that scenario.

 

Stamatisx proofed that by disabling the Intel CPU driver we can uhm 'overcome' this what I would call flaw ?? So "Get your thumbs out Intel" I would say.

Well done Stama +1 from me mate

 

thanks iemie,
for you guys with the Asus laptops, if Intel doesn't do anything about it, I would ask from Asus engineers to implement a BIOS like ours (A07 from Dellienware) that doesn't lock the multipliers of the CPU (at least for the XM ones) so you can use the tweak without loosing performance from the Turbo Boost

 

Could someone describe in laymans terms what the problem actually is?

I understand the workarounds, and that they either disable the CPU drivers or fiddle with some idle or threshold settings.

But I still don't understand why the SSD drive is affected by what mode or state the CPU is in. Which component in the system is at fault for this limited 4k performance, and what it is not doing properly? Do we even really know?

 

Well unfortunately I swapped the i7-720QM for a 940XM and as you can see from the sreenies this beastie clocks up like nobody's business. All four cores at 3.5/3.6 is not a problem but indeed, as you say Stama, I have to use E-leet. My BIOS is pretty locked down except for being able to ramp the blk up to 142 .
A friend of mine has the original i7-720 still inside his G73 so I'll ask him, or try to persuade him if we can do some testing on his rig.

iemie

 

And clocking down for that matter so..... Good job mate. I think you should have a word with Intel (",)

 

Intel replied on an email of mine, I have posted it here though
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ios-a08-discussion-thread-11.html#post6693227

 

With "I think you should have a word with Intel" I meant that Intel should or could offer you a nice job maybe mate

 

ICH9m with the tweak................

Before............... After................

 

What tweak are you guys talking about? I am still kind of lost

 

Not mine so..............

 

The wPrime benchmark give me the same result before and after patch...
so i have to hope that the CPU is fully active (turbo bust etc.)...
I do not have to worry about the error reported in Device Manager?

 

Yeah don't worry about it

 

I got my m17x and ssd coming in a few days. Looks like I have about 40 pages to read. Sigh...

 

SSD arriviving in 5 days.

Will format and have new fresh install with m17x-r2 + intel X25-m G2....

will try all the tweaks on this thread

 

I found this interesting. Intel released a new AHCI driver, leaked from station drivers. It can be found in the link below.

www.station-drivers.com :: Voir le sujet - Intel Rapid Storage Technology Version 9.6.5.1001 WHQL

However, i did some before and after tests with my Asus G73 and Corsair Force 80GB SSD to see if it got any better or in fact worse performance wise.
The result is perhaps of interest and can be found below. The latest driver result is the one to the right. I didnt use any tweaks or hacks.

Imageshack - ssdx.jpg

 

Thanks for the heads up, the 4K seem worse to me, could you try with the new drivers and the tweak?

 

Allright, this is the results with the "no idle processor" tweak enabled. I did one run with the regtweak also (the 3 to 4 one) with very marginal difference from the "nocpuidle" one. The one to the right is the one displaying "No idle proccessor tweak".

Imageshack - withnocpuidle.png

 

Thanks for testing

 

By the way Stamatisx, what do you think of the performance score with my setup? It should be able to perform better if it wasnt for the chipset "bug" right?

 

Your SSD with the previous RST drivers (not the new ones) performs pretty good with results close to those after the tweak, but it could be better you know...
Those power saving features are definitely affecting the SSD performance(I can't blame specifically the chipset) it's rather the whole concept that needs to be improved.

 

Allright, thanks.

 

Just wanted to ask. Which tweaks to use and do u loose turbo boost if u use the tweaks?

Cheers
Sean473

 

With my tweaks you maintain full turbo boost performance (at least with an i5 and PM55 chipset).

I just got back and have some catching up to do here, I will be working on consolidating all my tweaks with instructions in a single post later today.

Have there been any problems or negative impacts with using my 'Processor Power Management' tweaks ??

As I stated above, planning on finalizing the tweaks in a single post later today. Any feedback would be appreciated... Thanks

 

those 2 single registry tweaks.. turbo boost = fail.. I shall be waiting for yours.

 

TWEAKS FOR IMPROVING SSD READ / WRITE SPEEDS​

After many hours and of trial and error testing of 'hidden' advanced processor power plan settings the following tweaks appear solve the poor SSD read / write speeds that have plagued most notebooks that use the PM55 & HM55 chipsets (most others chipsets show improvements also). These tweaks have been confirmed to work on the following SSD brands: Intel, Samsung, Corsair, Micron/Crucial (to be updated soon)

Credit goes out to the following for all their help and being Guinea pigs for testing: 'Phil', 'erig007', 'stamatisx', 'LOUSYGREATWALLGM', 'mfractal', 'tilleroftheearth', 'KolosoK', 'Sassen', 'eight35pm', 'eYe-I-aie', 'Dillio87', 'NotebookGrail' and others. PLEASE PASS SOME REP AROUND FOR ALL THEIR HELP AND TESTING OF THESE TWEAKS

WINDOWS 7 SSD R/W SPEED TWEAKS: STEP 1​

The first step in this process is to 'activate' certain 'hidden' processor power options so they show up in your 'Advanced Power Plan Settings'. This can be done manually in the registry editor (or by running some command lines HERE Thanks to 'mfractal' !). While these changes do not change any settings at this point there is very little risk, but

IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED TO MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE YOU PROCEED***.​

1. Type " regedit " (without quotes) in the start menu 'search bar' and hit return.
   
2. Open my 'regedit' screen shot below and follow the 'path' highlighted at the bottom of the regedit screenshot (easiest if you can split screens side by side)
   
3. Start with the first highlighted line (after power settings) in the screenshots left column and click on it once in your regedit screen (so it highlights blue) and then double click on 'attributes' that appears on the right hand column and change the value to '0' and click OK. Do this for all 6 highighted items shown in my screenshot. NOTE: if any items already have a value of '0', leave them alone by clicking 'cancel' and move to the the next item. (see cross reference list below)
   
4. Once you have completed this for all items, open any 'Advanced Power Plan Setting' and click on 'Proceesor Power Management'. Verify that you now have all 6 new 'processor power management' options available.
   
5. You can now close regedit.

Regedit screen shot showing which attributes to change to "0". NOTE: full path to find these highlighted at bottom of image.
(click to enlarge)


Here is a cross reference list showing what these regedit 'keys' equate to in the power plan settings ( Thanks to LOUSYGREATWALLGM!)

• 06cadf0e-64ed-448a-8927-ce7bf90eb35d = Processor performance increase threshold
• 12a0ab44-fe28-4fa9-b3bd-4b64f44960a6 = Processor performance decrease threshold
• 40fbefc7-2e9d-4d25-a185-0cfd8574bac6 = Processor performance decrease policy
• 4b92d758-5a24-4851-a470-815d78aee119 = Processor idle demote threshold
• 7b224883-b3cc-4d79-819f-8374152cbe7c = Processor idle promote threshold
• 943c8cb6-6f93-4227-ad87-e9a3feec08d1 = Processor performance core parking overutilization threshold

Now go on to step 2 to adjust these new setting options:

WINDOWS 7 SSD R/W SPEED TWEAKS: STEP 2​

Note: I recommend that you record your default idle temps before applying the new settings to see how much heat the new settings add to your system at idle. It would also be good to have an idea of your max temps under load for comparison. You can always select the 'balanced' power plan at any time for comparison after these adjustments.

Now click on your battery icon and select 'more power options', on the next screen select the 'HIGH PERFORMANCE POWER PLAN', then 'CHANGE PLAN SETTING'. IMPORTANT: On your first time making these tweaks click on "Restore defualt settings for this plan" to ensure your starting out with all options at default. Now select 'advanced power settings' and confirm that the 'popup' shows 'High Performance - [Active]' at the top.

Double click 'Processor power management' and make the following adjustments:

PROCESSOR POWER SETTTING ADJUSTMENTS
(NOTE: Use the High performance power plan option and change the 'Plugged in' value ) *​

• Proc. performance increase threshold = 30%
• proc. perf. decrease threshold = 85%
• Proc. perf. decrease policy = Ideal
• Proc. idle demote threshold = 85%
• Proc. idle promote threshold = 95% **
• Minimum processor state = 0%
• Proc. performance core parking overutilization Threshold = 95% **
• System cooling policy (no change) = 'active'
• Maximum processor state (no change) = 100%

That's it for the settings. Now I would reboot (not required) and run CrystalDiscMark with the 5 / 50MB settings and see how your R/W speeds have changed. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE HIGH PERFORMANCE POWER PLAN SETTING FOR TESTING.

If you wish to compare to your original 'factory' settings just switch to the 'balanced power plan' and run it again, you can run as many instances of crystaldiskmark as you want which makes side br side comparisons easy....

* = After you confirm the tweaks work on your system then you can change all the High Performance Power Plan "on battery" processor settings and get the same improvements when unplugged. All other 'on battery' settings (other than processor) can be adjusted to your preference to get the best battery life.

** = 95% is a conservative setting that gives good reults with minimal impact on heat and CPU idle wattage. If you want higher SSD performance at the expense of higher temps then try setting these to 99% for resonable but higher temps or 100% for max performance all the time at even higher temps (will vary by computer). For battery use I would stick with 95%.

*** = How to backup your registry;

1. Type regedit in start menu search box > return
   
2. Locate and click the key or subkey that you want to back up.
   
3. Click the File menu, and then click Export.
   
4. In the Save in box, select the location where you want to save the backup copy to, and then type a name for the backup file in the File name box.
   
5. Click Save.

Here are my results with these settings:

CDM results; before tweaks, after tweaks and under light CPU load.
click to enlarge

Note the first 2 runs are at full Idle (no other apps running). The tweaks used are with the 95% settings and you will see that at idle there is a big improvement over 'no tweaks'. More important is the 3rd run while playing iTunes music during the test run (adds a minimal CPU load of 1-4%) this shows even greater improvements in R/W speeds. This is why I settled on the two 95% settings, you get big improvements at idle AND full performance with very light CPU loads of ~2%. All with minimal impact on ide temps or battery life.

Temps and wattage at full idle after tweaks (68F room temp)
click to enlarge

Finally a big thank you to 'Phil' who started the 'Laptops w. Intel Series 5 chipset can not take full advantage of fast SSDs' thread which got us to this solution. If you would like to see results for other users and systems as well as info on how we got here and other potential solutions please check it out. Also please post your before and after results and basic system specs / CPU - chipset / SSD make and model

 

Really appreciated your effort JJB, thanks +rep

 

Thanks for the write up JJB. Maybe you can specify in the guide how people can backup their registry too?

 

Added as *** if that works for you....

Any other suggestions, recommendations or changes ?

 

Yes one more: I think it would be a good idea if you post your guide as a separate thread. This thread is getting very big and people are loosing track.

 

I have tried JJB's changes and it has increased my Vertex 2 performance. Am getting 4k speeds of 31 read and 57 write. Just one question. For the Proc. perf. decrease policy = Ideal setting, ive noticed that there is a Rocket option as well as Ideal and Single. Ive noticed after reading through the posts that no one has mentioned it or tried it. Is there a reason why no one has tried it yet?

 

anyone with a G73 tried this? I'm scared of doing so as i have power4gear...

 

Thanks JJB +1, so effectively this only affects 4k read and write performance? Does this result in any noticable real-world improvements? If so in what way?

Thanks.

 

Especially installing programs and updates goes a lot faster. Photoshop CS4 installed twice as fast on my Acer 1830T.

Other performance does not seem to be affected.

 

I'm game to try JJB's performance tweaks and will be more than happy to post benchmarks. So as to reduce unnecessary reads during testing, which benchmarking program is recommended (and at what settings), so that I can provide results consistent with other users?

Thanks.

 

JJB answered your q'n in his post #627 (somewhere in the mid). Anyway, here is what to run to be consistent with others results.

Run CrystalDiscMark with the 5 / 50MB settings.

 

Thanks. Certain things I'm just too lazy to search for. Others I'm not so lazy.

Now, I'm using the default windows drivers. I have a post somewhere in the 3rd F Series thread for the VAIO that had tons of HD Tune tests with different chipsets and found that the default drivers were the best. I'd offer them here, but I didn't use CDM to get my numbers.
---------------------------

UPDATE:

Here are my results from the changes recommended. My machine specs are in my sig. I'm using the default Windows chipset. I didn't get significant improvement in sequential Read, as my SSD is already maxed out at near 250MB/s, but did get a touch of improvement in the 4K regiion, which is nice.

 

I'm going to split up this thread.

Discussion for Stamatisx' tweak goes here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...series-5-ssd-tweak-stamatisx.html#post6701158

Discussion for JJB's tweak goes here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...prove-ssd-performance-intel-series-5-jjb.html

this thread will stay open for now, but please use the above topics if your post is related to one of the tweaks.

 

I was on the verge of buying an Alienware M17x with SSD but now I don't know what to do. Is there any real benefit in SSD with the problem still out there? Would I be better off saving my pennies and going for the cheaper drive option?

J

 

Of course, there is the lifespan to worry about, but unless you're doing massive daily writes (20GB/day average), then an SSD is totally worth it.

I've got my OS, programs, and some games on my SSD, and my temp files, temp internet, index, pagefile and personal folders on my secondary internal HDD. I wouldn't trade a 22second boot time for anything, or the 4 seconds to open CS3..

 

Thanks anseio...but is this still the case when there is this speed problem between the chipset and SSD?

 

I prefer the default MS chipset for SSD's. I haven't found a single Intel chipset tha functions faster in benchmarking. BUT... there are some who say that the Intel drivers give better funtionality in a practical working environment. In any case... we're talking variances in an already high performance range. Regardless of chipset, an SSD will definitely outperform an HDD.

 

The Intel 'bug' hardly affects real world performance except for installing programs and updates. In all other areas SSD will still blow away every HDD.

Also consider Seagate XT, near SSD performance for a much lower price. Check the review in my signature for details.

 

Thanks guys!

 

i can tell you from personal experience than an SSD is just awesomely fast... i really haven't seen much difference even with the intel limitations although i did use the tweaks... really speaking , no hard drive comes close so really you should get it.. for storage , get the Momentus XT.. extremely fast storage drive.

 

I made a post of JJB here is his basic tweaks and running crystal mark with 0x00 (0 Fill)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...1-official-m15x-benchmark-thread-ssd-nice.jpg

 

i had intel guy come with hp to uni... complained to him like hell.. he said he didn't know anyone but he should pass it on... bloody stupid this problem is.

 

Changing the Intelppm start from 3 to 4 turned in Device Manager the CPU to be displayed with yellow marks for every core and a message say "A driver has been disable". Has anyone notice this?

 

Yes that's normal.

 

I thought it was the processor and not Intelppm tweak that was leading to those yellow triangles...