Crucial M4 / Micron C400 SSD Series Thread

Hi,
Got an 128gb m4 today, fresh install of win7 64 hp and this is the result:

 

Good results, Fred.

 

It was a very smooth install and the drive has not been making any noise so it seems very good.

 

I have the same M4 126GB and agree... it's very good.

 

Hi, I have the crucial M4 128GB and have been getting stuttering in Modern warfare 3. could this be caused by the ssd? firmware is the latest 09.
thanks

 

If it is the SSD:

Put the power profile to High Performance.

Edit the Advanced power settings for this profile and make sure you put the HDD sleeps to 'never'.

Disable Sleep for this profile (put to 'never').

Leave the system on overnight doing nothing (but idle).

With the above completed and assuming that the SSD was the issue, the stuttering should be completely or mostly gone.

Btw, how much % filled is your drive?

Good luck.

 

Cool, will try that, I ve also applied the LPM fix.
It is 63% full. and when i run crystal disk mark I had a low value of 4K and 4KQD32. Is this because my SSD is a bit full compared to others that has 23%

 

How do you put hdd sleep to never? Do I set it to 0min??

 

^^^In the power profile you wish to edit go into the advanced options, select Never for anything you wish to prevent. I find it faster and easier to type in Never and click the Apply button rather than scrolling for it.

 

LPM fix is not needed with FW 0009 fyi.

 

That is not necessarily true in all cases. My M4 would not operate a SATA III 6Gbps speeds in my M18x until I disabled LPM even though I had already updated to 0009. Although it is generally so, it can vary by system.

 

^^^ To add - also related to power; I managed to get better benchmark results (which should equate to better real world performance) by toggling the intelppm/processor registry settings. And I had fw 0009 at the time...

My Envy has the HM55 chipset...so this tweak was def. for me.

 

My wifes Sony vaio vgn-ns110e with intel 965 chipset t3200 2ghz dual core and 4gig fast ram ...just put in this crucial m4 c400 64gb to replace 120gig hdd that failed .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 259.549 MB/s
Sequential Write : 86.731 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 232.318 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 65.905 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 12.219 MB/s [ 2983.2 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 16.032 MB/s [ 3914.0 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 19.097 MB/s [ 4662.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 17.303 MB/s [ 4224.3 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 34.3% (20.4/59.6 GB)] (x2)
Date : 2011/11/14 13:41:46
OS : Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP2 [6.0 Build 6002] (x86)

It feels way faster now , a cpu upgrade to a t8300 will finish the upgrades to this little white lappy...scores arnt too bad considering sata 2 ,all ssd tweaks are in , vista tweaks too,scores way lower than my teenage sons i5 4ghz desktop with ocz vertex3 but he has sata 3.
I cant get crucial wiper to run on this laptop, bios is very limited , i think its running in ide , i uninstalled achi and it just sees as crucial m4 c400 ata device?
perhaps it could be faster?...but it sure is alot quicker than the old hdd , so shes happy and with the price right now of a new hdd it made better sense.
just worried about garbage collection ...She logs out often so i am hoping it happens then?...I've used ccc cleaner and wiped free space but it had very little affect , dont want to test too much cause i have read this is loading the ssd up?
New tech is like this tho...
Updated the firmware to newest to solve cold boot issue was only prob with this Crucial m4 c400 64gb ssd in this Sony vaio vgn-ns110e .

 

do more research, i'm pretty sure this is a big no no!!! also, don't defrag it, turn the schedule off.

 

Ya no need for ccc anyways ,no its set up with ssd tweak ,so no defrag ...just wish crucial or any wiper worked , not a big deal , I dont worry about actual #s , as long as it feels speedy and lasts for a couple years .

ya it seems cc cleaner writes 0s to the blocks then earases them , probly not good for the write cycles of an ssd , oh well garbage collection should catch up(if it is working) and given the life epectancy of any new ssd , i am not worried about write or read cycles wearing this ssd out .too much paranoia for a $100 part for me .
It works fast...lets see for how long ...I just want to ensure its set up for a good life .lol.
thanks for the tip on cc cleaner Chuck

 

Just installed intel rst drivers ,just to see wheather the Microsoft default drivers i did have running were the better...The chipset is gl40 and no mention of support is included with microsoft , except "4" series? but the controller ich9-m was mentioned so i gave it a shot ...check crystalmark #s ...only change from above post was installing these 10.1.0.1088 drivers

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 272.499 MB/s
Sequential Write : 104.253 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 250.157 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 68.782 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 20.076 MB/s [ 4901.5 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 30.543 MB/s [ 7456.7 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 161.345 MB/s [ 39390.8 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 67.384 MB/s [ 16451.3 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 34.4% (20.5/59.6 GB)] (x2)
Date : 2011/11/14 14:44:48
OS : Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP2 [6.0 Build 6002] (x86)

bigger #s now in the large block tests?hmmm
I dont really care for #s , it all feels the same , but being a bit of an enthusiast lol, i cant help but play.
So for this laptop the intel rst drivers will stay.added bonus , i like the little toolbox that tells me everything is normal,lol.

 

Boot time down to 12 sec, still on 0002.

 

Micron to release a C400 mSATA SSD:

Micron mSATA C400 SSD Coming Soon | StorageReview.com

A little late on the news but since it uses the same Micron C400 controller I thought I'd include on this thread.

 

On 0009 now. Best boot time is still 12 sec. Varies a little, between 12-16 sec.

 

Sector size of my M4 is 512, should I change it to 4k?

 

No.

10Char.

 

hey, im thinking about buying ssd drive to my laptop - crucial m4 64 to be exact. the lpm issue is 100% solved, correct? what kind of sata 3 controllers laptops (x220i) are using? im wondering, because on my desktop mobo it is marvel 9128, which handles stuff really badly
also, its working with tp x220 laptops well i guess?

 

well, it was suggest by crucial that my freezes could be due to bad RAM. So I ran the latest Memtest+ overnight and part of this morning (approx 15 passes) and no errors.

guess I'll just try contacting them again..

 

Hey guys!

Posting you my speeds, what do you guys think? It's a 256gb M4 set in ACHI mode.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 500.992 MB/s
Sequential Write : 252.334 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 387.070 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 265.197 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 18.796 MB/s [ 4588.9 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 45.190 MB/s [ 11032.6 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 191.618 MB/s [ 46781.8 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 242.056 MB/s [ 59095.7 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 11.5% (27.4/238.4 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2011/11/22 21:29:44
OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

Hmm your 4k performance is kinda low for a 256GB version. What version of IRT are you using?

 

That's what I thought as well, compared with the other pics posted in this thread.
Sorry for a newbie question, but what is IRT? Where can I see what version I'm running?
Thank you, x92 Fermi for the response.

 

Your 4K performance seems fine to me. Enjoy.

It might be a little lower compared to others but this is caused by power saving features of the chipset. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Okay, its good to hear that you think so.. I was starting to get a little worried. From tests I've done after the one I posted the results from, my avg 4k read has been 16-17mb read speed. I'm gonna dl a tool to just doublecheck wether I'm running the 6bg/s sata, or if it has droppe down to 3gb/s just to be sure.. but I highly doubt that's the case here, rather what Phil said, that it is caused by power saving features on the chipset..

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys.

 

My speeds are very close to his.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 493.407 MB/s
Sequential Write : 273.245 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 394.569 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 274.012 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 18.898 MB/s [ 4613.9 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 53.595 MB/s [ 13084.6 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 191.897 MB/s [ 46849.8 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 243.189 MB/s [ 59372.2 IOPS]

Test : 100 MB [C: 17.1% (40.8/238.4 GB)] (x3)
Date : 2011/11/23 17:06:03
OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

but the 4k Q32 read, I have 120mb/s less then him.. is this normal as well?

 

I think yours is normal, his is not. Probably because of some caching he got a higher score.

 

Okay, thanks for the quick reply Forgot to mention that he has the 128gb m4, and I have the 256gb m4.

 

Intel Rapid Storage Technology
I don't know why your QD32 read is kinda low but I get ~293 on my M4 64. Have you tried the registry stuff on page 1?

 

I tried now recently with the reg. edit stuff from 1st page, no significant changes, 16.85 4k read or something.. Just after that I tried uninstalling IRT, and I got somewhat identical reading/writings as in the previous instances.(18 read 4k.) It's still strange..

Think it was Mr.Fox (He got Alienware M18x as well, so same chipset controllers)... He got some very nice readings on his ssd, think he was peaking at 20 something in 4k read. and his Q32 read was very high as well. (looking back in this thread.) Anyway, in 4k readings: 16 vs lets say 25 read, can't be that much difference can it? I'm very new to this... Might be as Phil said as well, that this is perfectly natural.. but I still think that a 256 should perform better than a single 128gb.

 

I've removed the regedit from the first page. It's not valid anymore for firmware 009.

 

Okay, I'm still running the values.. not sure how to remove them, I'm really bad with this.. harmless I suppose?

 

If it disables LPM it will negatively affect battery life. Sorry about the confusion.

 

It's no problem. As long as it doesn't decrease system performance, I'm fine with it.

 

Has anyone installed an M4 in an Alienware m11x R1? I installed it the other day, got BSOD when installing win7 x64. But it rebooted, and finished installing. Then I went to install SP1, and got a BSOD. Rebooted, and the SP1 updater made me download and install some update from MS (I forget the KB number). That installed. So I started the SP1 updater again, and it got to roughly the same point in the progress bar and BSOD again.

So I put the original 5400rpm drive back in, and installed windows, SP1, and all the drivers without a hitch.

Reading the reviews on newegg, it seemed like half the feedback was folks stating they got a defective drive. So I RMA'd the drive. Currently waiting for a new one. I wish I would have read this thread before, as I did not check the firmware level on the drive.

 

What does intel rapid storage do? and what will be the effect of removing it??

 

IRST is an alternative to microsoft's AHCI drivers, a lot of people find that it gives a bit more snap to their system. Uninstalling RST will put you back on the default MS drivers.

 

should i go for m4 or samsung 830

 

So has anyone had any disaster stories from the 0309 update yet? Guess it's a bit soon to tell.

 

3 days since i'm on 0309, and so far so good. No slowdowns, crashes, BSODs or anything of the sort.

 

Does anyone know if I should get this or keep my Patriot Wildfire? I read things about the life of the crucial m4 being significantly less than others because of a lower amount of read/write cycles it can handle, specifically 3000.

 

My sealed M4 128GB arrived today, haven't opened the box just yet but it feels empty.

No firmware version is listed on the box, made in China.

 

I found this too, a while back. When I bought my old C300, no firmware notification on the box. Its on the drive itself. Catch 22 is how do you know what firmware it has until you have broken the seal? - bit of bad marketing/packaging right there if you ask me......

 

I have the 128 M4 and would like to know if the following stats fall in line with what is to be expected from my computer listed in my sig:
PS: I used the 100MB test size since the default was soo large and takes a bit longer...what effect does this have?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 484.811 MB/s
Sequential Write : 201.005 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 354.355 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 201.044 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 19.061 MB/s [ 4653.5 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 47.722 MB/s [ 11650.9 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 311.313 MB/s [ 76004.2 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 185.969 MB/s [ 45402.6 IOPS]

Test : 100 MB [C: 34.2% (40.8/119.2 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2012/01/17 23:13:29
OS : Windows 7 Ultimate Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

Yes, those stats are good, dfuentes. You'll find screen shots I posted with my M4 a couple of months ago.

I'm on the new 0309 firmware and it's working great. No glitches of any kind.

 

Okay, here is my result after updating from 002 to 0309, I skipped 009 because I didn't have a blank CD then and updating via USB simply didn't work on my m17x r3, seems 0309 update is a must so I grabbed a blank CD and it went smoothly.



Some big improvement on the read speed, no change on write though.

 

I have been getting something strange, perhaps one of you can help... After my computer has been sitting idle for a while, I will come back and it is either locked or I am getting a black screen with a "PXE-E53" error? Any suggestions or idea would be great!