Intel 510 Series SSD Thread

Hello All,

You can post your results, experiences, problems, benchmarks, mods, advice, pictures, and whatever you'd like related to the Intel 510 Series SSDs, all capacities.

Follow the Forum Rules and happy posting!

Mr. Mysterious

 

Prelim Results from the other thread:

Looks pretty good so far

Mr. Mysterious

 

Can't say i'm blown away by the performance of the Intel 510, I got the 120GB version and these are my results using the latest Intel RST 10 drivers...



My Intel X25-M on the other hand has much better Random 4k results than the Intel 510 using the same Intel RST drivers... hmmmm.



Plus there are some issues with this SSD on the newer ThinkPad models, here's hoping Intel put a newer firmware out to iron out some quirks.

 

The 4K is low... why?

 

As Phil had said earlier in a different thread, perhaps the CPU had switched to a low power or a power saving state, and that may be affecting the speeds...

Mr. Mysterious

 

I've got 2x120gb 510s in RAID with my OS on mSATA. I haven't had any issues with the 510s at all with my w520 but haven't run any benchmarks since i performed a clean install due to buggy lenovo drivers. I also decided to move my OS to my RAID array so it'll be interesting to see what my new benchmarks will look like.

Here were my scores before I did a clean install with the OS on the mSATA:

Test Size: 1,000mb
Test Data: Default (Random)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sequential Read : 977.541 MB/s
Sequential Write : 418.928 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 415.881 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 372.120 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 15.500 MB/s [ 3784.1 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 130.134 MB/s [ 31771.0 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 151.187 MB/s [ 36910.8 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 132.605 MB/s [ 32374.3 IOPS]

 

Awww that sucks. Maybe Intel will come out with a newer firmware that will improve speeds.

But then again, Intel's MO is reliability, not speed.

Mr. Mysterious

 

My 4k's are pretty trash to. Apparently it is the sata 6 marvel driver on x58 if you got the new sandybridge chipset with native sata ports it is a lot better.

 

zachary, if those are the results you are getting on a SATA2 controller, then those are amazing speeds!

Mr. Mysterious

 

I am beginning to think that the older drives (X-25 is a good example) may actually be the best choice until the controller/Lenovo/Sandy Bridge issues are worked out.

Perry

 

Hi guys,

I consider buying an Intel 510 250Gb drive and since this is my first SSD I would like to ask some questions:

1. does it decrease performance if I create 2-3 partitions? ( at least I want a 30Gb one only for the OS).
2. does the drive have to be formated to NTFS? I hope so!
3.I guess I will have to set it on AHCI
4. Any specific drivers needed when installing Windows 7? Or it will be recognized automaticaly?
5. Anything else I need to know?

Thanks!!!

 

1) Not as far as I know.

2) No, but it does need to be formatted in order to work.

3) Yep.

4) It will be recognized automatically.

5) Just install the latest updates from intel's site and you'll be fine.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Thanks... already installed Windows 7 on it.
The problem is it created a 100mb partition in front of everything else...
I can't remove it... nor add the space to another partition .
Any ideas? Right now I have deleted the small partition and it's unallocated space...

 

Why do you want to partition the ssd? You don't need to. It is not like a hdd where you will get a boost with a good partition plan. Just put your OS and whatever programs you want and let it run.

 

I prefer having my OS on a separate partition.

 

Wouldn't it be good to have the OS on a separate partition so if the OS blows up, you can reinstall it without having to reload all the software on the other partition?

 

I too prefer my O/S seperate from my data. Not that it helps with 'having to reload all the software on the other partition' - rather, it allows you to clean (re-)install Windows without wiping out your data.

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...gramdata-folder-separate-drive-partition.html


SSD or not, a partition is a great idea - you just have to be smart enough to use them for your optimal benefit.

Btw, by deleting the 100MB first partition that Windows 7 created; you're just asking for trouble in the future (I would re-install, again). As I understand it, this is the 'boot' partition of the drive.

 

No. The key phase you used is "all the software on the other partition". You will have to reinstall all your other software due to entries that are needed in the Windows registry for the software to work correctly.

I like to keep as much of my data and software downloads on the non-OS partition. I create a backup of the C partition to my external drives in the event I need to restore the C partition after OS or application patching that caused you PC to become unstable. Or in general, I mess-up the OS.

 

Thanks to both of you for setting me straight on the partition advantage.

By "C" partion do you mean the non-OS partition?

 

Sale!

Buy.com has the best price I could find for Intel 510 120GB drives. There price is $260 and there is a $30 rebate on it too aso that makes them only $230. You will have to pay tax if you ship to California. Shipping is free.

Party on.

 

Except that the 120GB version is not worth buying... even at $230. (If you think the performance will be up to the 250GB model).

 

The C partition is your OS partition or where you generally install Windows.

 

What is wrong with the 120G 510? I know smaller SSDs are slower than larger ones but isn't that the same with all of them? What should I get instead? I'm thrilled with the performance of my 80G Intel G2 but I only have tradional HD experience to compare it to.

 

the 510 is faster with big files. the 320 series is much faster with smaller files. if you really want the latest and best value get a crucial m4. they're basically the same drives underneath the hood and the crucial is cheaper. if you want a balance of speed, get a 320.

 

Just be aware that people are reporting freezes with Crucial M4 and the forum members are developing a work around.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...crucial-m4-micron-c400-ssd-series-thread.html

 

Thanks, Pokemon.

The best price I can find for the C300 is $237 so I can get the 510 for $7 less.

One reason I picked the 510 is for the higher speed of bigger files because the most waiting I do is for games to spool up, or whatever its called.

I also have to wait for Photoshop to upload pics and for processing. I don't know if those are big files or small files but the pics are 18Mp.

Generally I was assuming that reading and writing small files with any SSD is so fast that I might not even notice waiting for them. Whereas I would notice the wait for large files and it seems to me it would be better to solve that problem.

Lastly, it seems like the 510 has the fewest BSOD and stutter problems.

You can see I gave this some thought but I believe I know just enough to be dangerous and not enough to know what I don't know. Please feel free to slap me hard and set me straight.

dt

 

I put intel 510 120GB into slot 0 of my M18X and stock 320GB to slot 1...no matter AHCI or RAID in Bios....the 320GB will disappear during win7 use or back from sleep mode. When I put only drive, both of them are working fine. Still can't find the cause....beside there are also beep sound when power on if I put two drives together. Hope your m18X works flawless! if you have same problem pls let me know or you know how to solve the problem.

 

M4 is using different NAND too isnt it? 34nm vs 25nm

 

Have you tried fixing Windows LPM in the registry? Have you tried putting the SSD in slot 1 and the 320 HD in slot 0?

I won't get my m18x until about June 13 and I hope you have the problem solved long before then!

dt

 

M4 is using 25nm and the 510M is using the 34nm MLC NAND.

 

What is LPM?
I have bought an Intel 510 and everything is working fine for the last 10days... no freezes etc.
Do I need to tweak something regardin LPM for better performance?
thanks!

 

Link Power Management is a power saving feature.

http://www.intel.com/technology/mobility/powermanagement/Designing_energy_efficient_SATA_devices.pdf

 

Current scores after a few tweaks:





Despite how "bad" these look the drive is still working great.

 

What are you talking about? Those are amazing speeds!

Mr. Mysterious

 

Oh, good.

I thought they were a tad slow for a SATA III drive.

 

@JCrichton, coud you please share some of the tweaks you used?
actually anyone please share any tweaks you may know to improve ssd performance under Windows 7.
thanks!

 

I used just about all the tweaks from these places:

The SSD Optimization Guide | The SSD Review

Installing an SSD? tips/tricks/benchmarks

How To: Improve Low SSD Performance in Intel Series 5 Chipset Environments | StorageReview.com

 

Thanks for the links, JCrighton. (By the way, I like your writing style and your avatar fits it perfectly.)

I'll definitely use some of the tips in the first link.

Regarding the second link, in an OCZ SSD forum Sticky I read that benchmarking SSD's ages them a lot and is not recommended. On the other hand, Intel 510's seem to be pretty sturdy so maybe any wear would be insignificant.

The last link regards Series 5 chipsets and maybe this doesn't apply to our m18x's. Did you bench before and after the registery tweeks recommended in the link?

 

I did with varied results, none really made a massive difference except for the first link. I'm very likely going to do a fresh install at some point and actually record exactly what tweaks I kept and which ones I reversed.

 

Any new info would be appreciated and further m18x + Intel 510 science?

 

Absolutely.

The best thing I've found so far is that the basic tweaks in the first link are pretty universally helpful. Worked great on my other two SSDs (Intel X-25 and an older Kingston). The IntelPPM tweak helped as well but not nearly as much as the initial fixes.

 

So i'm getting my Intel 510 on monday and i was wondering if you guys have any tips on how to use and other things. This will be my first SSD.

 

How to use what?

Just check out that first optimization link I posted and enjoy the speed after installation.

 

Data migration software is not recognizing my Intel 510 250GB. :/

 

It's got to be hooked up correctly. Check the documentation.

 

Anybody have any experience with the 120 gig version of the 510? How much slower is it compared to the 240 gig?

 

It won't be slow enough to be noticeable by most. Most of this "speed" that folks see with the SSDs close in price and size are only via benchmarks, most of which have next to zero real world effect.

 

Big file transfers constantly might be noticeable, but yeah daily use, they're about the same.

 

As posted here by Phil, if you want to know a thing or two about Intel 510s, you should read this:

AnandTech - The 2011 Mid-Range SSD Roundup: 120GB Agility 3, Intel 510 and More Compared

 

any new drivers/firmware or software updates for the 510?