New to SSD - any configuration needed?

I'm new to SSDs - I've just ordered my first and I plan on installing Win7 from scratch on it. It will be in a Lenovo X200s. I understand this is new tech and that I may not get the best results out of the box...


What kind of Win7 or other sw/BIOS settings should I be aware of? Anything I need to tweak myself compared to a standard HDD?

I've ordered the 34nm 80GB Intel mainstream: "Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2C1 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal SSD - OEM". Any firmwares to watch out for or special notes for this drive?

 

Your drive will come with an older firmware (02G9 if I remember what mine had). Flash it to the newly released firmware (02HD) that adds TRIM.

Install Windows 7 normally, make sure to have AHCI in your BIOS active before, during, and after install of Windows 7. Some people install W7 under IDE compatability mode and run into trouble activating AHCI later on.

Check your drive alignment afterwards. Windows 7 should have done it correctly.

You want to keep your drive at most 70-75% full for peak performance. Fill it up and performances drops like a rock.

 

Edit

Never mind.

/Edit

 

This was the kind of info I was looking for - thanks! Good thing I went 80GB and not 64GB...

Re: alignment, here's a guide I found. Seems like there was some debate over alignment at 64 or 128 sectors:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=325221

 

flynn337,

If you do a clean install with Win 7, the alignment is done properly for you automatically.

Just from a personal perspective from a Torqx 64GB SSD I tried - anything over 50% and thats where the performance plummets - the Intel's may be different, but I don't have direct experience with that.

So, clean install Win 7, make sure you're using the MS default AHCI driver, update your firmware (I would update it before I install Win 7 - the download is an ISO you burn as a bootable CD and therefore, you don't need any operating system to do the upgrade to the drive)

See:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18363

Good luck, and congrats on your early Christmas toy!

 

ocz is saying otherwise:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...eoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&Page=1&Keywords=

"Manufacturer Response:.... ACHI is another feature that was developed before SSD drives were on the scene. It is not required, nor is it beneficial to use with an SSD drive. We recommend a fresh OS install with ACHI turned off."

 

He's not buying OCZ - Intel G2 here and they fly with AHCI enabled in the BIOS.

OCZ was just making excuses on why their drives performed so poorly...

 

Yeah, but what about



and



I'm not saying that Indilinx drives are at all bad, but Intel does beat them more often than not...

 

sure it depends on usage scenario, i almost choose ocz vertex as my heavy multitask real-time data streaming falls into this heavy trace scenario, but after checking all those feedbacks from vertex users, its high failure rate made me into corsair choice.

 

vostro1400user

Also, I was using 'performed' in the past tense too. The benchmarks you show above are probably using AHCI btw.

 

no clear winner for this SSD performance game so far....i just wait to upgrade into micron C300 soon...