Random read/write performance loss after cloning

Initially I clean installed Win 7 on this new Samsung 470 (64gb). I ran Crystaldiskmark and got the results below. Then I decided that it would take too long to reinstall all the programs so I moved all the media files off the the Scorpio Black, formatted the ssd and cloned the remaining ~30gb of system files and programs to the SSD. However my random read/write performance, esp random write, has degraded nearly 20%. Any explanations?

Clean install: 16 , 42 MB/s (read , write)

Cloned: 14 , 33 MB/s

Thanks.

 

The 2 most obvious possibilities are misalignment in the cloning, and just the difference between a "dirty" drive and a clean one.

 

I checked alignment using this method and it passes. Is that the definitive way to check it?

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/checking_ssd_alignment

Thanks.

 

I'm not sure. It sounds about right, though. I know there are utilities that can check it as well. If alignment is fine, it's probably just the difference between a clean and used drive. If you want to make sure, you could try secure erasing the drive and then re-imaging. That should get it back to "clean" status.

 

Or better yet, leave your system on, log off windows, and let it idle overnight and let Samsung's GC do its business. Be sure to not let your computer sleep or hibernate. Test again and see if performance has improved. Sometimes after a bunch of writes it needs time to clean up the data. Nothing indicates the best way to let an SSD run its garbage collection utility, but everything I've read suggests running in a logged off state is most efficient.

 

I tried Paragon's alignment tool. Before using the tool it shows the drive is misaligned as well as afterwards. I think I'll just SecureErase and clean install Win 7.

 

This is exactly how you check if it is aligned. If it comes back in a whole number, you are fine. If not, your misaligned. If your aligned, you have other issues. Follow the GC someone suggested if alignment is good.

 

If it shows misalignment, back up your stuff and do as you said, clean install. Alignment is very important to keep your drive at top performance.

 

Sigh... One more indication of how SSDs are not ready for prime time yet. Re-install the OS and applications because restoring a disk image degrades performance by 20%? You got to be kidding me! On my typical work machines you are talking about a week of work, full time for something like that. Thanks, but no thanks...

 

Weirdly it doesn't feel any slower despite being misaligned, go figure (but I'm compulsive enough to have reinstalled the OS).

Either way, I'll be secure-erasing it and putting it up for sale. While it's probably the best ssd at this price point by a mile, the machine I'm switching to in a few weeks uses a combination of Intel mSATA ssd and 2.5" 7mm hdd's. Not sure if this is allowed, but anyone who'd like a week old Samsung 470 64gb for a very reasonable price is welcome to send me a pm.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far. It'll be equally useful for the next ssd. I'll skip cloning altogether (although Acronis 2011 afaik claims to be able to properly do it, I did it with 2010).

 

Which is just further proof that at the higher end, things are getting so fast that it's just about impossible to tell the difference except in benchmarks. Although as I recall, the big issue with misalignment in SSDs isn't just speed, but the fact that write amplification is magnified (because where before you may have just written to one block, the misalignment means you have to write to 2, which would double your wear... in theory. And even though NAND wearing out is largely a myth for most users, wearing things out twice as fast might bring it into the noticeable range...)

The Thinkpad T420s? Although if you're interested in selling your Samsung, there's always the Marketplace. You do meet the rules, as far as I can tell.