SSD Thread (Benchmarks, Brands, News, and Advice)

I actually had old wlan drivers to

thanx for the link, rep up

 

Damn,

I had the same problem when betatesting the 1819Beta (the one with wear-leveling bug).
Well the 1819GC was not public available too, if you understand me

 

Yes, as a matter of fact some people have had issues with the Intel SSD toolbox. Which did infact cause their drives to crap up.
Of course, that could've been a problem resulting from the firmware fiasco, but it happened.

Also, sometime back, intel and their damn proset wireless drivers for the 2200b/g wireless cards caused quite a bit of problem for some people, me being one of them. Atleast the default windows drivers and software worked.

 

Also, do these drivers support TRIM command passthrough, like the default windows drivers do ?

 

they should. but actually, it's not that easy to prove, no clue if one actually tried to

 

Ah well.. I guess i'm going to be sticking with my regular Windows 7 drivers. Thnx

 

So far the W7 drivers have been better performing than the OEM drivers for my wireless USB antennas (have two). Didn't even have to connect to the internet/do a windows update to get the second one.

 

the default win 7 sata drivers(written by intel) are dated 2006 and work better for my nvidia chipset(huge bottleneck with ssd no difference with hdd) than the latest nforce sata drivers. i think it is because intel and ms have the world by the nuts?

The other day I downloaded Nforce SATA drivers from Toshiba UK support site and they worked! for my SSD! albeit slightly less performing in benchmarks, but they worked. My conclusion is that the nforce drivers were in name only and the nforce EURO package is really intel/ms.

 

Just for full disclosure here, I have previously stated that the 9.5.0.1037 IRST drivers have proven bullet-proof in all the systems I have tried.

Until last night, ugh! Blue screen of death on an Acer TravelMate (worked actually for almost a week, what???).

Fortunately, I simply had the client uninstall the drivers (over the phone) and problem solved, with no data loss, whew!

Just a heads up! They aren't as solid as I thought yesterday morning.

Okay, now I'm ready for all the 'I told you so comments'!

 

so far no blue screen in five laptops here with 9.5.0.1037.

 

I should probably make a thread on this but can you (or anyone?) suggest some good laptops with an Intel SSD like that? Not a minilaptop/netbook but with some actual processing power and a FullHD screen, preferably 17". I'd really rather not go through the hassle of installing the SSD myself and breaking the warranty. Thanks.

 

I don't think any laptops are sold with Intel SSDs...

 

I'm out on a lark here, but maybe one of the Clevo retailers. I know Sager and Exotics both let the buyer specify what kind of thermal paste gets used, for (Zeus') sake: if they get that hyper detailed, why wouldn't they offer an Intel (at a healthy markup...).

I think best bet is wait for the right price and buy your own Intel. Self OS installation is unavoidable me thinks.

 

Several Clevo retailers/builders have been offering the G1 for at least 6 months that I've seen.

Installing an SSD wouldn't void a warranty. It's the same form factor as a laptop harddrive.

 

In principle it wouldn't...

But it really depends on the company...

If you have a HDD slot - then you're in the clear.

If you have to remove the palmrest as in the Vaio SZ and Z then Sony may argue that you aren'T allowed to swap the HDD...

 

@ronan_zj
Can you tell us the big differences with the 1819 (maybe some release notes if they are done yet) and when this fw is expected to be released.

 

I told you so!

nah, i now have to get rid of them on my laptop (which had no performance gain anyways). i have to use it for a gig in 20 days, and, well, i should be able to rely on it by then

 

hp elitebooks?

 

I will want the OS on the SSD right? Assuming a Windows 7 disk is shipped with the laptop how much of a hassle is it to install Windows 7 to the completely empty SSD drive? Does the laptop even recognise the DVD player if it doesn't have it's original HDD attached? Really clueless here :/

 

yes, all no problems.

 

Just dump the CD in the drive and the rest is walkthrough.

 

Samsungs new Flash

Single-Level Cell NAND flash has traditionally been faster than MLC NAND, but Samsung’s new DDR MLC NAND chip reads data at a very fast 133 Mbps. It is designed to replace the company's single data rate MLC NAND, which has an overall read performance of 40Mbps.

sounds like some fast chips i guess sata3 will be obsolete before it actually gets deployed

i guess they are about the same as the new chips from intel: 30nm, 3bit mlc.

 

You can order Lenovo notebooks with Intel SSD through several of their sales channels...I don't think directly from their website though.

Even then, Thinkpads are designed so that the owner can easily swap drives by removing a single screw and sliding the drive out. It's actually easier than changing memory.

 

Most people here prefer installing the OS themselves without all the bloatware. Installing the SSD should be a simple 5 minute job, just find the support manual and it will usually have a step by step guide (at least Dell's do). Everything else will work just fine. Just Google (or search NBR) for replacing your notebook hard drive (it's the exact same process for SSD) to ease your mind in its simplicity.

 

Didn't know they offered them. Regardless, yeah its certainly easier to swap out hard drives than to mess with the RAM (have to remove the keyboard). I'll add a brain dead vaveat though: remember to put the bracket on your new harddrive (4screws so its not bad). Lenovo's design makes it practically impossible to pull the hard drive out without the bracket.

 

Just got the Adamo. It came with a Samsung SSD PB22-CS3 TM 256GB. Good or bad?

 

Intel has released a new firmware (02HD) and firmware update tool (version 1.5) to fix the issue with the firmware update process on 34nm (G2) Intel® X25-M SSDs (80GB and 160GB).

Intel recommends that end users Download this firmware update tool and upgrade your SSD

• This new firmware provides Trim support (on 80GB and 160GB) and better sequential write performance (on 160GB)

• If you experience any issues during the upgrade process contact Intel Customer Support

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

 

Intel, you're in my good books again.

Okay Samsung, your turn.

tissot,

Good or bad depends on what you effectively paid for it - use less than 50% of its capacity to keep it as good as possible.

 

OoooooooOooo nice, mine should be here tomorrow

Kinda poop that the sequential wasn't upped on the 80gb version though..

 

narsnail,

its because the 80GB version is using less RAM chips - this is common on most SSD's; the smaller, the slower they are...

 

Thanks! I think I'll wait a couple of weeks and let the guinea pigs (aka early downloaders) risk their computers with this. Intel doesn't exactly generate confidence lately, ya know what I mean?

 

I figured it had something to do with the smaller capacity, its just weird that a simple firmware update can yield a 25% increase in sequential write speeds, ah well, im not too worried about those, more so the small write speeds which is blows everything else out of the water in, and the TRIM support is key as well.

 

Where can I download new firmware for a Samsung drive?

 

I made backups... I'll update my 160GB G2's when I get home after I back them up. Just did the 80GB in my Acer 1810T...



TRIM! Time to find and load the Intel RST drivers

Cheers,
Kermee

 

Kermee, when you install the IRST drivers, make sure you reboot a couple of times (at least). I've noticed that on the second, sometimes on the third re-boot the drivers are really 'on'. (Meaning the O/S has integrated them into itself and uses them fully - maybe the first/second reboot is still installing/configuring something on some systems?

Make sure you do a before/after on your G2 160GB!

 

Awesome! Thanks for the tips!

Will do a before & after!

Cheers,
Kermee

 

no samsung SSD upgrade frimware, we all get pranked by Samsung. lol...

 

Well hi, me again I couldn't wait and updated and did the benchmark again. So if you don't remember my previous results were:


And with new firmware they are:


Have a good night (at least at my timezone)

 

nonono, dont use 100MB test size, coz u are acutally testing the buffer.
try 1000MB with 10 rounds or even higher size.

 

Metsn, Thanks!

Too bad the SSD Toolbox is unavailable to download right now - I would be interested to see a before/after with that too.

ronan_zj, maybe I'm wrong, but it shouldn't matter for the Intel's because the DRAM cache they use is pretty puny at 16MB (G1's) or 32MB (G2's) anyway? What are your thoughts on this data point?

 

I dont know how big the Onboard Cache in Intel, so I can't make any judgement here. For the SSDs I have, the 100 test size result ls alway look better than 1000MB one, coz most of time the 100mb test size was testing the Onboard Cache, such as Samsung has 128MB. Even my samsung 256 has degraded, the 100MB result is always tend to be higher. such as seq writting can be 120mb/s. However when I tried 1000MB, the actually speed came out, it was 60-70mb/s. IMO, I was pretty sure 60-70 seq writting was the real speed coz when I copied 100G files from my another SSD to this one, the final constant writting speed was around 60-70.

 

there aren't any 80gb intels available here i soo want one for my media center.. it's slooooow (with an mtron ssd in )

no actually, i need it as the mtron disk is too big and doesn't fit.. as it's.. too big.. doh.. can't write today

 

Hey guys,

I'm looking to pick up a SSD over the holidays and I've been looking at the 2nd Gen Intel drives. Are there any that match up in large/small read/writes?

 

no. intel is considered best consumer choice in that area.

 

My 80GB G2 is scheduled to arrive via Santa (Er.. FedEx) sometime tomorrow. It's probably going in my AS1410 (Also arriving tomorrow) and I'll leave my 30GB Vertex in the desktop, as I have 4TB of storage for all my movies and music whereas I need 80GB portable.

 

My 80GB G2 was supposed to arrive tomorrow too, but they delivered it today (UPS)! Sucks though, since I won't be home until 9:00pm. Hopefully no one is in a stealing mood today

 

That's going to be some portable solution! Congrats.

Make sure the firmware is the TRIM enabled one and swap away.

Also keep a watch on the % filled on the SSD - if you want the fast user experience to be the same as when you bought it. (I've found >50% filled will degrade the SSD's performance - at least on a Torqx, not tried an Intel, yet).

giangdude,

where did you say you live in Arizona? J/K lollolol

 

with intel, the official limit is 80% full. haven't hit that actively yet myself.

 

It's basically going to be Windows 7 + office applications + about 20-30GB of MP3s. Maybe less.

 

should work nicely, then