Something wrong with my SSD ?

Hi, I have an Intel X25-M 160GB (Generation 2) SSD installed in my Lenovo T61 (specs. can be seen in my signature).

I've recently installed Windows 7 Home Premium x64 and did a clean install. Downloaded the various drivers and installed them including the "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" driver. Also I read this guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/474521-installing-ssd-tips-tricks-benchmarks.html

I then ran CrystalDiskMark 3 and was a bit amazed by the results, in a bad way. Compared to the guide I got much lower scores. This made me think I might have a problem with my SSD ??

I've never defragmented the SSD, when I had Vista I had Intel SSD Toolbox installed in order to trim it, Prefetch/Superfetch disabled, System Restore disabled, Indexing disabled etc.

What could be the problem ?

 

Those scores are indeed too low. Is AHCI enabled in your BIOS?

 

Have you used the modified BIOS by Middleton? The T61 is capped at SATA 1.5GB/s speeds by Lenovo. I'm using the modified BIOS on my T61, my SSD is a little bit degraded but you should get similar or even better results than mine.

 

AHCI is enabled in BIOS...

I will look into Middleton's modified BIOS. However, if this doesn't help, will I be able to install a stock BIOS from Lenovo ?

 

Yes you can overwrite the modified BIOS with the original BIOS and vice versa, personally I did this as a test before and it worked fine on my T61.

 

Cool... I tried to update the BIOS but my battery is broke (won't charge) so I couldn't install the modified BIOS unless I get a new battery or there's a way to bypass the need of a battery?

Also, will the modified BIOS give any performance boost in general response of the system and boot time? Or how will I feel/see the modified BIOS?

 

Generally you're not going to see a vast difference when using the modified BIOS as it pretty much acts like the original. So you can still use the Thinkvantage Button to access the Boot selection and BIOS should you wish to.

Though the modified BIOS does three things over the original BIOS for the R61/T61/X61:

- It uncaps the SATA speeds imposed by Lenovo so it can fully use the SATA II speeds which are utilised by most SSD's on the market today.

- For certain revisions of the T61 motherboard it removes the Thermal Sensing Error that appears everytime on boot when it detects a Penryn processor. This allows them to upgrade from Merom to Penryn processor hassle free. My 14.1" T61 was one of them but thanks to the BIOS I can upgrade to a T9300 from my T7100. Since you already have a T9300 in your system you're immune to this issue.

- It removes the Lenovo "Whitelist" that allows you to upgrade any Wi-Fi card that originally was not designed for the system.

I don't think you going to see much improvement on the boot speeds, as a test I downgraded my BIOS to the official Lenovo BIOS and don't find that much difference in the boot speeds (apart from tapping ESC on the BIOS to get rid of the Thermal Sensing Error). You may find transferring or copying files will be faster with the modded BIOS though, I did the CrystalDisk benchmark test and found my speeds have halved which is what you're experiencing now.



Not sure for the battery, you can try scouting second hand auction sites or ask contacts who have a similar system to yours that could lend you the battery for a few minutes?

 

Thanks for the help.

I will definitely try the modified BIOS. I'm going to buy a new battery soon but Lenovo's are pretty rare here in Denmark. So not many stores have spare parts for them. I know a shop which had the T61 battery but now they don't list it anymore, I will try contacting them soon. Unfortunately I don't know any who owns a Lenovo. All of my friends buys other brands

Thanks again...