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

I didn't know that, and that's good to know

However for Cape Consultant, even if CDM's results aren't "realistic," it still shows that something is probably wrong with his setup and/or drive compared to what others have shown in the same benchmark, and that it probably isn't due his laptop being limited to SATA I.

 

How good are Super Talent Ultradrive ME ssd's? Is it worth buying?

 

They are basically same as OCZ Vertex...

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/974/9/

 

WOW, thanks for all the input. I will be bummed if the machine is limited in any way as I checked the specs before I bought it figuring that I would want Sata 2.0.Being as there are no more tweaks I am will ing to do, I have determined I will live with the drive under daily use for a week or so ans see how it goes. I would be happy to leave it on and see if that helps.

Are others doing tests in safe mode? I suspect not. I usaually turn off things like AV before I do a test, but there are afew of the usual things running in the background. I did just purt rebit backup sofwtare on my drive before I cloned it to the SSD. Maybe that has some driver running that is similiar to defrag as it does do CONTINUOUS backup. the stupid software would pretty much stop my computer while I was using it to backup who knows what. I am dumping the software for that reason alone. So, before next test, I will make sure I have removed that from the drive completely. Dave

 

I just got mine in and installed. I'm loving it its very very fast even compaired to my 7200rpm drive RAID

Crystal disk mark benchmark
Sequential Read : 238.972 MB/s
Sequential Write : 168.591 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 158.400 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 164.529 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 22.415 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 16.879 MB/s

 

Here is my CDM non safe mode:

--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
--------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read : 192.812 MB/s
Sequential Write : 135.980 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 156.582 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 117.759 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 14.675 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 7.483 MB/s

Test Size : 100 MB
Date : 2009/06/14 0:28:47

Not so good eh?

Disk is a brand new Summit 120GB on a Dell E4300.

 

Found a great tip about how to switch to ACHI at the BIOS and be able to reboot:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57789

Worked for me.

 

Those specs look normal, the Summit doesn't display as glossy random read or random write numbers as the Vertex, but it's a proven controller and has higher sequential writes. If your Summit benchmarks like that, your drive is just fine.

 

Yeah I was just thinking those numbers look pretty solid.

 

EXCELLENT! Now I am happy as I like the drive. It is smooth and fast. And quiet

I did a Acronis Full Image of 80GB to a Esata drive in 15 minutes. Now THAT is fast.

Now I just have to figure how to pay off the darn Credit Card Went out on a Birthday limb. Lord knows these things are not cheap.

 

So what was it between your last non-safe mode benchmark and the one before it that made all the difference? Enabling AHCI?

 

I enabled ACHI, I checked the ADVANCED tab of write caching. And maybe another thing or 2 here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47212

But I do not think I did the PREfetch tweak. And I certainly did not do a RAM disk.

And I think that is about it.

 

cool new benchmark
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58059

 

just wanna to say that summit is not the first samsung controller that is doing that stuff

my 64gb slc is self refreshing and optimizing itself every time after some heavy iometre-ing, torrent-ing, wow-ing and stuff...

so, summit is not the first one with this feature

 

I tried an Intel X25-M in my macbook pro which is limited to SATAI. The reads maxed out at around 110MB/s sequential. There was a noticeable speed improvement on disk operations all around, but overall I was not not impressed. Fortunately I had just borrowed the drive to see if it was worth shelling out the $$$ for it. I'm waiting for some of the newer drives to come out that boost small write performance and can max out the SATAI on both read and write ops for sequential and random r/w's.

 

Cool stuff

Do you know if the samsung pb22-j or corsair p256 also do this? I'd guess they do since they're supposed to be the same controller as Summit, but I never hear anyone say anything about it.

 

How would I now if my drive is or is not doing this? Summit 120GB. Thanks. Dave

 

it needs to be left idle for about 30 minutes to an hour (at least that's what Tony said on the OCZ forums).

 

looks fine to me, its your active C: right? If you want a "real" test it needs to be as a secondary drive.

 

Yes, it is C active. Was not aware of the secondary drive part. I think I was just in a panic mode about having spent so much $$$ on a drive. I have always loved ahrd drives and been an at least somewhat early user of new tech, so paying for stuff is not new to me

Basically, I really like the drive. It is fast and smooth and quiet. Wish I had a spare 600 so I could do a direct comparison with the Intel 160. The 80 was just too small for me.

 

I have been leaving it idle for that amount of time. Is there any way I can check a log or something to know for sure if it is doing the auto trim?

 

Intel 80 too small for me too, but all of them too expensive for me.

 

Wait so Hard Drives factor into the 3D marks benchmark scores??? Does vantage do this as well?

 

Apparently yes. Swap a 7200.2 for X25m, and:

'The next benchmark in our list is PCMark05, which saw an astonishing jump in score from 6,287 in our original review to 9,452 with the Intel SSD. This is over a 3,000 point jump from a drive upgrade and nothing else. Both 3DMark06 and PCMark Vantage saw boosts in performance, but not as big of a jump as PCMark05. 3DMark06 went from 5,230 in the original review to 5,847 with the SSD. PCMark Vantage jumped from 3,944 to 5,516, over a 25% bump.'

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4647

 

Idle for 30 minutes to an hour? Kinda hard to accomplish since Windows accesses the drive every 30-60 seconds...

Tocharius: thanks, but it seems stupid to have to buy an external case for the SSD when all I need is the +5V that a USB port can provide. I guess I'll just buy a couple cables and splice them together myself.

 

Is a 32GB SSD enough for windows and 3-4 programms (Office,Autocad,Rhinoceros) or a 64GB SSD is a one-way solution for upgrading my notebook's hdd (80GB 7200.1)?

I already have an external 2.5" USB hdd for data, though i doubt that over 1.5GB for my job's stuff would be needed...

 

this is seriously up to you to decide. I would go for 64 min to store my os, basic programs and some entertainment.

 

I mostly use it when i'm out of the office, for my job's stuff, it generally doesn't have an entertainment purpose...

For winxp i think it's about 15-18GB + 2-4GB for programms...I think that sould leave in worst case about 3-4GBs for various data (some mp3's maybe)...

The SSD i'm interested is 167€ for 32GB and 243€ for 64GB...It's 45% more price for 100% more space....but if i can do my job with minimum €, then the capacity may not be worth the money...

I guess i'm a bit confused...

 

At some point of time you'll want to switch to Vista/W7, and then you'll SERIOUSLY regret your decision to buy a 32gb drive.

 

felix_w
I'm also choosing between 32 and 64 Gb drive now. Currently my C:/ is less than 32Gb, but bigger SSD perform better and degrade slower.
which SSD do you want to buy? I'm currently looking at Super Talent ME 64 Gb for 170€

 

Not sure if this was addressed (haven't finished catching up)

Not true Indilinx never sacrificed sequential reads (infact they actually improved), it was the sequential WRITES that were sacrificed to improve the random WRITES. Not sure how gimping reads will improve the random write capabilities of the crappy jmicron but who knows. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole...

@felix_w
Don't make things harder than they are look at how much space ur using on your current hdd if it is a couple gigs under 30gb and you're fine with not a whole lot of room left over then go with the 32gb and save some cash. failure and degradation should not be a problem for any of the "good" ssd's currently on the market

 

I still prefer the more storage the better. My experience with SSD when it's over 90% full capacity, that I was feeling the performance degradation. It felt less snappy. Perhaps due to the write speed problem.

I wanted to upgrade my SSD but still waiting for P256 or Samsung 256GB to support Trim.

 

Whoops, my mistake

But the JMF602B is an 8-channel controller, just like the Indilinx and Intel, so maybe with some descent firmware it is actually possible to get some descent performance out of it...

I also believe that Kingston/JMicron/Toshiba (or however it is that this partnership is working) increased the onboard cache from 16KB to 64KB for this latest revision.

Benchmarks will be in soon...I'm curious to see what they have been able to eek out of this controller some 3 years after it was first released...

 

I finally found a Dell laptop that allowed me to set IDE mode in the BIOS, and I was able to update my Intel X-25M 160gb to the current firmware. I've seen better CDM scores on other drives, but I haven't found any for Intel M drives. Here are mine after the firmware upgrade and after performing the tweaks posted here http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47212:

CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
--------------------------------------------------
Sequential Read : 256.292 MB/s
Sequential Write : 74.104 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 194.406 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 78.006 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 13.969 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 36.579 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB

 

looks about exactly like mine.

what a chaotic phrase that is

but i have about the same numbers in CDM with my intel 160GB ssd with actual firmware.

 

So daveperman, the intel is finally the only drive u've found superior to the old mtrons?

 

yep, more or less, yes. currently my notebook is still slower than my quadcore pc, but it's some driver issue (at boot, it's idling around some seconds before the hdd starts blinking).

but else, yes, it performs very fast and is lovely

but i have to wait for the pc's right now. i'll get a new pc soon and that one cost me quite a bit. so i'll see when i get intels in there

 

Thanks, Dave! What an ordeal it was updating that firmware.

Prior to this I ran a full format on the Windows 7 partition (which I found out later is bad). I've read somewhere that re installing Win 7 performs a quick format which will undo the damage of the full format. Do you know if this is true? Also, I read that the new firmware resets the drive to like new. Do you know if this is true. I hope that I didn't irreversibly degrade my performance on that partition.

 

well, it should be like new. the new firmware so far looks like it's stable in performance, no matter what you do to it.

well, in my case, it was easy to update. formatted the usb stick to dos-bootable disk (hp boot stick tool + www.bootdisk.com dos/win98 image), copied all the files on it, and booted from it. done. but it looks like, somehow, i always have luck with those things

 

In case you've been so intently following this thread through 6291+ posts that you haven't had a chance to peruse through any other, I started a new thread earlier with benchmarks and pics of the new Kingston V-Series SSD's (specifically, the SNV125-S2BD/64GB).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=390350


For $149 (retail), it's not bad, especially if you get the Notebook kit (S2BN) that includes an external chassis for your original 2.5" drive.

- nn6o

 

Here is my new CMD score:

--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
--------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read : 204.967 MB/s
Sequential Write : 132.542 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 154.971 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 106.507 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 10.912 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 5.340 MB/s

Test Size : 100 MB
Date : 2009/06/15 16:35:01

after doing the prefetch/superfetch reg tweak here: (I had thought those were off, but I changed them from 03 to 0)

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47212:

Maybe I will try the cache tweak below it later. Still, seems like some OK numbers. Drive is performing well, Summit 120GB.

Thanks. It is a brave new world with these drives, for sure. BAck in the day, I used to hang here ALOT :

www.storagereview.com

Big Buck Hunter is one hell of a smart guy and knows his stuff. I think he is now a mod. Would be great if that site could be morphed into a SSD site.

 

$589 for a 256GB G.Skill Falcon on Newegg. For a 256GB Indilinx based drive that's one hell of a deal if you ask me.

 

HP locked out the BIOS on my HDX18, so I had to find a PC where I could set it to IDE mode: it took 5 PC's before I found one that would recognize the SSD.

Thanks for your help.

 

Yeap, seems you're correct...though, i may find some difficilties to find drivers for the notebook's platform (Intel 855PM / ICH4-M), but it would be great if i could use Win7 later on...

Since i need an IDE interface, i opt for Photofast G-Monster 2.5" IDE V2. Maybe a little more expensive, but for sure better than my Seagate Momentus 80GB 7200.1...Other option is an 32GB Mtron Mobi 2.5" Ide for the same amount of money....

Guess you're right about that...the problem is that my current installation is not fresh enough and surely not space-optimized. I have pagefile on, lots of programz (more than i need for my work) and lots of garbage around inside my disc...I think 32Gb will be marginally enough, so 64GB is what seems to be ideal, even for some cash more...

Thanx for that info, i wasn't even aware of performance differences for SSD when in near full capacity. As i said above, i think you've all convinced me to get the 64GB ssd....

 

I'm looking for an SSD atleast 64gb to go into my Dell D430.. having a lot of trouble finding out information on this!

Can anyone advise?

Also, would this work? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260429701475

 

@capeconsultant
You ever try your drive without those stupid "tweaks"??? Like you said, you got a god one so it would be fine right out of the box. Maybe that is the way it was meant to be used. Maybe samsung is a little smarter than you (and ocz?) give them credit for? Who knows, but it's worth a shot. My samsung seemed slower after i took off pagefile, and maybe you write isn't so good with write cache disabled because its not writing to the 128mb cache onboard (not sure but it makes sense to me)?

 

i would suggest to not tweak it just as well. superfetch enhances performance in my cases (intel x18-m 160gb, dual raid0 mtron 3000), which are very goods ssds. pagefile should never be disabled (some geeks think they know better how to do memory management in edge cases.. there are some msdn papers and i think even win7 blogs explaining how the pagefile works and why it helps).

in general, very simple: DON'T TWEAK!

it's rule nr one for all good ssds. just let them be. that's what they're built for: a default os installation. let it shine with it.

 

That seems pretty cheap. Does anyone know if these ship with fully updated, stable firmware in place or do you still have to mess with wires and such?

 

No idea if it ships with the new firmware, but that is one really nice deal on a 256GB drive (right now)

But all of the indilix drives firmware is pretty stable, just different (read newer) firmware will only help usually...and thats just a flash away. Never any wires and what not to deal with

 

Are y'alls pagefile set to a fixed size or does Windows handle the pagefile size?