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

I am going to do a test on my three SSD, intel X25-M, Samsung 256GSSD and vertex 120G on my friends desktop after my final test, to see what performance I can get.
question, I dont know anything about raid since i use laptop, so it is possible that I but three different SSD in raid?

 

Can't you just do torrents and movies off an external 500gb hdd?

 

Why would you want to try that? It won't give you any uniform results that would be meaningful (even if it were possible).

 

Just an update on the Samsung 64GB SLC at geeks.com:

I had placed my order earlier today just prior to posting about it here, and just within the last 5 minutes received my shipping notification email with FedEx ground tracking number.

Not bad order fulfillment time; effectively same day.

 

Tracking doesn't necessarily imply shipment. When I ordered from them I got notification pretty much immediately but my order wasn't actually in the hands of FedEx for another 3 days.

 

Any issues at all with your Intel SSD? I am now thinking about the new Vertex and the 64GB SSD from Intel as well. Want something quick with no issues for my upcoming Macbook Pro. I have some stuttering issues now with my Mtron Mobi 3000 in my Fujitsu laptop. I didn't have any stuttering issues when I bought it but now it seems like these issues are starting to show with time.

 

Does anyone know if this is the "little brother" to the new 256GB Samsung that everyone is pulling from Dells and selling on Ebay? I ask because 128 is all I really need, but I want to make sure I get the LATEST model from Samsung if I do spring for it. Thanks, Dave

 

hm my mtrons don't stutter since months.. do you have superfetch enabled? that can bring any device to stutter if it messes up one day.. (disable, delete all c:\windows\prefetch, reboot, reenable, reboot, and wait some days to let it recollect). fixed my 'stuttering problems'.

 

afaik only the 256 is the latest. look at the speed numbers. if it's 200mb/s or bigger, it's the latest.

 

I agree. but vista on 32gb is no problem (32bit version). if your big data is somewhere else.. (you get about 10-15gb freespace after installation).

 

Whoops, forgot to post link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Samsung-128GB-SSD-SOLID-STATE-laptop-drive-128gb_W0QQitemZ220365185063QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item220365185063&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4|65%3A3|39%3A1|240%3A1308

 

Whoops, forgot to post link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Samsung-128GB-SSD-SOLID-STATE-laptop-drive-128gb_W0QQitemZ220365185063QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item220365185063&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4|65%3A3|39%3A1|240%3A1308

 

Has anyone ever heard of a company called "Keian"?
They're based out of Japan and browsing my local stores I happened up these:
http://www.dospara.co.jp/5goods_parts/parts_list.php?h=d&f=d&m=parts&sbr=457&lf=0&mkr=527

Seemed like decent pricing on their 30/60/120 MLC models but what really caught my eye was that both the store and manufacturer's website lists them as using an Intel 'chip' (ie. controller) to achieve the 170MB/s max 98MB/s average speeds advertised. Seems much too cheap for repackaged X-25's, do any other MLC SSDs on the market use the intel controller chip?

Badly translated link.

 

triple post

 

triple post

*doubled my postcount with one mistake!

 

Whoops, forgot to post link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Samsung-128GB-SSD-SOLID-STATE-laptop-drive-128gb_W0QQitemZ220365185063QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item220365185063&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4|65%3A3|39%3A1|240%3A1308

 

now I'm lost, I thought that superfetch should be disabled ?!?!?!

 

i never disable it no.. makes vista booting quite faster. but it sometimes messes up and can create stutterings when it suddenly wants to move around big data into/out of memory for what ever reason. then one needs to purge the superfetched data, and be done..

by default, nothing should get changed in vista (except disabling defragmenting, as its useless on an ssd).

 

No, no issues at all right now - drive is 2/3 full, installed MS Windows Server 2008 R2, Office, etc...

ATTO bench is still the same as it was when I measured the first time.

Now, maybe that "Intel" problem takes a bit more to show. But, in general, all SSDs have wear-leveling algorhitms, and if the drive is near-full - I see no way to avoid at least some performance decrease as the drive logic must "think" where to put the next block or, if it is needed to relocate something.

Btw, I have two Samsung's SLC SSDs (64 GB) - after six months of very heavy usage, these are still as fast and reliable as when they were unpacked - too bad Samsung does not seem to have a plan for bigger SLC drives

 

heh ?!?!?

I've done some tweaks for my 64gb samsung slc in win7, and after some time I've had some problems
my brother also had first gen 16gb sammy slc, and, in xp, he never did ANY tweaks, and he never had ANY problems...
so, now I'm thinking, am I doing wrong by trying to tweak windows...

 

what windows and what tweaks have you done ?

 

You'll have to ask the seller about the read/write speeds

 

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/squarelly

this guy has some 128gb sammys, and they all end about 300usd, so, you may wanna to check it out

 

yep, tweaking is bad (at least on vista and windows 7). in general, the systems are quite slow at reacting to tweaks, as they try to optimize themselves. so you can't really be sure a tweak helped, as it may help at first, and then lead to bad behaviour after some weeks.

 

Hi All,

I've been struggling to keep up with this mammoth thread for the past few months but the information (benchmarks, reviews, tips, etc.) have been immeasurably useful! I think I've seen enough praise for the Corsair CMFSSD 128 GB MLC and since I am stuck with a ThinkPad T61 for now (not going to upgrade to a new T-series until Intel Capella hits and I might go for a Dell Precision). I'm running XP SP3 because this is a work machine. I would much prefer to clone my existing 100 GB Hitachi 7200 RPM drive onto the SSD (I can use Acronis to do this). Three questions:

1. If I clone, is there any way I can partition align the drive before/after the clone without destroying data?
2. Aside from disabling the defragger, are there any tweaks I need to apply to my XP installation that will make a noticeable difference in performance?
3. Many people are showing that performance degrades over time on the X25-M. I use Visual Studio and the Internet a lot on this machine but I'm not running benchmarks/encoding very often. Does the Samsung seem to be free of the long term performance degradation or is this just an unsolved global SSD issue?

 

So when i get my sammy i'm doing a fresh install and your saying i should not do ANY TWEAKS AT ALL? that would be awesome!

Thanks

 

From what I gather Windows 7 will be made to use SSD's? Does this mean it will be optimal to wait to get an SSD until when windows 7 is leaving beta?

 

If you want... then you could wait for a better ssd. then you could wait for it to come down in price. then you'll hear about the next better ssd. and of course wait for the price. next thing you know, ARMAGEDON! Your dead EVERYONE'S dead and you never got your ssd

 

yep, except for disabling defragmenting you should not touch a vista installation nor a win7. works great for both my notebook and my pc on ssds, and for all the other ones on harddrives that i know around me.

the only thing, as said, is sometimes superfetch messing up.

Vista works about as good on an ssd as win7 as it does correct partition alignment. if you like to wait for a new windows and wait for the ssd, then do so. I personally am more than happy to have my ssd's right now (and since some months) and am very happy with vista working as fast as win7, completely stable and all is fine. So personally, no, I would not wait.

 

I can't really read that page, but I suspect it may use Intel flash chips instead of the Intel controller.

 

1. No, when you clone you maintain the original partition alignment. You'd have to do a fresh install and set the offset manually.
2. With the Corsair S128 you won't have to do that much. Disable superfetch and prefetcher, disable defragging, disable indexing. That's about it.
3. I haven't experienced any performance degradation on my X25-M and I use it pretty heavily. Perhaps it's just a matter of time... but with the S128 there are as of now no reports of degradation.

 

Sorry, here's the vendor's Google translated SSD page.
Looks like you are most likely correct, they advertise Samsung and Super Talent drives as well. Still is tempting me...

 

Not necessary, no SSD optimization is unique to W7. Everything done there can be done in Vista and XP to improve SSD experience.

 

According to my primitive understanding of nihongo, it just says "Intel chip used" (intelチップを採用 or "Samsung chip used" (SAMSUNGチップを採用 , which, as you mentioned, is not quite decriptive of anything. I could see the Samsung devices being Samsung re-brands (aka 64GB and 128GB first-gen MLC), but the Intel device...

 

mate, reputation up for you

will try to fresh install something newer than xp, and just leave it the way it is

 

darQ96, I would still disable superfetch, prefeteching, disk defragging and indexing. These are features meant to optimize mechanical drives and are pretty much useless with an SSD.

 

With Drive Snapshot you may be able to clone and set a new partition alignment:
http://drivesnapshot.de/en/index.htm

@Sitecharts: Please don't accuse me of spamming for this company. I am still waiting on those OCZ checks you say I am getting. :laugh:

 

Anyone tried and confirmed that this works?

 

I too would be interested in verification on this, as I have a few machines that I would like to change the partition alignment on, but I loathe reinstalls...

 

Yes, I used it myself. Acronis failed to keep my alignment but Drive Snapshot kept my alignment.

 

Not to split hairs, but I need clarification:

First you say that you can clone and set a new alignment, and then in the second post you say it kept your alignment. That's two different things.

Assuming that one has not yet aligned a disk partition (thus nothing to "keep") can this product be used to clone the operating system and "set" a new partition alignment at the same time? I want to set the partition alignment without having to reinstall the OS.

Thanks.

 

What I meant was that I created and setup a partition with a specified alignment using diskpar (using the instructions on the OCZ forum). Drive Snapshot kept that alignment when I cloned to that partition (the alignment I wanted to keep). I didn't mean to say that it kept the alignment of the original source partition that is being cloned. I'm sorry for the confusion.

So you need to create the aligned partition first using other tools, then clone back to it using Drive Snapshot.

 

Thanks for the clarification. So it looks like in order to set a partition alignment to begin with, an OS reinstall is required. Blech.

 

No, you don't need to reinstall the OS. You can clone it using Drive Snapshot.

Check out this thread:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48309

 

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying.

heavyharmonies: It doesn't seem like an OS reinstall is required after all. Apparently with this method you first create the alignment on the new drive, and then when you clone over your old drive using Drive Snapshot, the alignment you just created is maintained.

 

I will probably end up just doing a fresh install on my new drive but am curious...

My laptop has two HDD bays. i currently have one 200gb 7200 HDD and have i think 90something gb used on it. would it be possible to clone part (Vista 64 and some apps/games) of my current drive onto the SSD or is it an all or nothing type deal. or possibly a "copy paste" technique to get what i want on my 64gb ssd?

FedEx's ETA for my drive: March 11th

 

Just a heads up fellas, bootcamp DOES work on the Vertex 120gb. So far everything seems to be quite speedy although this partition alignment stuff worries me. I had bootcamp create a new partition in osx and proceded with the install, will that keep things in good working order? Or did i need to manually change the offset for the new bootcamp created partiton?

I also occsionally get a little stuttering when playing left 4 dead but i dunno if thats the SSD doing it or the game needing to be tweaked.

Sorry x-25m! Hopefully the Vertex has no fatal flaws that have yet to be seen

-jb

 

I agree only for defragging, but indexing and other stuff, dave said it should be left on

 

Vertex isn't supposed to need an special alignment or tweaks, right?

 

All of those things are totally unnessecary. Your X25-M is more than fast enough to disable them. <s>Take indexing for example, it's supposed to help make searches faster by creating an index of all the files on your hard drive. But since the SSD is so fast, an index isn't necessary. I can do a search for a file on my un-indexed drive and the results turn up instantaneously</s> Scratch that and keep indexing, disable the rest.