Intel confirms TRIM support for RAID0 SSDs - but only for Series 7 chipsets

Dan Snyder, PR Manager of Intel Corporation confirms that TRIM in RAID0 arrays is now supported on

• Windows 7 and 8 (latter has been confirmed to work as well, see sources)
  
• only on Series-7 chipsets
  
• with Intel RST drivers Version 11 (11.2 or most recent 11.5 that still seem to be buggy).

This means that previous generation Z and S users (all that are not Ivy Bridge laptops with Core i-3xxx CPUs) with SSD RAID configurations will NOT see TRIM working on their setups in the future. This is very disappointing for Z1, Z2, S, SA VAIO owners that use a RAID0 configuration.

German win-lite forum member Fernando tested different Option ROM (Part of the computer BIOS) and Intel RST driver combinations on a Series-6 and Series-7 based board. Eventually he came to the result that the Series-7 chipset passes TRIM to the SSDs part of a RAID0 array. The Z68 based board he used does not pass the command to the member SSDs regardless of which Option ROM/RST driver is used (even the latest 11.5 ROM and driver did not add the functionality).

Sources:
The SSD review forum: Intel Finally Announces That TRIM Is Supported In RAID 0 With Intel RST Ver. 11
Anandtech: AnandTech - Intel Brings TRIM to RAID-0 SSD Arrays on 7-Series Motherboards, We Test It

Practical confirmation by German win-lite forum member Fernando:
Intel(R) Rapid Storage-Technologie (aktuell: RST v11.5.2.1001 WHQL bzw. RSTe v3.2.0.1126 WHQL) - Seite 20 - WIN7 - Treiber - Win-Lite Forum

 

Too bad My Z2 won't benefit from this.

 

What exactly does TRIM do? I read a little bit that it collects trash from the SSD, I always assumed this was actually running in Windows 7 and working on our Z models, so we never had TRIM before?
How much does this actually affect us, will our SSD lifespans be significantly short due to lack of TRIM?

 

Intel RST 11.6.0.1030 is out
1 Hour usage and no memory leak.

but i can't confirm Trim Support on my VPCZ1.
The only document available inside is:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=21852

 

Bumping the thread. I'm guessing there's been, and won't be, a solution - regardless of Intel driver, Windows 7 or 8, etc?

Is it of any value to split the RAID array into individual disks and do it as a software RAID in Windows? Probably a bad idea, I'm guessing.

Would imaging and writing the image back (Ghost, etc) "clear" the SSD every few months and be a "viable" solution?

 

So TRIM is supported but Intel didn't offer it...even on the older 2010 VAIO Z models with 5 series chipsets. Anyone else ever try the below?

RAID0 trim and SRT seems possible on 6-series and 5-Series - Page 7 - AnandTech Forums

2010 VAIO Z trim support - AnandTech Forums - View Single Post - RAID0 trim and SRT seems possible on 6-series and 5-Series