Quick Questions re improving performance of Phoenix...

[BrownChiLD]

Hey guys!

Just got my Phoenix 100mb! and just upgraded to 2.1FW

just few quick questions ..re performance tips..


• Run system in AHCI mode in BIOS
- did this easy, but is there any way to make sure i am on AHCI mode?

• Use Intel Matrix Storage Manager AHCI driver
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...%2064&lang=eng
- how do i check if i'm already on it? i dont remmeber installing the asus drivers.. so im thinking im on it (native Windows 7 drivers)



and lastly, about this HDDErase .. ya'll seem to be recommending this.. but it's so primitive and such hassle to setup, use USB/Floppy, etc etc.. right now, im on paragon HD Manager, w/ my Phoenix currently slaved, all i have to do is RIGHT CLICK and select WIPE PARTITION .. w/c i believe produces the same result as HDDerase.. does it not?


Hope to find enlightment

Regards

TJ

[BrownChiLD]

well since there's no reply yet i went ahead and did my migration, optimizations, and benched' step by step

HEre are my steps, I hope they are OK:

first up.. im on faclon 64GB for almost a year now, it's been wonderful..


slaved my NEW pheonix SSD .. (well not really new as it had 11 hours running time on it already from our DEMONSTRATION .. it was installed w/ WIndows 7 etc etc.. did a quick bench and it was not as good as expected right off the bat (dirty). im supposed to clean it up for my own use but was doing bench just to see..

first thing i did, set the AHCI mode.. and right away it yielded better results..


then upgraded the firmware, that had more or less the same but a little bit better improvement


i used Paragon to wipe clean the drive
restored my acronis true image backup (w/c is installed on the Falcon) ,
and Paragon Partition Alignment Tool to align it when it showed its true colors!



other optimizations i've yet to apply is :
- Use Intel Matrix Storage Manager AHCI driver

if im not already on that..


and also updating my board's bios (Maximus II formula)


hmmm....

[DiggerG]

I don't know why you have not received any replies - maybe because you don't pose a serious issue. But, I found your posts very useful as I am about to install a brand new Phoenix Pro 650gb on my machine as a new C: drive. I have also downloaded and intalled Paragon.

[BrownChiLD]

yeah i felt ignored haha


im glad you found my post useful.. lemme know if u need any help ..


to note, as per my question regarding the HDD Erase rant, well i decided to test it out.. had problems getting HDDerase to detect any of my drives (in IDE native, AHCI, whatever mode).. i tink it's one of those board compatibility issue w/ HDDerase (im ussing Maximus II formula) .. then i went and tried GpARTED.. im no linux guy but i faced the linux coding thing bravely... wasnt so bad.. hdparm --secure.. etc.. but then hit another snag.. gparted wouldent secure erase my drive.. researched some more and found out coz my drive was frozen, like almost any other drive (frozen-secured from bios booth).. funny how the Gparted guide in this forum was lackinig information about this.. turns out almost ALL the time Gparted will find our HDD's locked/frozen ... as it is bios feature.. hence i couldnt secure erase etc.. then researched some more.. found out about hot-replugging the drive.. meaning while the machine is running, remove the power cable for a few seconds and put it back in again.. after reading all the risks and researching for 2nd oppions etc.. i tried it.. and vioala .. Gparted found my drive unfrozen and i was able to secure delete...

wasted 4 hours today just trying to get this method applied on my 11 day yo SSD. well atleast i learned something.. at the cost of valuable work time lost today hehe ... and i learned also that.. IT DOESNT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE.. im getting the same results going thru all the hassles of HDDerase/Gparted as with simply using paragon to easily click and wipe the drive clean.. sheesh..


.. but this isnt 100% conclusive though, since my SSD is just 11 days old.. although it's gone thru 2 reformats, and 3 full installs of WIN XP and WIN 7.. plus a few image restorations..


anyway, wish there was more support here @ our forums..


Regards

TJ

[BrownChiLD]

by the way here's the bench after the Gpart/align routine



same banana..

im now loading bunch of stuffs onto my SDD as im getting ready to use it for work/system.. will run 1 more bench then stop.. coz as i've read these benches are not good for Sand Force SSDs like our phoenixes..

[Onslaught2k3]

The performance of this drive is awful. I get better writes on a 250GB HDD that was about a tenth of the cost of this drive and has over twice the capacity than the 120GB phoenix I blew 3 bills on. Solid State Drives (to me) seem like nothing more than a gimmick at best because the "performance" gains are minimal once you breach 30%+ capacity. That's just bad.

[Ni3K]

Thxs BrownChiLD,

always interested in the various secure erase methods. I like you found HHDerase a pain to use and Gparted has the frozen state issue but the workaround does work.

Out of curiosity, have you never tried PartedMagic? I find this by and far the best software to do a secure erase. Its quick, simple and has a great GUI.

Just recently received 2 x Phoenix Pro drives and run them in raid 0 but i decided to go back to XP. To be safe i unraided the drives, switched to IDE mode and ran Parted Magic from a usb stick. The secure erase for both drives took approx 10 mins for each.

btw these Phoenix pros are by far the best drives i have had to date.

benchmark after running Parted Magic..raid0



Regards

Ni3k

[vaca]

brownchild,
I'm sorry for missing your thread.
You can check your AHCI driver from device manager:


Choose the AHCI controller you use, right-click and select properties



You can see the driver reversion in the dirve page. Here shows the standard AHCI driver of windows 7.



Thanks for your information for secure erase. Some situations we might not encounter in our test but you got them and the feedback would helps us to keep improving our products.

[BrownChiLD]

hey vaca!

thanks!! and better late than never! hehe

So i checked and i have the same driver as what you have in your screenshot (Standard win7).. so would it benefit me if i upgrade to the Intel Matrix Storage Manager AHCI driver?


Regards
TJ

[vaca]

SandForce recommend us the intel driver due to its better performance without lossing TRIM function.
But you could also use windows 7 AHCI driver.

[iNsuRRecTiON]

And on AMD platform?

Hi vaca,

and what about the AMD chipset/platform?

What did SandForce recommend you, if you are using and AMD chipset, especially the "new" AMD SB850?

What SATA driver?

regards,

iNsuRRecTiON

[vaca]

Hi iNsuRRecTiON,
Before AMD SATA driver start to support TRIM command, i recommand you to use standard AHCI driver from windows 7.

[iNsuRRecTiON]

Hi vaca,

ok, thanks, but it's bad that AMD still don't support TRIM in their SATA chipset driver.. -.-

Why they are so slow implementing this?

Anyway, regards,

iNsuRRecTiON