Windows 7 Disappointing Win 7 Performance w/SSD

[boxerdad]

Ive just completed an OS install of Win 7 32 bit Build 7100 on a fresh Intel X25-M. Hardware consists of:

Asus P6T Deluxe VII
Intel i7 920
OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 - 6 GB
EVEVGA 01G-P3-N959-TR GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM 700W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 PSU
2 ea Intel X25-M - 1 has WIN 7, the other has XP Pro. Not set up for dual boot, I change boot drive in BIOS
Noctua NH-9 - the NH-12 was too tall for my case.
Speed Stepping is disabled in BIOS

OS install went fine. flashed BIOS to 0502, installed latest WIN 7 drivers from ASUS for chipset, SATA, Ethernet adapters.

My WEI score is disappointingly low - 4.3. This is the score for graphics - which doesn't bother me. What is really vexing is that the HDD performance score is only 5.2 !! WTF!! It takes forever to do large file transfers from 1 SSD to the other - over 20 minutes for a 15 GB transfer of my mp3 library.

I'm overclocked as follows:
Multiplier set to 17, clock speed set to 400, Ram speed set to 1605 mhz, timings overridden to 7 7 7 24. This thing should do better on the WEI index shouldn't it? The system does boot quickly, and overall performance is good - the WEI index is disappointing. Any ideas or should i just stop crying Does anyone have any suggestions - I'm all ears!! Thanx

 

[jeradw]

regarding the graphics score - have you tried the latest drivers from Nvidia?

I'm not sure what to tell you about the SSD though.

 

[Kevj]

Might be worth checking with the SSD Manufacturer's web-site, see if they've any beta drivers, or other performance enhancements.

I have read that SSD's could be a problem for Win7 on Netbooks they recommend at least 32Gb minimum, as 16Gb is taken by Win7 itself. Which, for Netbooks, rules most of them out because of the SSD size limits on such machines.

In fact, I've ust found the article.....
Link Removed - Invalid URL

If I see any workarounds, or solutions re: SSD's I'll post them here.

 

[Kevj]

Further to my last post; just came across this interesting Article, which may answer some of your questions, and offers some advice too!

Might help you!

Windows 7 promises better SSD-ing performance than Vista • The Register

 

[boxerdad]

Thanks for your input Kevj. I'm using the 80 MB drive with a single partition which was created and prepared by the Win 7 RC install disk. There is about 25 GB free left on the drive. I did notice that for some reason, Win 7 had not turned off the scheduled defragmentation schedule - indicating that for whatever reason, it either did not detect the drive as a SSD, or if it did, it ignored the information. Also, I mis-quoted the HDD WEI score - it's 5.9. Still well below what others have reported with Win 7 RC and the X25-M 80 GB drive.

Oops - I also flashed the SSD firmware with Intel's latest release - still no joy.

 

[boxerdad]

Jeradw - thanks for the input. Yes, I just completed a download and install of the latest EVGA drivers for Win 7 RC 32 bit - still have a WEI graphics score of 4.3 - but then I knew this wasn't a blazing video card when I bought it. I got a card with fairly good performance for what I needed with 2 DVI outputs for running a dual monitor setup - all for under $100. I built this machie for DAW application rather than graphics intensive apps - like gaming. THe HDD scores is very disappointing. . .

 

[Thomas]

Glad to find this poast !!!!

I was getting ready to buy 2 of the OCZ 60 gig ssd drives. I think I will waite for a while till Windows 7 better suports them .

Thanks

Thomas

 

[boxerdad]

I just found and read this article on Anandtech http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3531 It's very informative and if you're at all interested in the current state of SSD's and how they perform not only compared to one another, but compared to themselves over time, take 10 or 15 minutes and time to read this article in it's entirety. It's a bit long but Anand has a lot to say and makes some very enlightening points about the Intel X25M and the OCZ Vertex. I'll stop complaining about the stupid WEI index and get on with the purpose for which I built this machine in the first place.

 

[Kyle]

Okay, this is what I would do;
#1, go to device manager, and disable write caching.
#2, disable disk defragmentation (start > type defrag, hit enter, disable it)
#3, disable superfetch )start > type services, select second one, find "Superfetch", right click, properties, use drop down to select disabled, and hit the stop button, then apply)

Then redo your score, and try a file transfer.

 

[boxerdad]

THanks for the input Kyle. I had already disabled Write Cache & Defrag, but didn't know about Superfetch. After disabling Superfetch, WEI will no longer compute an index, but CrystalDiskMark shows the following:
--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
--------------------------------------------------
Sequential Read : 251.136 MB/s
Sequential Write : 50.902 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 176.522 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 53.516 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 20.225 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 4.013 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB
Date : 2009/05/22 10:16:11
This drive has 1470 hours on it. My D: drive has only a few hundred and it shows almost identical results except for the 4KB random write - it's around 40 MB/Sec instead of 4.

 

[loathe]

--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
--------------------------------------------------
Sequential Read : 251.136 MB/s
Sequential Write : 50.902 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 176.522 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 53.516 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 20.225 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 4.013 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB
Date : 2009/05/22 10:16:11
This drive has 1470 hours on it. My D: drive has only a few hundred and it shows almost identical results except for the 4KB random write - it's around 40 MB/Sec instead of 4.

Man those read speeds are fast on those Intel drives. Heres my CrystalDiskMark run. I tend to trust ATTO over them though.

Link Removed due to 404 Error

Your problem is the random write speed. For WEI to pickup you have a SSD I think the threshold is 8MB/s and your only doing half that. All of those things Kyle listed will be turned off by default after you reach this threshold. My Vertex scores 7.0 and they were all disabled.

Here are a few things that come to mind:
Firstly, have a look at Link Removed - Invalid URL, Im sure these tweaks should help your cause, just dont go asking for support there.
Secondly, how old is the drive? Have you written and deleted bunch of data to/from it? Flash the firmware (look for new one version) and it should wipe the thing clean, resetting it back to original performance. They degrade over time.
Other things you could try is replace the SATA cable with a new one, plug the SSD into the first SATA slot and try switching between RAID, IDE and AHCI mode to see which one gives best performance.

When I first got my Vertex, I found these very useful. Here and here

 

[boxerdad]

Performance Issues Solved:

The poor X25-M SSD performance was due to a heavily used (and heavily fragmented) drive with over 1000 hours on it. This was the first drive I purchased last December. After some research, I discovered the issue with fragmentation of the Intel SSD's and also discovered the new firmware flash. I cloned the disk to a second much newer X25-M with less than 100 hours on it and the latest Intel firmware. After doing this, Windows 7 now shows a 7.5 on the WEI disc data transfer rate.

The poor memory performance was due to a faulty P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard. It would not recognize anything other than whatever was installed in the first socket. After receivcing a replacement motherboard, the BIOS and operating system immediately recognized the installed 3 GB of Corsair RAM. The WEI now shows 7.9 for memory calculations. Sweet.

For once in my life, I finally built a computer that (for now anyway) is top notch performance wise - or at least close enough to top notch to make me happy. Oh well, the euphoria can only lat a month or two - or until the next new technology breakthrough is released, rendering the current state of the art useless as teats on a boar . . .