topic Re: I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why? in Solid State Drives (NAND)

I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why?

JNels6 — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 04:52:35 GMT

Does anyone know why. I was using two Crucial M4 drives that showed they were running at 6Gb/s.

Re: I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why?

Jose_H_Intel1 — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 17:06:23 GMT

Are the Intel® SSD 530s connected to the Intel® Z97 chipset (gray ports) or the ASMedia* SATA controller (black ports)?

Where did you see the Intel® SSD 530s running at 3 GB/s? Can you provide a screenshot?

Re: I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why?

JNels6 — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 03:32:38 GMT

The drives are on the Intel Z97 chipset. I got the 3Gb/s from the Intel Rapid Storage Manager applet on the advanced tab of the drive information. I installed Crucial drives on the same ports and they showed as 6Gb/s transfer rate. I don't have a screenshot because I installed the Intel drives in an X58 System for now, until I can figure this out. I created a system image so I can restore the drives when needed.

Re: I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why?

Jose_H_Intel1 — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 19:01:58 GMT

Do you have the latest BIOS, https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18363 Intel® SSD firmware, and https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=24293 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology?

Do you get the same result when the drives are not in RAID or when they are connected to the ASMedia* controller? You may need to use a similar application (designed) for the ASMedia* controller since Intel® Rapid Storage Technology will not see the drives connected to it.

Re: I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why?

JNels6 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 23:12:33 GMT

I installed the drives on an X58A board. It has a Marvell SATA III RAID controller. The Marvell RAID Utility shows the drive speed as 6Gb/s which is what it is supposed to be. I tested the drives with ATTO and found the Z97 chipset to be substantially faster than the X58 Marvell. I still don't understand why the Z97 IRST shows the transfer rate as 3Gb/s. You would think that an Intel SSD running on an Intel chipset using Intel software show the right information. I have the latest firmware on the drive and the latest BIOS and IRST software. I took some screenshots which I have enclosed.

Re: I am using two Intel 530, 240Gb. SSD's in a RAID 0 array on an Asus Z97 Pro MB running Windows 8.1. The system runs and boots fine but the drives are only running at 3Gb/s instead of 6 Gb/s. Anyone know why?

Jose_H_Intel1 — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 20:33:19 GMT

The results from the benchmark are good but, are you sure you using are 6Gb/s cables?

Problems may be related to the use of cables made from marginal materials that perform at the edges of SATA 3Gb/s tolerances, which could become a failure point at the faster 6Gb/s signal rates. SATA-IO therefore recommends that only high quality cables and connectors be utilized for SATA 6Gb/s.

https://www.sata-io.org/sites/default/files/documents/SATA-6-Gbs-The-Path-from-3gbs-to-6gbs.pdf https://www.sata-io.org/sites/default/files/documents/SATA-6-Gbs-The-Path-from-3gbs-to-6gbs.pdf (page 5)

I also wonder what drive speed reading you will get from other programs (like https://www.piriform.com/speccy Speccy or http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html CrystalDiskInfo) when the Intel® SSD 530 is connected to the Intel® Z97 Chipset. It is possible that only Intel® Rapid Storage Technology is showing incorrect information.