Decrease in SSD speed per WEI (Relatively small)

[idata]

I have the following 80GB Intel SSD - SSDSA2M080G2GC. It is approximately 2 months old. Several weeks ago when I reran the Windows Experience Index test, the primary drive score dropped from a 7.6 to a 7.3. I have made no significant changes to my computer since installing the drive with the exception of installing a new graphics card. The SSD toolbox reports no issues. TRIM is turned on.

I know WEI is largely an irrelevant measure (everyone says that), but I also know that everyone also wants it to be higher rather than lower .

Can anybody think of a possible cause(s) for the drop in speed or anything I can do to remedy it? I still have over 33 GB space on the drive. Driver version is 6.1.7600.16385.

I would appreciate any suggestions or thoughts you might be able to provide.

Thanks so much,

Ross

[idata]

It's likely the following paragraph from the Windows Help & Support section on WEI will answer your question:

'The scores currently range from 1.0 to 7.9. The Windows Experience Index is designed to accommodate advances in computer technology. As hardware speed and performance improve, higher score ranges will be enabled. The standards for each level of the index generally stay the same. However, in some cases, new tests might be developed that can result in lower scores.'

Basically newer SSD's are being released with SATA 6.0 Gbps to take advantage of higher transfer speeds, new generations of motherboards enabling these transfer speeds and improved controllers. My 160GB 34nm Intel SSD has dropped several times from 7.8 WEI score in August 2009 to a current score of 7.4. It's likely to drop further once faster SSD's are released and Windows recalibrates their WEI scores.

[idata]

My issue with WEI is that I cannot find clear documentation on how each value is calculated. I am sure it is somewhere... but where? Without this, we cannot readily identify why this particular benchmark is rating your driver slightly slower.

My advice would use the Intel SSD Optimizer, reboot, disable all non-essential programs, and try again.

Otherwise, try using a better benchmarking tool.

Michael, WEI does not adjust its calcuation for newer hardware. A score should not decrease just becase faster hardware exists.

[idata]

"Michael, WEI does not adjust its calcuation for newer hardware." I never said it did. If you bother to read my full post you will see the point I was making. The 'clear documentation' is never going to be there. Windows would face lawsuits from a variety of hardware manufacturers each stating the documentation is unfair if they went down that line. If users want a higher score they need to buy the fastest SSD with the fastest 6 GB/s transfer capability and a motherboard to support it. Research the WEI scores before you buy. An 80GB Intel SSD with a 3GB/s transfer rate is never going to get you a 7.9. It's always going to decrease over time as Windows raises the bar which they have to do as hardware improves. The Windows WEI score for an 80GB old generation SSD is accurate. It will reduce over time trust me.

[mmokk]

some clarification:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2009/01/19/engineering-the-windows-7-windows-experience-index.asp... http://blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2009/01/19/engineering-the-windows-7-windows-experience-index.asp...

on my systems, i disable winsat in the task scheduler (by default, it runs every week to recalculate the wei) and erase the results files. that is how much i care about wei.

the wei results are stored in .xml files, so if low numbers bother you, just edit the files to show the results you want.