Good TRIM setup for a X25-M G2 SSD

[idata]

Appreciate any corrections/additions:

Computer BIOS set to AHCI

SSD firmware that supports TRIM:

02HA firmware or newer Have partition alignment: Create first partition with Win 7 http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=107126 http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2008/10/08/how-to-improve-application-and-database-perf...Do over-provisioning: Leave 20% of disk space as unpartitioned for controller's use http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3667Use Win 7 with the following: Intel's SSD Optimizer s/w Is part of the Intel SSD Toolbox download Win 7 will use it automatically Microsoft's AHCI disk driver: msahci Microsoft's SATA controller driver: Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller

[idata]

Didn't someone else answer this in another one of your posts? Are you purposely trying to mislead people? Here is a reference from the same document you are quoting - AGAIN! the Toolbox is not required to get TRIM if using the

Microsoft* AHCI driver and windows 7.

Intel

® SSD Toolbox OS Requirements Matrix Operating System

Storage Driver

Execution Environment

Microsoft Windows* 7

Microsoft* AHCI

Native OS support (Intel

® SSD Toolbox not required)

Microsoft Windows 7

Intel

® Matrix Storage Manager**

Intel

® SSD Toolbox required

Microsoft Windows Vista* or XP

Microsoft AHCI or Intel

® Matrix Storage Manager

Intel

® SSD Toolbox required

[idata]

Quote: Do over-provisioning: Leave 20% of disk space as unpartitioned for controller's use

Why would you want to do this if you have trim support? The whole purpose of trim is to remove unwanted files leaving free space on the drive. All you are doing is lopping off valuable drive capacity that you paid good $$ for...

[idata]

"Quote: Do over-provisioning: Leave 20% of disk space as unpartitioned for controller's use

Why would you want to do this if you have trim support? The whole purpose of trim is to remove unwanted files leaving free space on the drive. All you are doing is lopping off valuable drive capacity that you paid good $$ for..."

From: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3667&p=3

Performance in a TRIM enabled system is now determined not by the number of invalid blocks on your SSD, but rather the amount of free space you have. I went into a deep explanation of the relationship between free space and the performance of some SSDs here.

TRIM will make sure that you don't have to worry about your drive filling up with invalid data, but it doesn't skirt the bigger issue: dynamic controllers see their performance improve with more free space.

My rule of thumb is to keep at least 20% free space on your drive, you can get by with less but performance tends to suffer. It doesn't degrade by the same amount for all drives either. Some controllers are more opportunistic with free space (e.g. Intel), while others don't seem to rely as much on free space for improved performance. Addressing performance degradation as drives fill up (with valid data) will be one of the next major advancements in SSD technology.

[idata]

sorry i'm kinda confused: i'm gonna use SSD under Windows XP, so i'll need the toolbox, right?

can i use the old version or i have to wait for release of the new one (and when it's gonna be)?

do i have to enable ACHI mode anyway (it's disabled now) for TRIM support? can it damage the whole data on my HDD or it just make the current OS (Windows XP) unloadable (i mean enabling ACHI in the MB bios)?

[idata]

Yes you need to use the Optimizer tool found within the Intel SSD Toolbox to implement trim on XP (and Vista). For XP you can use the old version of the Toolbox since Windows XP does not support OS restore points. For Vista or Win7 you should wait for the new version of the Toolbox which contains a fix in the Optmizer that will not delete OS restore points.

You do not have to be in AHCI mode to use trim however AHCI mode is highly recommended on Intel SSD's in order to take advantage of NCQ performance beneifit and DIPM (Device Initiated Power Manangement) features that only get enabled when in AHCI mode. You can switch to AHCI mode in BIOS and reboot however if AHCI drivers were not intalled at the time of XP install you will most likely get a BSOD and will have to go back into BIOS and take it out of AHCI mode.