New 510 250GB SSD... Updates?

[idata]

just picked up the intel 510 SSD (250GB) looking to see what i need to do to get running

is there any new firmware out for it, etc that wouldn't come on the drive?

this is my first Intel SSD.. last one I had was OCZ and their forum had a list of tweaks/ options for windows to mess with to speed things up a bit... does the Intel community have the same offering?

Any input on defect rates? Its the only reason why I'm switching brands (too many dieing ssd from ocz)

[idata]

tomf, It's really not a requirement or something you should do for a specific reason, besides the potential for better performance. Virtually all SSD testing done by PC hardware review web sites use the Intel RST RAID/AHCI driver since they have found them to provide the best performance with SSDs (that's with Intel chipsets, of course.)

The SATA mode, whether RAID, AHCI, or even IDE is not chosen or set during the installation of the driver. That is an option in the BIOS. Many mother boards for the Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs and their chipsets, like your H61, have the SATA mode set to AHCI by default in the BIOS. My ASUS P67 board's default SATA mode is AHCI. Most if not all earlier mother boards had the SATA mode set to IDE, and changing it to AHCI and installing the AHCI driver took a little preparation or work to accomplish. Having the default mode of AHCI makes things much easier.

But, I don't know if Intel is doing this with their mother boards. As it seems you've never checked it, you'll need to check it in your BIOS. Your boards manual will tell you how to get into the BIOS and might say which section to check. It's probably in the Advanced section under SATA Mode or Storage.

If it is set to AHCI now, great, just leave it alone. If not, remember what it is set to but don't change it yet, you'll need some instructions on a little fix to make it work correctly. If it's not AHCI, let me know.

Assuming it is set to AHCI, then you currently have the Windows msahci driver loaded, which happened automatically during your Windows installation. It works fine and is good, but if you want that last bit of performance from your SSD, you can install the Intel IRST driver. As well as being required for RAID, it also provides excellent AHCI performance. The main thing AHCI gives you is Native Command Queuing (NCQ), which allows a SSD to perform multiple reads or writes at the same time. IDE mode does not support NCQ, which is why SSD owners need AHCI. The msahci driver provides NCQ, which is why you don't require the Intel IRST driver.

If you download and install IRST, which is easy to do, afterward the driver shown for the Intel 6 Series/C200... SATA AHCI Controller should be "iastor". Frankly, I am not certain what those other two SATA entries are for, and I have them on my PC too.

[idata]

parsec wrote:

...Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs and their chipsets, like your H61, have the SATA mode set to AHCI by default in the BIOS. My ASUS P67 board's default SATA mode is AHCI.

Assuming it is set to AHCI, then you currently have the Windows msahci driver loaded, which happened automatically during your Windows installation...If you download and install IRST, which is easy to do, afterward the driver shown for the Intel 6 Series/C200... SATA AHCI Controller should be "iastor".

Thanks so much for your careful reply! My board's a H67, and indeed the default in BIOS was AHCI. What I *didn't* do, and now you've pointed this out to me, was to look at Driver File Details for the "Intel 6 Series/C200...SATA AHCI Controller". Sure enough, you are right, there are only MS .sys files shown there, especially msahci.sys which is version 6.1.7601.17514 (from W7 SP1).

It's all clear to me now, thanks again. I will indeed try the IRST driver, not so much for performance but for reliability--besides being newer, I trust that Intel uses, and thus has beaten on its own driver more than the MS!

P.S. One more question please, since I've been confused about being offered RAID drivers when I don't want/need RAID. For the DH67GD board I'm being offered Intel Smart Response Technology drivers which afaict are meant for H68 boards? Someone here suggested to me that the RST app had some useful summary data in it. Does it have benefits to my simple layout?

[idata]

I'm glad that helped you. While I'm sure the msahci driver has seen plenty of use and I've never seen complaints about it, IRST certainly has been "beaten on", but occasionally seems to have a glitch with a few users. I've never had a problem with it on multiple PCs.

When you install IRST, a GUI is part of it that provides information about all the drives it is controlling. The GUI is available by default from the "Hidden Icons" on the right side of the task bar and only runs if you double click it's tiny icon in the hidden icons list. When running it looks like this:

This is from one of my PCs, not the one with the 510 in it. This is a slightly older version of IRST for an older platform, but is 95% identical to the one you would use on yours. For non-RAID use, it is occasionally useful to check your drives and verify firmware, etc, if you need to. It's part of IRST that you cannot choose not to install, so you'll have it. But it doesn't pop up all the time and beg for attention, you'd never see it if you never start it. Hmm, I noticed a glitch in it, is lists this drive as not a System disk (OS), but it is.

It would be news to me if Smart Response Technology can be used on anything besides Z68 chipsets/mother boards. You have a DP67GD board, not an DH67GD, correct? What is offering you the SRT driver, the download page for your board?

[idata]

parsec wrote:

You have a DP67GD board, not an DH67GD, correct? What is offering you the SRT driver, the download page for your board?

Mine is the DH67GD, and yes I get that SRT download offered to me when I (ottomh) select Boards, Series 6, DH67GD.

Thanks for all your help. My first computer was an IMSAI 8080 I built from scratch back in 1976, so I'm not stoopid about computers, but frankly Intel's website manages to confuse me almost every time I visit...it's been real tricky IMO to get this board built-and-setup-with-SSD.

[idata]

I checked the download page for the DH67GD, and I had forgotten about the Lucid Virtu software for the H67 chipsets, which is not the same as the Smart Response Technology (SRT) software. Virtu lets you use the integrated graphics processor on Sandy Bridge CPUs and a separate video card. SRT is the SSD and HDD hybridization software, which I did not see on that download page.

Virtu is a great concept, but does not seem to live up to the potential of it's intent. That comment is solely based on reviews I have read about it, I have no personal experience with it. But it's new, and apparently no one else has done this before, it must be difficult to have to selectable graphics processors on a PC. From a layman's view, it would seem pretty straightforward, given all the other technology we have in PCs. Obviously there is something that makes it difficult. I would love to have this capability on my P67 board, particularly the video transcoding ability of the new Intel video processors in these CPUs.

What video are you using, the Intel on-CPU graphics, or a separate video card?