new firmware released 02HD - experiences so far?

[idata]

hey all,

so a couple of minutes ago intel released the new firmware. we could collect our experiences right here.

who did already perform the upgrade? who wants to be the first? XD

regards,

xout

[idata]

You have the msahci.sys driver installed--it says that under your AHCI 1.0 Serial Controller--and that is for your SSD. As for your other question, contact Intel.

[idata]

Received my 160GB G2 a few days ago and updated the firmware from 02G9 to 02HD without any problems with the firmware update. Keep in mind, I performed the firmware update on a clean drive with no OS install on it. Here's the results between 02G9 and 02HD with no OS installed, and also compared to 02HD after cloning an image of my current OS install to the 160GB G2.

160GB G2 - 02G9 no OS installed. 0% Capacity Used.

160GB G2 - 02HD no OS installed. 0% Capacity Used.

160GB G2 - 02HD with OS installed. 50% Capacity Used. (75/149GB).

Very happy with my results, you can see my writes increased about 10% with the firmware update from 02G9 to 02HD firmware and did not drop off too bad even after about 50% of the drive was populated with my OS disk image from my 80GB G1 SSD. Also, it should be noted I'm using Intel's Rapid Storage Technology drivers v9.5.0.1037.

I also compared my results for my 80GB G1 at nearly full capacity without any TRIM action taken at any point along with performance after performing a full secure Erase using HDDErase 3.3:

80GB G1 - 8820 with OS installed. 93% Capacity Used (70/75GB)

80GB G1 - 8820 no OS installed after Secure Erase. 0% Capacity Used (0/75GB).

Hope this info helps some of you out there who are on the fence about updating, as you can see my results before/after firmware update are very good and consistent with no real adverse impact from updating while empty or populated as my OS drive. The Firmware update tool also worked fine for me, the hardest part of any of this process, as with any other DOS utility, is creating a bootable USB or CD. After that the utilities worked without issue.

Also as an aside, there were 2 small concerns I had with my retail SSD: 1) The retail serial # doesn't match the one on the drive itself and 2) The bottom of the G2 drives look really beat-up. Almost recycled. I was a bit worried my drive was a refurb or something but I'm guessing its just the housing is perhaps re-used or simply not finished to a finer grit finish and anodized.

[idata]

Calbearz024,

Unfortunately (for your situation) I did not have end-to-end errors before the 02HD firmware update. I only made that statement to assure people that the new firmware, in my case, did not cause the end-to-end errors found by so many after the 'bad' firmware update.

I do not believe that any amount of firmware flashing will resolve your problem with the SMART counters and you will probably have to RMA the disk if you can't abide with them.

[idata]

Hi,

I got my new 160gb X25-M G2 yesterday. I flashed the 02HD firmware and then Installed Windows 7 x64 Ultimate in AHCI mode.

Here are my results:

Do these look ok?

The drive got a WEI of 7.8, compared to 5.9 with my WDC Black 1GB.

Thanks,

Joe.

Specs:

i7 920 @ 2.8ghz

8gb DDR3

Asus Rampage II Gene

160gb X25-M G2 SSD

Message was edited by: joepro

[idata]

That looks fine. The tool specifically made for benchmarking SSD is AS SSD