Reinstall and switch to AHCI made it SLOW (160GB Gen2)

[idata]

I have a strange problem.

I've installed my new Intel 160GB Gen2 SSD on IDE setup board. Installed Windows 7 64 Ultimate, patched to latest win update and installed Intel SSD Drive Toolbox. Running Optimizer then took like 1 minute. Boot up was so fast that windows logo couldn't even show to the end but would end on those circles coming together.

Then I've read I should be running AHCI, and not IDE.

I've reinstalled, reset to AHCI and now:

- my boot takes double

- SSD Toolbox Optimizer takes more than 15 minutes

- My AS SSD Bench and Crystal show sub-optimal performance:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/1822/asssdbenchintelssdsa2m1b.png

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8806/58623050.jpg

My boot and shut down times are considerably slower...

[idata]

Do you have write-caching enabled? If not, enable it--your 4K read and write speeds are too low as shown in AS SSD.

You don't need to run Optimizer with Windows 7 and msahci driver. Still, it shouldn't take that long if you did run it. Delete old system restore points and see if that makes a difference. Remember, no need to run Optimizer with Windows 7 and msahci driver.

Running AHCI does slow boot time a bit.

[idata]

I have reinstalled my whole system in AHCI. Boot is still noticably slower than before on IDE, but Intel Optimizer runs under a minute now which is great and looks like it's fine now. I do have write-cache ON now, but

"Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device" is unchecked like here:

Should I enable that 2nd checkbox? I'm running on an UPS so no problem with power there...

From what I've read, running Optimizer does not harm disk in any way and is a good thing after a lot of r/w activity. Still Win7 with msahci driver should do it automatically, right?

Still, my performance is sub optimal:

--------------------------------------------------

CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo

Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/

--------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read : 256.627 MB/s

Sequential Write : 111.954 MB/s

Random Read 512KB : 201.884 MB/s

Random Write 512KB : 111.770 MB/s

Random Read 4KB : 18.986 MB/s

Random Write 4KB : 46.017 MB/s

Test Size : 50 MB

Date : 2010/03/15 1:11:17

--------------------------------------------------CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/-------------------------------------------------- Sequential Read : 256.794 MB/s Sequential Write : 111.517 MB/sRandom Read 512KB : 200.443 MB/sRandom Write 512KB : 111.954 MB/s Random Read 4KB : 18.876 MB/s Random Write 4KB : 41.901 MB/s Test Size : 100 MB Date : 2010/03/15 1:15:30These are my Velociraptor 300HLFS results:--------------------------------------------------CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/-------------------------------------------------- Sequential Read : 116.490 MB/s Sequential Write : 122.593 MB/sRandom Read 512KB : 61.924 MB/sRandom Write 512KB : 92.216 MB/s Random Read 4KB : 1.023 MB/s Random Write 4KB : 2.966 MB/s Test Size : 50 MB Date : 2010/03/15 1:19:37And this is my AA SSD test:http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3329/asssdbenchintelssdsa2m1.pngIt is still better than this referent image for 80GB edition:

but I've seen better results with 160GB G2, results that for 4K go up to 25/65 instead of 16-20 and 45-60 for my drive.

I'd also like to ask:

If I raid my two drives (2x 160GB G2) I know I will loose native Win7 TRIM trough msahci driver, but will Intel SSD Toolbox optimizer still work?

It seems very nice idea to pair 2 of these into RAID0.

Also I'd like to keep my 2x Velociraptors 300HLFS into RAID0 for sequential stuff and I'm interested if TRIM will be available on the SSD on the same (ASUS Rampage 2 Extreme with ICH10R) controller if VR RAID is configured from BIOS.

[idata]

Yes, you can place a check mark in the write-cache buffer flushing device because you have a UPS.

Yes, using AHCI in Windows 7 with msahci will do TRIM automatically without need for Optimizer.

Yes, your 4K Read and Write speeds are lower than they should be. The Read speed is just a tiny bit off as you should get 19-21 MB/s. The Write speed should be at least 40 MB/s.

The Intel Optimizer does not work in a RAID environment. You would need to tear down the array and run Optimizer and then rebuild your array--and it is not worth the trouble in my opinion. Don't get too hung up on benchmark results. The horror stories of people using RAID is all over the Internet. What are you doing that seems slow? What I mean is, why do you think RAID is needed? Do you frequently write very large files?

RAID0 seems like a waste to me. Where is your backup in case of disaster? You can kill two drives in RAID1 if a virus, etc gets in. I find it better to have one 160GB SSD as main drive and another 160GB SSD as backup with periodically creating a system image. But, I am quite satisfied with the speed of my SSD.

I think the priority here is to improve your 4K Read and Write speeds.

As I said earlier, boot time is a bit slower in AHCI, so that is to be expected. You have an "extra" screen loading with AHCI. Depending on your BIOS, that extra screen loading time can vary. I updated my BIOS and it sped-up the boot time.

Do you have System Restore on?

[idata]

By the way, AS SSD benchmark results can vary a bit. I will show you what I just got running the latest version of AS SSD with and without the English folder on two different 160GB SSDs: