P67A-UD7 / Win7 - Won't See SSD as an SSD

[Gumps]

Hi

I posted this on the Crucial forum, though I don't think this is an SSD issue, since I have two new drives and the behavior is the same.

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I have a new build, that after loading new Win 7 Pro 64, does not seem to see the new C300-CTFDDAC256MAG Real SSD...as an SSD.  I actually have two new C300's, not in RAID, both with Firmware 006 already installed.

i72600K

Gigabyte P67A-UD7 Bios (F8x) at default except:

-- PCH SATA Control Mode [AHCI]

-- SATA Port 0-3 Native Mode [Enabled]

-- GSATA3 Controller [Enabled]

-- GSATA3 Ctrl Mode [AHCI]

The boot SSD is connected to the SATA3 Port 0.

GTX580's / Mushkin Redline 8GB / Noctua D14 / Coolermaster 1200W / Coolermaster HAF X 942 Case etc.

 

My first clue that something was not right, was the Windows Experience Index which rated this drive a 5.9.

From what I could find, in other posts, Prefetch and Superfetch should be off (with a '0' in the registry), and the drives should *not* show up as listed in Disk Defragmentor...and they do.
 
I started over by reinstalling Win7 again, but swapped disks.  Same thing.

I connected the 2nd drive to the Marvell Controller, and it still shows up in Disk Defragmentor.

From what I've read, Win7 is just supposed to be able to see these as SSD's automatically - there's nothing to set.

From what I can tell, Win7 doesn't see these as SSD's as SSD's, and therefore, I'd assume TRIM is not enabled either.

BTW, on the first load, I ran the AS SSD Benchmark, when I had loaded the machine the first time, and I recall that the composite score was 650, which seemed OK.  (??)

I'd sure appreciate any guidance anyone could provide.  I'm just stuck with a very expensive boat anchor at the moment.

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Any help would be much appreciated.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome tot he Gigabyte Forum.

Firstly don't use the Marvell ports because unless they have improved on them since the last incarnation. They don't convey TRIM to the SSDs so you are stuck with using Garbage Collection instead. The Intel SATA3 ports are the ones to use especaillly for the SSDs as they will pass on the TRIM commands to the drives. They are also faster than the Marvell ports.

[Gumps]

Thank you for your reply.  BTW, I only resorted to trying the Marvell ports as a troubleshooting step - the original issue was with the Intel ports.

I got it sorted out in the end.  Perhaps this will help someone else.

For the record, when I was getting my 5.9 WEI score (along with the other telltale signs...Superfetch etc), here was the text at the bottom of the WEI window:

"Caution: Based on the results of the WinSAT Disk assessment, your system drive may have slower responsetimes under some workloads. Performance results will depend on the specific applications used and the amount of memory available. If your experience is satisfactory, no action is needed."

I sure didn't expect to see that on my new build, given that these are supposed to be reasonably fast SSD's.

In the end, I downloaded the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver/applet.  I had already tried it once, and it didn't make any difference.  A second attempt worked - the WEI score is now 7.9.

The Registry still has Superfetch and Prefetch enabled, and the Disk Defragmentor still lists the SSD, but I can disable all of that.  It’s just that when I originally Googled how to find out if TRIM was setup, these were supposed to be the key signs.  Looks like that’s not true all of the time.
BTW, the folks over at the Crucial SSD forum were most helpful.

Here's the link to the intel file, in case someone else needs it:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=19607&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%c2%ae+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel%c2%ae+RST)&lang=eng

[Dark Mantis]

Well glad to hear that you got it sorted out after all. The Intel RST drivers are much better.