GA-X58A-UD7 (rev. 1.0) with SSD low Score

[Tularis]

Hey,

So I just upgraded my HDD to a Crucial C300 SSD (128GB).
But I'm getting the same "Windows Experience Index" score of 5.9

I have the SSD connected to the SATA3 Port and its a SATA3 Disk.
In Device manager I can see the "Intel ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO RAID Controller"
and the "GIGABTE GBB36X Controller"
But I can't see the SATA3 (6Gb/s) controller (Unless it's part of the GBB36x)

I have installed the "Marvell RAID Utility" that gives me the Web Interface where I can see the disk attached.
The Controller is set to AHCI in the BIOS.

Any Ideas ??

[Dark Mantis]

Hi
Well you have got it on the wrong port really. You have it on the Marvell 9128 controller port and you should have it on the Intel ICH10R controlled port. Normally SATA2_0 is favourite. The Intel ports are actually faster than the supposedly SATA3 ports as the Marvell chip was a bit of a let down I am afraid. Also the Marvell chip didn't allow the passing of TRIM commands to the drive whereas the Intel does. In case you are not aware TRIM keeps the drive in good condition and stops its performance degrading.

Set the controller to AHCI and put the optical drive on the Marvell or GSATA ports as IDE mode.

[Tularis]

Dam, That's a big let down.

Odd that a SATA3 Controller is slower then a SATA2 one, seeing as its meant to be 3Gb faster... I can't see how they could have gotten that wrong.

I currently have a RAID5 set on the Intel port.

What about the Other Gigabyte Controller (SATA2) does that support TRIM would that be better then the Marvell one?

[Dark Mantis]

I am not 100% sure if the GSATA port passes the TRIM commands or not to be honest but it is certainly no faster than the Marvell.

There were several of us on the forum here who purchased SATA3 hard drives to RAID0 together on the strentgh of the Marvell hype but never mind now. I have just fitted them to a new Sandy Bridge with Intel SATA3 and that seems to be working better.

If you have a spare port on the Intel you chould stil be able to use port 0 but it might not transfer the TRIM as it doesn't under RAID definitely. If it doesn't then you will have to fall back on Garbage Collection which is very well implimented on  the C300s.

[Tularis]

Hmm Rather disappointing.... Which is  Kinda why I bought to mobo Future Compatible for SATA3 etc...
Odd that it can't be fixed with a driver update.

Seeing as you seem to think the Marvell Chip is rubbish, I will move it to the GSATA2 chip.

Will the Disk work correctly on the Intel Chip with a Raid Set? and Boot Correctly, as I can't pick anything from that in RAID mode in the BIOS on the HDD Boot Option. (I think i'll play arround with that on a Saturday or something)

This is the current setup.

Intel - 5x 750 Seagate ES (RAID5)
Marvell  - SSD C300 (BOOT Win7)
GSATA - 2x 2TB Seagate ES

So not much room to play with.

I've also heard that the Firmware on the C300 allowed for TRIM to work independently of the HDD controller, or perhaps people we confusing that with GC.

EDIT - Moving it to the GSATA2 increased Windows Exp Score to 6.9

[Dark Mantis]

You seem to be getting there anyway.

Yes they are talking about Garbage Collection when they say about it being controller independant.

I am not sure about the RAID and SSD on one controller as it is not something I have ever tried so it is theory only.

[Lsdmeasap]

I believe I posted on your thread at Crucial's forum earlier tonight 

Yes, you can run a single NON-Member disk (Or more than one), on the Intel controller while you also have a RAID array setup.    Just plug your SSD into one of the spare ports and then move the SSD to the top of the hard disk boot priority in the BIOS and you'll be all set.

One thing to note, you MUST enable RAID for the OS first though in the registry.    This applies only to windows 7 or vista.

As you have it setup now, enter the OS and make the following registry changes, then shut down the system and move the SSD to the Intel Controller

Enable switching between all IDE/AHCI/RAID modes by changing "Start" Values in these keys to 0 (Win 7 / Vista ONLY)

Code: [Select]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci\Start
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Pciide\Start 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor[color=blue][b]V[/b][/color]\Start

[Dark Mantis]

Thanks for that info Lsdmeasap as I was correct then, but I was only theorising and it's nice to know that it works in practice also.