SSD, is this the best I can expect.

[Tinker]

My first new SSD arrived today ( a day early) OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS,120GB. Reads 112GB

Only need a single plug in drive. Plugging in my Master win 7 x64 & SSD in 2nd slot encased
to 3.5" cloned with Acronis True Image. Saved formatting & was quite quick to do.
My Windows experience now is 7.5,7.6,7.4,7.4,drive 7.9 so best is lowest 7.4.

Originally before I purchased the new board GA-X58A-UD3R I purchased a Manhatten 6GB/s
PCI express card. Usual rubbish Marvell chip which at the time totally unaware of problems.
Though is quick to boot. Using ATTO drive test software am getting the following results.

At 32.0 mark read/write is fairly equal & about 275mb/s. from there the read takes over. Scores
from 64.0 mark the write stays just below 300mb/s but the read is mainly 425 mb/s.
Plugged drive in Intel bay & scores were way below. I know the Highpoint card is praised but not
sure if I will improve on speed plus the long bootup time. I now find Startech & Xenta  make add
on cards but all Marvell chips. Is it worth trying different cards now or are the scores about the best
I can expect from non raid ? Can't find any tests on other cards.

Still some tests to be done on disk drives as not running in AHCI mode, nor have I added the
Marvell driver as not sure if that only affects the onbord chip which is disabled & not connected so redundnant.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

It will make a big difference to your SATA3 SSD when it is running in AHCI mode with NCQ etc. You are not going to get massive writes because it is only a fairly small drive but both read and writes should increase. The WEI scores are coming along now, my lowest is now 7.8 and I couldn't get it quite up with the rest(CPU i5 2500K@4.2)

[Tinker]

Thanks for the reply Dark Mantis. I have the i7 950 which is 3.06. I notice you don't have the same
setup as your written spec as that is Intel i7 920 so you've changed MOBO ?

One thing I noticed on OCZ Revo information that they recomended the bottom PCI Express slot x8.
Have my card in 2nd x16 slot at present. 2nd PCI slot x8 on mine is hidden the HD 5770 silent cell ATI
takes up 2 bays. That is reference to this MOBO & Revo. Just wondered if worth trying my Manhatten
card in bottom PCI slot.

Will do all my testing with WD 6GB/s standard drives before messing with SSD. Have found that on
a fresh install get fairly constant readings IE, even read & write speeds. Once different drivers are
tested the readings become eratic & sometimes lower. Have read that the Win 7 drivers are better
though have latest Marvell drivers to try in regards to add on card.

I did see the overall test scores were better on the Vertex 240gb SSD. Perhaps I should have gone the extra
mile but expensive, VAT doesn't help.

One concern on this MOBO is USB. Very slow yet OK on 32 bit. Another puzzle to be sorted. So really have to
decide if worth trying a different add on card. Would be interested to know what your WEI is on Revo.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

No my main system that I use for everyday tasks is still the X58A-UD7 with the i7-920 CPU but I have another system that I use for my reviewing, testing, etc that runs on a P67A-UD5 and i5-2500K CPU. These components are always getting swapped around and altered.

My Revo is in my review system at the moment and tests out to a very healthy 7.9 as does everything else apart form the CPU which is 7.6, I can't remember what it scored in my X58 machine but I think it was the same, 7.9

To be honest I don't hold much store in this WEI but it is useful as a general comparison tool.

[Tinker]

Thanks for the clarification Dark Mantis As we are both getting the 7.9 score for drive seems the PCI Express
card I'm using is good enough for now.

Am somewhat disillusioned with PC industry in general. M/boards are slapped out without being properly tested
plus the amount of faulty goods. As usual the customer has to pay. Intel don't help if correct by changing CPU
sockets making expensive CPUs non reusable for board updates. If correct OCZ had their wrists slapped over
mixing chips & some inferior ones to cut costs on SSD drives. Though SSD is impressive both in performance
& silent which is a big bonus. We just need larger sizes at affordable prices.

It does appear this MOBO has USB issues. For one if you plug in USB stick it often knocks out my temporary
Keybord/mouse usb stick being used to test PC. The USB speed is poor. On a fresh install USB appears to
be ok without USB 3 drivers. Have been using latest drivers on new install. Is this another Gigabyte botch up
or driver conflict !!!!!May well scrap the USB 3 as need a fast USB 2. If not resolved will try a new thread
on issue. Also have to pin down if x64 or same on x32. Thanks for your time & help.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Tinker

This industry is, and always has been, the same when it comes to pushing things out of the gate without the required amount of testing. Because of the rapid speed of innovation all manufacturers are trying to get their product on the street before the next company and that invites cutting corners. I don't think any one firm is better or worse than the others when it comes to this practice as they all seem to do the same thing. I do agree however that it is always the customer that ends up paying for it and often with a bum product that fails to live up to the manufacturer's expanded hype.

Gigabyte does seem to have an issue with their motherboard's support of USB for a long time now. I have never known a series of motherboards that seem to have such a problem even seeing many USB drives. It might be just down to BIOS support but it has been going on for some while. I am surprised that it hasn't been approached. Only a minor thing I know but it can be annoying if you are trying to boot from a USB drive.

[Tinker]

Thanks again for reply Dark Mantis. Very tempted to send this MOBO back under the trades descrption act
& ask for refund.

So it's nothing I've done. After a fresh install had in part been loading drivers from different USB sticks
without a problem. It could be the USB 3 driver though have used latest. I have dld latest drivers so not
used Disk. Also been using Driver Genius for latest ones. Connected to net went into device manager.Ran
down USB controllers to see if any drivers could be updated. Have Akasa multi card reader/usb/ fan controller
& drivers for that were updated. Was then horrified to get a window come up telling me to change lead
to high speed USB 2.0 device plus a list of unused ports. It's a long time since I've seen that message.
Leads are connected to onboard connectors. This is all on Win7 x64. My Win7 32 bit drive has all win
updates on but no USB 3 drivers & USB seems ok. When I plug in USB stick it sits there then eventually
loads window comes up to click on but can be blank then finally loads. Only looking at 1.5 gb. It's virtually
instant using sticks on older Gigabtye. Also if using SSD when I use USB disconnect tab see the SSD drive
in box.
Don't like being beaten but no problems on earlier board I RMA'd apart from memory slot. I use USB network
that also has one removable drive used for media so can be quite large. Don't want to move to my NAS network
storage.
Am at a temporary loss do I get rid or put a hammer through it !!!! Probably a waste of time writing to tech dept.


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Right Tinker firstly I wasn't bemoaning all of Gigabyte's USB ports merely saying that there is a small issue that needs addressing. I was just using it as an example and I don't think it has anything to do with the USB3.0 though.

I think a lot of your problems with it stem from your use of a USB hub. These can often give problems and it is far better to connect directly with the ports on the back of the motherboard. Even a front panel port can cause problems where a rear one will be fine.

The seeing the SSD as a removeable device is easilly fixed by altering a line in the registry. Lots of drives are picked up like that.

Try moving your USB connections and let us know how you get on.

[Tinker]

Thanks again for reply DM. I only wish I had got as far as using USB hub !!! My PC is still on my "Test Desk" which has a
Monitor & network access to net.

My last try, have disconnected card reader which may be from Vista era from MOBO onboard connector. No problem
on last board with Win 7. Didn't like the drivers that got updated via net, though have Win 7 drivers for it. USB 3
has been disabled in bios. Just formatted a drive, wiped mbr with fdisk then with fdisk knocked out boot partition
& main partition. Often do full security wipe to avoid any wiped progs interacting which I have had happen.

Have just got as far as initial install & USB stick loaded immediately. This board is a hash up with USB 3. I know I
can load all of Win 7 updates, (apart from ATI driver) IE9 + SP1 which I already have. USB works ok to that point.

Will have to check USB after each driver install  plus any progs but will not load USB 3 drivers. Normally on initial
software install use NOD 32, Foxit reader, both fast, WinRar, NFO reader, Acronis True Image, TuneUp Utilities &
East-Tec Eraser. Just gone back to using Spybot search & destroy though not been loaded on problem drives yet.
Something on this board causes USB to work at snails pace. The only USB attachment have used on MOBO was a
drive docking station to clone drive & was way slower than normal. Cloned SSD via 2 drives bays & was fast.
That now will have to be wiped. As for the drive being shown forgot was using add on card bay. All installs have
been done via single Intel port. As for front USB have a cable running through PC from lower Fan controller which I
insert directly into rear socket. This is more than a small issue that needs addressing & is the worst board I've come
across for faults, so why hasn't it been sorted. No disrespect to you. Have no boot up errors & rest of OS is ok.

Until recently have used cut down Win XP that was fast & would never use Vista though been messing with Win7
since beta days.
So tomorrow will either sort it or bin it !!


Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Tinker

Sorry for the misunderstanding there.

As for front USB have a cable running through PC from lower Fan controller which I insert directly into rear socket.

Even that has been known to create problems in some cases so it might be an idea just to use the rear ports directly.

Beyond that I am afraid I am also at a loss as to explain your problems. I can only suggest an RMA and replace the board. Contact your retailer and if necessary point them to this thread.

[Tinker]

Problem part solved.

Thanks for the reply DM. I had already been caught out with card reader ports on one brand of USB so added an
extra lead to rear socket as had unused inputs on 3.5" Fan controller during initial build. For the record had same
problem on all USB ports. After reading some bad reports on MOBO about USB thought it might be USB 3 conflict.

HOWEVER Think at least I have solved part of problem. Being methodical when problems arise did initial
install, loaded SP1, IE9, no graphic drivers, as that causes minor probs with ATI. Then about 7 a time installed all updates.
USB ok but USB 3 disabled. Then decided to load Acronis True Image, latest ver & do a 2nd clone. Glad I did. That is the
culprit USB was back to a crawl. Had used that version on previous MOBO without any problems. Just installed an
earlier ver & seems OK so just done a test clone. Still have to experiment with USB 3 but so long as I have normal speed
USB 2 then not too bothered. Need to find out why I had old swop USB message as this board could be better designed.
Shouldn't knock out one USB when another is inserted unless it was Acronis. More later on USB3 tests.
Once again thanks for your continued help & support.

Regards tinker.

[Dark Mantis]

Oh well at least all the constant effort has started to pay dividends by the looks of things. It is funny what can cause these faults at times. Often not what you would think of at all.

[Tinker]

Well, as first suspected this MOBO is a badly designed piece of junk. I have finally got it working at full
speed on USB 2 after trashing 2 cloned drives. Had to test USB after any software install & only loaded
with basic requirements as yet. Reconnected card reader & appeared to install driver ok.

USB 3 is now disabled, no USB 3 drivers installed. I can now plug in a selection of USB sticks without
knocking out my USB keybord/mouse.

Marvell ports disabled & not connected. No driver & leaving error in device manager. Express card
gives better overall test score without driver. Once I tested drivers plus USB found drive speeds
dropped. System restore didn't help & once botched you could not get back to original drive scores.

My earlier Gigabyte board without the add ons, SATA 3, USB 3 was a doddle to program, had it not been for
the memory fault worked well. Still waiting for that to be returned from RMA.

Still undecided whether to bin this one but put a lot of hrs sorting it.


Regards tinker.                                                       

[Dark Mantis]

Yes it is a dilemma, whether to cut your losses or keep with it now that you have invested a lot of work in getting it to this stage. Anyway best of luck with whichever way you decide to go.