SSD Drive Upgrade

Matt

My laptop is getting a bit slow in it's old age, but still does what I need it to do. So, I've bit the bullet and ordered a 128GB SSD Drive from Crucial, as I've read that most systems see a significant performance increase with an SSD drive installed.

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=CT128V4SSD2

MikeS

got an ocz vertex 2e in my toshiba r630-13r

8 hours battery life and it boots up and shuts down in 10 seconds

Sjdickso

You won't be disappointed SSD is the way forward, put one in my system about a month ago and would not go back to a spiny drive now.

Lucky_strike82

Just a little story from Work. Filling a Database Table with a couple of hundred thousand data sets on a SATA2-HDD 7 hours, after change to a Kingston Hyper X SSD --> about 30 minutes 😉

Matt

SSD drive is in and running. Windows 7 installed while at work, so I just need to get home and update so I can get all the driver updates, and should be good to go :happy:

Matt

Windows Update in progress

MikeS

google a program called atto

best tool for ssd benchmark

got ocz agility 3 x2 raid 0 on my main rig for gaming - get 1000MB/s

shit quick

Sjdickso

Will have a look at the program as I have been looking for a decent disk benchmark program.

Matt

MikeS said:
google a program called atto

best tool for ssd benchmark

Cheers Mike, will have a look at that when I get home tonight.

Matt

Been using the laptop for a week now with the new SSD drive in it, and it's made a huge difference. Given I bought the laptop 5 years ago in October, it now feels quicker than my 2 year old IBM Thinkpad I have for work.

Wiswion

i did the upgrade a bout a month ago for a Mushkin 120gb chronos S-ATA 3
and boot time from power button pressed to fully operational, under a min
before... over 5 minutes
as for hdd benchmark i'm using HD Tune
http://www.hdtune.com/

Matt

Bit the bullet and ordered a 256GB Crucial M4 (7mm) for the Ultrabook. Should be here tomorrow. (y)

Matt

It's in and working (y)

Matt

Have just ran the ATTO benchmark test, and I'm getting 280MB/s write, 535MB/s read.

Matt

Some messing about to do this evening:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds

Sjdickso

Happy days, is this the primary drive?

Matt

Sjdickso said:
Happy days, is this the primary drive?

Yes it is Si.

MikeS

yeh alignment is crucial

i got paragon alignment tool

Matt

Updated the firmware on the SSD today. First time I've done anything like this. Went really smooth with no issues though

Firmware Release Notes
Firmware for the m4 SSD is being updated from version 010G to 040H.
Firmware 040H is recommended for anyone currently running 010G or previous firmware releases. It includes incremental improvements and refinements over these versions which may improve the overall user experience. Like firmware version 010G, version 040H has improvements over versions 000F and earlier which are specific for Windows 8 and new UltraBook systems, although systems running Windows 7 and other operating systems may also see improvements. Any m4 firmware version will function normally in Windows 8, even without these performance improvements.
The following is a summary of changes between 010G and 040H, which are independent of operating system:

Improved robustness in the event of an unexpected power loss.* Significantly reduces the incidence of long reboot times after an unexpected power loss.
Corrected minor status reporting error during SMART Drive Self Test execution (does not affect SMARTattribute data).
Streamlined firmware update command for smoother operation in Windows 8.
Improved wear leveling algorithms to improve data throughput when foreground wear leveling is required.
An “unexpected power loss” is an event where a power loss occurs and is not preceded by an ATA STANDBY IMMEDIATE or similar command. STANDBY IMMEDIATE is a system-level command which alerts the storage device to an impending loss of power, or entry into low power modes like SLEEP and HIBERNATE. STANDBY IMMEDIATE
is frequently not sent in a power loss event such as an unexpected loss of power connection, an expired battery, or holding down the power button for 4 seconds or longer. Although the new firmware significantly reduces the risk, unexpected power loss events such as these could result in a longer than normal reboot on the next power up.
On the other hand, a standard shutdown in a Windows or Mac OS system will send the STANDBY IMMEDIATE command before shutting off power, allowing a clean start up when power is restored

Matt

http://ssd-life.com/eng/download-ssdlife.html