SSDs - State of the Product?

[sechs]

In theory, any drive which Windows recognises as an SSD gets the special treatment. Keep in mind, however, Windows some times screws up, and, even when it doesn't (which is the vast majority of the time), both the controller driver and the drive firmware must support trim.

 

[LunarMist]

But I think that is only for new data written to drive in Win 7.

 

[Stereodude]

I simply wanted to restore it to normal, but I don't see that happening. I think the memory is going bad or just plain bad.

If you simply want to to be "out of the box" again and don't care about losing the data on it, just use the Sanitary Erase program OCZ has posted.

Guide

Note, you should only run this on OCZ Indilinx based drives.

 

[Bozo]

After reading this, looks like spinning disk will be around for a while yet.

 

[LunarMist]

I have more faith in the enterprise grade SSDs. Presumably they are designed for more write cycles and have more reserved space. Likewise larger drives are theoretically more reliable with respect to wear. By the time 1TB SSDs are inexpensive, the wear factor my not be such an issue. 3000 writes is 3000TB for example.

 

[LunarMist]

If you simply want to to be "out of the box" again and don't care about losing the data on it, just use the Sanitary Erase program OCZ has posted.

Guide

Note, you should only run this on OCZ Indilinx based drives.

Thanks. That one finally worked. However, the drives goes south after about 15-25 writes. Even after one write, the graph drops.

 

[LunarMist]

It looks this after one write.

 

[ddrueding]

Wow. I've never re-benched the things, or kept the original data for comparison. Where does it settle out to?

 

[LunarMist]

Did you see the post here? That was after an unknown period of use, maybe 25-50times. The actual performance is much worse than STR indicates. It was slower than an old 200GB 5400 RPM notebook drive for example.

 

[Stereodude]

Did you align it?

 

[LunarMist]

No, I only align the advancing format drives.

 

[Stereodude]

You should align a SSD for use under Windows XP.

Since it's an Indilinx drive you should align it to fall on a 512k boundary.

 

[LunarMist]

Bleh. It's not worth doing a hundred times. rofleft:

 

[Stereodude]

It's really easy to align (assuming it's a single partition drive). Use Diskpar.exe and set the offset to 1024 512byte sectors.

 

[time]

It looks this after one write.

I believe that is normal behaviour for Indilinx-based drives. A single pass of a write benchmark test will degrade performance. You see some of this effect with all SDDs, the least-affected are supposed to be the Sandforce-based models.

This is why Anandtech recommended people stick with Sandforce drives if not using an OS that supports Trim.

 

[time]

Please see this blurb to explain the importance of aligning SSDs (other than Sandforce). As they say, this tool is bundled with their flagship products; I just managed to score a copy with a trial download of Partition Manager Pro (hint, hint).

With regard to normal partitioning, I've seen a recommendation to set the offset to 1MB (2048 x 512B sectors) to cater for all contingencies, eg VMware.

 

[LunarMist]

I believe that is normal behaviour for Indilinx-based drives. A single pass of a write benchmark test will degrade performance. You see some of this effect with all SDDs, the least-affected are supposed to be the Sandforce-based models.

This is why Anandtech recommended people stick with Sandforce drives if not using an OS that supports Trim.

Look at their website. Is it any wonder? :roll:

 

[Stereodude]

Windows 7 (and Vista apparently) automatically place the start and end of partitions on 1MiB boundaries. Windows XP places the start and end of partitions on cylinder boundaries. You can adjust the alignment of partitions with a Gparted LiveCD for free.

 

[LunarMist]

I'll think about it next year.

Meanwhile there is another problem. My disk is too thin. When inserted into the slot it rotates and gets stuck before going all the way.

 

[ddrueding]

Meanwhile there is another problem. My disk is too thin. When inserted into the slot it rotates and gets stuck before going all the way.

There's a pill for that. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

[LunarMist]

:rotfl:

 

[LunarMist]

Does anyone else have that problem or do you mount 2.5" disks permanently? I don't want to remove any screws and void the warranty.

 

[ddrueding]

What are you mounting 2.5" disks into? What thickness of drive is expected? What drive are you using?

 

[LunarMist]

I'm attempting to use a X25-M G2 in a Kingpin 3.5" dual-drive, trayless rack thingie. It eventually fits with a lot of jiggling, but something will give out at this rate.

 

[ddrueding]

I just eyeball them. Keeping the drive against the back rail, and "feeling" it in. I don't think I'm busting it up too badly; of course, anything plugged/unplugged enough times will break.

 

[sechs]

But I think that is only for new data written to drive in Win 7.

Actually, trim is issued on delete.

If you didn't partition and format the drive with Windows 7, it may not recognize the drive as an SSD.

 

[Mercutio]

Well, I had a 240GB Vertex II. For about four days. Guess I'll be seeing the replacement round about spring.

Fuck you OCZ. Fuck you in the neck.

 

[CougTek]

Don't tell me that. I bought a 120GB Vertex 2 for a customer yesterday. I've learn to despise their memory modules, now you tell me that their drives are also troublemakers.

 

[ddrueding]

Still crossing my fingers. Dozens in place everywhere, including servers, without any failures.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm two for four so far. One for maybe 30 Intel drives.

 

[time]

Do you guys have any in RAID 5/6? I'm wary about a controller dragging down performance too much.

 

[ddrueding]

Nope. Just RAID0.

 

[LiamC]

I've never trusted OCZ since they first appeared on the market. OCZ always appeared big on hype but their after market support (as evidenced by complaints in threads) was at best abysmal. Personally, I don't care how hip you think you are, or how flashy your branding, it's how you support your product that counts. But that is an intangible that can't be quantified on Anandtech...

I too have seen far to many failure reports for OCZ SSD drives using any controller.

 

[LunarMist]

OCZ is a disgusting name and they have no professional support that I can see.

 

[Handruin]

Well, I had a 240GB Vertex II. For about four days. Guess I'll be seeing the replacement round about spring.

Fuck you OCZ. Fuck you in the neck.

If you had to pick between another OCZ or a brand new WD hard drive...which would you pick?

 

[Buck]

If you had to pick between another OCZ or a brand new WD hard drive...which would you pick?

Intel?

 

[Handruin]

I meant it more to tease Mercutio due to his hatred for WD drives.

I would like to try the Intel drive some day. I hear all the cool kids are using them. I still haven't gotten around to spending the cash on one. There always seems to be something else needing more attention.

 

[Buck]

I meant it more to tease Mercutio due to his hatred for WD drives.

Yeah, I know, and a good tease it is for Merc. I use WD drives, so it's no problem for me. The Intel G2 drives I've used/sold just keep on working. But yes, SSD is expensive. The price needs to be cut in half, and a PATA range from 120GB to 320GB compatible with older controllers are much needed for the plethora of older laptops constricted by old, slow HDDs.

 

[LunarMist]

I'd use a thoroughly tested WD drive in that case.

 

[Handruin]

I don't have any issue with WD either. I have one of their drives in my main machine now (WD Raptor 300GB). That's about the right size I need/want for a boot drive, but to get that in an SSD would be 2-3 times the cost of my Raptor.