Enron x86 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) OK guys, here's the deal. I have a DFI Lanparty UT NF4 SLI-DR Expert (socket 939). The board has two SATA controllers, one from NVIDIA (nforce4 - SATA2) and one from SiliconImage (SI3114 - SATA1). Today, my Samsung 830 64GB SSD arrived. I plugged it into the NF4 storage controller, since it's the fastest of the two. However, the drive was not detected in BIOS and during POST. When I booted into Windows (off my HDD), it got detected. Also, when attempting to do a fresh install of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, there was a yellow exclamation mark under the SSD, saying that "Windows can not be installed here, as this drive is not bootable". I then went into BIOS and enabled RAID-mode on the nForce4 storage controller, rebooted, pressed F10 and created a RAID-array (STRIPE) with just the SSD in it. The drive then bacame bootable and Windows installed just fine. However, CrystalDiskMark showed some underwhelming results - sequential read speed was about 120 MB/s, sequential write was about 104 MB/s. Anyway, I was just wondering if someone knows of a way to run the SSD natively (without RAID) and whether my current configuration is bad for the SSD. Also, Samsung SSD Magician reports that I'm not running in AHCI. Could that be the reason for the poor read/write results? EDIT: Just found out that in Windows 8, the "msahci" service is replaced by "storeahci". That could be why SSD Magician reports that AHCI is not running. Edited September 10, 2012 by Enron x86 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black64 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 Your motherboard is very old, 5 years+, so that would be my guess, that it is not able to support SSD's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enron x86 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 Hey Black64, it actually functions fine. It's just that SATA2 should enable higher speeds (up to 300 MB/s) - my SSD's declared read speed is over 500 MB/s, SATA2 (theoretically) limits that to 300 MB/s. I guess I'd be pleased with 200 MB/s or so. Also, I was wondering if anyone managed to boot an SSD on a nforce4 motherboard without putting it in RAID. I've actually never used RAID before and am clueless, whether using the SSD in RAID-STRIPE mode will have any adverse effects. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonerboy779 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 You can't create a RAID array with a single drive so I don't know what you did in your BIOS. Try clearing CMOS and then test again with all settings default. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enron x86 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 @Stonerboy779, apparently you can. I was just reading it on the HardForum; this guy tried it and failed, but I somehow managed to do it. That is exactly what worries me, though. It should work without such "hacks". I'll try a few other things first, before clearing the CMOS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 Is there no IDE mode in the BIOS or is that the mode that keeps it from bbeing bootable? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enron x86 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) Hooray, success! Here's what it looked like before: NF4_SATA_PHY1: HDD NF4_SATA_PHY2: / NF4_SATA_PHY3: SAMSUNG SSD (not detected, not bootable) NF4_SATA_PHY4: DVD+-RW Switched some cables: NF4_SATA_PHY1: HDD NF4_SATA_PHY2: / NF4_SATA_PHY3: DVD+-RW NF4_SATA_PHY4: SAMSUNG SSD - fully detected and bootable! So, that takes care of the nasty single-drive-in-RAID business. Stonerboy779, I guess you were right, my CMOS is messed up, but I just don't feel like clearing it up today:) I'm almost completely satisfied now, only - does anyone have an idea, why my sequential read/write speeds are so low (checked it now; read:138 MB/s, write: 104 MB/s)? Will try the SIl3114 controller and see what the speeds are there. EDIT: Meh, the SIl3114 scores are even more pathetic - read 93 MB/s, write 62 MB/s. I guess I'll just have to work with what I've got, then. Thanks guys. Edited September 10, 2012 by Enron x86 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d6bmg Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 ^^ What you have got with your board, you should be satisfied IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enron x86 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 ^^ What you have got with your board, you should be satisfied IMO. I am. It's not about sequential speeds anyway, it's the latency that matters. Still, though - the storage controller is operating at less than 50% of what it should be. I guees at the time these boards were made nobody thought such speeds will ever be reached, lazy DFI bums ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 These numbers are from Windows 8? What do you get in Windows 7 with the nforce sata driver installed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enron x86 Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 These numbers are from Windows 8? What do you get in Windows 7 with the nforce sata driver installed? Don't have Windows 7, but there is a bootable copy of Windows XP on one of my HDDs. Should I run CrystalBenchmark from there? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted September 10, 2012 Posted September 10, 2012 I'm curious (like Waco) about the performance when running the setup with Windows 7. Unfortunately the DFI BIOS doesn't allow you to select AHCI mode (as far as I can remember). You can choose between IDE / SATA / RAID. Options for configuring the SATA controller is limited (basically enabled or disabled) or using the RAID function. When Oscar and the other DFI engineers were designing those old NF4 boards no one took into account that SSDs would eventually be affordable for the masses. Any performance you might be able to squeeze out of it will be limited to using the right NF4 driver. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now