wowdoggy954 Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Hello friends. I recently bought a Zalman 128N SSD (actually I have two now) and at first I was so impressed with the speed but when it comes to actual numbers I'm not so sure. Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P motherboard | AMD X4 965 CPU | Gigabyte HD6850 GPU | Corsair XMS3 1333 MHz RAM 4 x 2GB | Hydro H50 P/P CPU Cooler | Xion 1000W PSU I am getting the following numbers using CrystalDiskMark 3.0 with 1000MB test size: One SSD Read MB/s Write MB/s Seq 122.7 84.56 512K 120.1 81.87 4K 18.71 55.16 4K QD32 20.28 66.27 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two SSD Seq 123.0 111.9 in Raid 0 512K 120.7 108.8 4K 19.16 13.53 4K QD32 20.38 14.17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Seagate Seq 88.65 62.15 Barracuda 512K 27.66 44.17 4k 0.342 0.765 4K QD32 0.500 0.793 1.5TB Now I've seen test results done on Intel-based chipsets with seq. read speeds of around 250 MB/s. http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/zalman_s_series_128gb/7.htm And the above link is for the slower 128 S drive. Is it possible that the throughput of the AMD chipset is half of Intel chipset? I've tried running in both Native IDE as well as AHCI and the numbers are basically identical. I'm choosing to leave my SATA controller as IDE because the boot time with all my drives in AHCI is pathetically slow. My single SSD was almost similar to two in Raid 0 and even outperformed the Raid in some tests but is only reading at half of what it should be. Any ideas people? Edited January 9, 2011 by wowdoggy954 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel.monteiro Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 Disable cache and see if it increases the performance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowdoggy954 Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I'm just listing sequential speeds here (1000MB test size): Enable write caching (checked) Turn off write-cache buffer flushing (checked) 119.7 MB/s read, 83.81 MB/s write Enable write caching (checked) Turn off write-cache buffer flushing (unchecked) 120.1 MB/s read, 86.13 MB/s write Enable write caching (unchecked) Turn off write-cache buffer flushing (unchecked) 119.6 MB/s read, 89.35 MB/s write I have read that improper drivers can cause low read speeds. All the drivers I have are directly from Gigabyte's site, freshly downloaded on a fresh install of Windows. There is no support (seriously) from Zalman's website. In fact, there is no mention of SSD's on their website. Edited January 9, 2011 by wowdoggy954 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
potatochobit Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 are you using windows XP or windows 7? was this a brand new drive or was it used and it should never have been formatted, you didn't format the clean disk when you installed did you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1e1v1i1n Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 I jusst tested mine I was around 220-230ish 120 means u need to fix something. I only hAVE 1 X 64 GIG Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowdoggy954 Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 I am using Windows 7 x64. Both of my SSD's are brand new. I did not format them. The guy with the 64 GB drive - is yours by chance connected to a motherboard that uses an Intel chipset? I have a feeling this has something to do with the AMD chipset. I have read that incorrect drivers can really impact performance. I just wiped both drives with CCCleaner and did a fresh install of Windows (on one only). I have downloaded the most current drivers for my motherboard from Gigabyte. You say I need to do something. No kidding, but what? I wonder if there's something wrong with my motherboard. Maybe instead of connecting the drive to the GSATA2 connector I should try the SB750 chipset. I'm still open to any suggestions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalPreist Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 I am using Windows 7 x64. Both of my SSD's are brand new. I did not format them. The guy with the 64 GB drive - is yours by chance connected to a motherboard that uses an Intel chipset? I have a feeling this has something to do with the AMD chipset. I have read that incorrect drivers can really impact performance. I just wiped both drives with CCCleaner and did a fresh install of Windows (on one only). I have downloaded the most current drivers for my motherboard from Gigabyte. You say I need to do something. No kidding, but what? I wonder if there's something wrong with my motherboard. Maybe instead of connecting the drive to the GSATA2 connector I should try the SB750 chipset. I'm still open to any suggestions. Do you have AHCI enabled in the bios? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1e1v1i1n Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 i'm using a nvidia chipset. intel dosent play nice with amd lol. i'm thinking it isnt your chipset as much as how you set it up but i could be wrong but now that i have tested mine i want it to do better. i should have got the revo card. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowdoggy954 Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 I enabled AHCI mode for the GSATA2 controller. I just finished yet another fresh install of Windows on my SSD. I installed the AHCI pre-install driver before the OS, just like my motherboard manual says. I installed all the Windows updates and ran CrystalDiskMark again. My sequential read speed is still 119.4 MB/s. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowdoggy954 Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Okay, got it figured out. Installing the OS on the SB750 controller in AHCI mode yielded a read speed of 202 MB/s - quite an improvement over the Gigabyte controller. Unfortunately I cannot run both of my SSD's in RAID0 on the GA-MA790FXT-UD5P motherboard unless I want a 40% decrease in performance. Whatever. The Microsoft Corporation loading bar makes but ONE pass before it boots - YEEHAW! Now I've got a few questions for Gigabyte tech support. I thank you all very much for your input. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1e1v1i1n Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 i wonder why ur not hitting 220-230 like me i cant see any reason mine would be faster but still 200 is better then 120 good job. i guess theres not much help here as there are so many choices and no one has the zalman stuff yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wevsspot Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Wow - disable all power saving features in your BIOS and rerun the test and let me know the results. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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