my new G.Skill Falcon SSD - Page 3

polonyc2 · 08-16-2009, 01:48 AM

I decided to install firmware 1571 instead of waiting for G.Skill to release the new firmware...benchmark results show some nice improvement (especially in the 'Write' tests)...this is one really fast drive

EDIT: My Windows Experience Index Hard Disk score even went up from 7.0 to 7.2 with the new firmware

**CrowdAds** · [Remove Advertisement]

Griff · 08-16-2009, 07:57 AM

Glad you are liking the drives.

fvbounty · 08-16-2009, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I ran that boot test a few times just to make sure it was not a fluke result...each time I ran it, it always remained in the 14 second range (from 14.0-14.8 seconds)

Those are great times, I'm hooked, how just have to wait.....

Sir Skully · 08-16-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I ran that boot test a few times just to make sure it was not a fluke result...each time I ran it, it always remained in the 14 second range (from 14.0-14.8 seconds)

Again great load times. The larger SSD's 120gig, 250gig, are faster then the smaller drives, 30gig, 60gig. The new OCZ FW 141b has gave me faster writes speeds, and the same read speed, according to AS-SSD benchie. According to ATTO benchie it shows a small write gain, and a small read loss.
AS-SSD is suppose to be a better benchmark for SSD's....
The ATTO on the left is before new OCZ FW's. And the rigth ATTO is after FW 141b. Ocz is working on another FW to soon be out. But so far I'm happy with 141b FW.

Sir Skully · 08-16-2009, 12:06 PM

Here's what 3x30gig RAID-O look like, compared to 3x120gig RAID-O..
The left is off the net, the right is me....

polonyc2 · 08-16-2009, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sir Skully

AS-SSD is suppose to be a better benchmark for SSD's....

I never heard of AS-SSD before...thanks for the info...I'm going to go download it now

yeah I've read that most of the popular hard drive benchmarks out now (HD Tune, CrystalDiskMark, ATTO) are optimized for mechanical hard drives and are not really the best for testing SSD's...therefore the results of these tests are not really accurate and should not be used as the primary way of measuring SSD performance...hopefully some new SSD benchmark utilities will be released soon that are optimized for SSD drives

Sir Skully · 08-16-2009, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I never heard of AS-SSD before...thanks for the info...I'm going to go download it now

yeah I've read that most of the popular hard drive benchmarks out now (HD Tune, CrystalDiskMark, ATTO) are optimized for mechanical hard drives and are not really the best for testing SSD's...therefore the results of these tests are not really accurate and should not be used as the primary way of measuring SSD performance...hopefully some new SSD benchmark utilities will be released soon that are optimized for SSD drives

AS-SSD benchie was designed for SSD's....
By the by the OCZ firmware is beta, and at your own risk to Flash.
The final OCZ FW is yet to materialize.....

polonyc2 · 08-16-2009, 12:31 PM

Skully or Griff, are you guys using AHCI or IDE mode?...is one faster then the other in terms of SSD performance?...I'm currently using IDE mode

EDIT: Oops I forgot you guys were using RAID setups

Sir Skully · 08-16-2009, 12:39 PM

With RAID-O its RAID-O mode.
I've read Raid mode, even for single drive is faster.
How you run RAID mode with a single drive, is something I do not know. If it was me I'd try different modes. Then run benchies on each and see what's faster...

Sir Skully · 08-16-2009, 12:58 PM

Hey polonyc2, here's info I snagged off of OCZ forum....

"Connect Vertex to either sata port 0 or port 1 on your motherboard. You can use either IDE mode (native/legacy) or AHCI mode or raid mode (this being a non member raid disk...this is my preferred method over all others)".

polonyc2 · 08-16-2009, 01:17 PM

thanks Skully...I think I'll just leave mine in IDE mode for now...it's too much of a pain to switchover to AHCI when using Vista or Windows 7

I just ran the AS SSD benchmark and the results were pretty much in line with CrystalDiskMark and HD Tune Pro...

Sir Skully · 08-16-2009, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polonyc2

thanks Skully...I think I'll just leave mine in IDE mode for now...it's too much of a pain to switchover to AHCI when using Vista or Windows 7

I just ran the AS SSD benchmark and the results were pretty much in line with CrystalDiskMark and HD Tune Pro...

Numbers in AS-SSD are most likely a truer score.
I think you will see more speed out of that drive with a few tweaks...
Also the final FW update for your Gskill drive may help...

Griff · 08-16-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polonyc2

Skully or Griff, are you guys using AHCI or IDE mode?...is one faster then the other in terms of SSD performance?...I'm currently using IDE mode

EDIT: Oops I forgot you guys were using RAID setups

When I first got my single drive I ran it AHCI mode. It was definetly faster then when I got the next drive and installed them in Raid0. I did bench it but I have since trashed the results and do not remember the numbers. There is a reg file you can use to change it to AHCI, I have not tried it but it is supposed to work well, just add it to the reg and reboot and windows will change to AHCI mode. Let me know and I will email it to you.

polonyc2 · 08-16-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Griff

When I first got my single drive I ran it AHCI mode. It was definetly faster then when I got the next drive and installed them in Raid0. I did bench it but I have since trashed the results and do not remember the numbers. There is a reg file you can use to change it to AHCI, I have not tried it but it is supposed to work well, just add it to the reg and reboot and windows will change to AHCI mode. Let me know and I will email it to you.

thanks for the info...I can switchover to AHCI doing a fresh install since I'm not using the SSD drive as my primary OS at the moment and the only things I've installed on my SSD are device drivers and benchmark programs...but don't you have to be in IDE mode when doing firmware upgrades?...I thought I read someplace that doing a FW upgrade while in AHCI won't work

I ran the G.Skill Wiper program a few minutes ago...works fine, no issues...I'm going to be doing another erase of my SSD as I want to benchmark it with no OS installed as I heard it can give better results without the OS overhead

I tried using HDDErase to wipe the drive back to like new condition but it was not compatible with my motherboard and I could not launch the program...I tried Diskpart and that works fine

Griff · 08-16-2009, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polonyc2

thanks for the info...I can switchover to AHCI doing a fresh install since I'm not using the SSD drive as my primary OS at the moment and the only things I've installed on my SSD are device drivers and benchmark programs...but don't you have to be in IDE mode when doing firmware upgrades?...I thought I read someplace that doing a FW upgrade while in AHCI won't work

I ran the G.Skill Wiper program a few minutes ago...works fine, no issues...I'm going to be doing another erase of my SSD as I want to benchmark it with no OS installed as I heard it can give better results without the OS overhead

I tried using HDDErase to wipe the drive back to like new condition but it was not compatible with my motherboard and I could not launch the program...I tried Diskpart and that works fine

Yes the SSD has to be in IDE mode to flash it and Diskpart works well to wipe it.

08-16-2009, 07:57 AM	#32
Griff OLD FART Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Smithers BC, Canada Posts: 4,245	Re: my new G.Skill Falcon SSD Glad you are liking the drives. __________________ Jerry Folding for the betterment of man kind.
(Offline)

08-16-2009, 12:31 PM	#38
polonyc2 Banned? Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: New York City Posts: 8,196	Skully or Griff, are you guys using AHCI or IDE mode?...is one faster then the other in terms of SSD performance?...I'm currently using IDE mode EDIT: Oops I forgot you guys were using RAID setups __________________ ASUS Maximus Formula (X38) *** XFX GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB Intel E8400 * Noctua NH-U12P G.Skill 4 GB (2 X 2 GB) DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 * Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB WD6401AALS Lian Li PC-A70B (black) * Corsair HX850W AuzenTech Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 * Creative Inspire P5800 5.1 speakers Sony Optiarc AD-7240S-0B * Sony GDM-F520 21' CRT monitor (19.8' viewable) Vista Business 64-bit w/SP2 * standard 3.5" floppy drive Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000 *** Microsoft Wired Keyboard 500 (Black) Last edited by polonyc2; 08-16-2009 at 12:41 PM..
(Offline)

08-16-2009, 12:39 PM	#39
Sir Skully ABX KNIGHT EXEMPLAR Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: USA-GA Posts: 28,867	Re: my new G.Skill Falcon SSD With RAID-O its RAID-O mode. I've read Raid mode, even for single drive is faster. How you run RAID mode with a single drive, is something I do not know. If it was me I'd try different modes. Then run benchies on each and see what's faster... __________________ .....................................................................................................................
(Offline)

08-16-2009, 12:58 PM	#40
Sir Skully ABX KNIGHT EXEMPLAR Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: USA-GA Posts: 28,867	Re: my new G.Skill Falcon SSD Hey polonyc2, here's info I snagged off of OCZ forum.... "Connect Vertex to either sata port 0 or port 1 on your motherboard. You can use either IDE mode (native/legacy) or AHCI mode or raid mode (this being a non member raid disk...this is my preferred method over all others)". __________________ .....................................................................................................................
(Offline)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode