Solved SSD benchmark better with OS installed?

[my2cents]

Just don't test it to death, during speed tests a lot of writing is going on.

Hi again CountMike,

Just for the record, I have run benchmark tests on my SSD at least a few hundred times in my test rig. I have a need to do this when testing various hardware configurations. Check out the total R/Ws and the condition of my current SSD:



Looks like my cheap $69.00 SSD has held up pretty well while still taking a heavy pounding. Now, don't get me wrong, your recommendation is shared by many; however, I (personally) would continue testing (as deemed necessary) to try and come to some logical conclusion about why there is a difference in benchmarks here (or just leave it alone and be happy).

@antspants: Looks like my suggestion actually had a negative performance impact. With that said, I would reverse the configuration and download the Passmark software and give that a try. And, if both of your SSDs, fit into that 4,000 test score range, close up shop and be happy!

my2cents

BTW, my SSD bechmarked somewhere in the 2100 to 2300 Passmark test score range.

 

[antspants]

Thanks 2cents, I did download it, I opened it, I looked at it, I crapped my pants. It will take a lot of looking at. Its rather complex. Did I mention I am academically retarded? I will look at it though. Til then, I shall sleep, it's late, I'm scared the clown will wake and DESTROY me. (Not as scared as her coming across what I just wrote)

Nice bunch of guys in here, thanks.

 

[my2cents]

No, its quite easy to run. Simply select "run all tests" from the dropdown menu above and watch er go! Now, the results you see during/after testing will be in comparison to a random selection of others and each unique test result will appear as a horizontal bar graph (with green or red bars). Once done, simply scroll down to disk score and read it (as reported by the decimal text value). Unfortunately, I can't show you that because I don't have it installed right now. Again, it is easy!

 

[antspants]

Thanks mate. I have no idea what I am looking at so ill dump a couple of images. Have to head out Ill investigate when I am home. Cheers

 

[my2cents]

The 4372.1 is your overall benckmark score as compared to mine which is/was a measly 1500.

Your individual disk mark score of 14013 appears to be bogus/overstated. That means, Passmark did not find/fix/correct all the issues found in previous versions relative to Samsung SSD 840 benchmark testing:



My last suggestion is to download ATTO and run that on both SSDs to see if they compare favorably using that utility:

ATTO Disk Benchmark Free Download

Here are my benchmarks using the above utility. You can run it for each SSD by selection from the drop-down menu:



This is my last suggestion. Your choice to try it or not. I wish I had problems like yours (I should be so lucky)!


Cheers mate,

my2cents

 

[antspants]

Will do as suggested, thanks.

 

[antspants]

As suggested

OS Drive - Something isnt write <- See what I did there?



NON OS Drive



Just for good measure, this is a Kingston HyperX 3K 120Gb SSD Rev 3




I think I might send these to Samsung Support, which they seem to have very little of

 

[my2cents]

Hmm... Your OS drive R/W speeds still do not look realistic. [DEL]Moreover, these new benckmarks (at varying speeds) make it look worse than your non-OS drive.[/DEL] BTW, the other two benck marks look good IMHO. Now, what to do?

At this point, I'm not sure where to go but I would start by checking my BIOS to make sure your OS drive SATA port is set at AHCI (not IDE) but I doubt that is your issue. Next, I have to ask, are there options available to set when you run the Magician software? If so, are they changeable after installation? Would it be possible to do an option stare and compare between the two drives?

EDIT: It doesn't look worse but it just doesn't look realistic (unless you have a super drive).

 

[my2cents]

So, I did a bit more reading, and I did find out the Magician does have some options that are specific to "only" the OS drive and that Rapid DRAM may be one of them. I'm starting to believe that option is set and the benchmarks might indicate you are actually writing to the DRAM buffer (that would account for the super write speeds maybe), and then the DRAM buffer continues the final write process to the SSD. Now, if I am correct in my theory, this could be good news and bad news combined. The good news is that your SSD would give the illusion that it is running at super speed but the bad news might be that the SSD writes might continue for a longer period even after the data transfer has been reported as successful. Please understand I have no understanding of this new Samsung design and I am only guessing at this point. However, if it were my SSD, I would prefer to see the true R/W benchmark speeds (as apposed to a simulated benchmark). BTW, did you notice any RAM reserved for that function because Samsung says it could grab up to 1GB of RAM to use with that feature.

 

[antspants]

Ill have to look into that. Right now, I am doing backflips trying to register the drives with samsung. They aren't making it easy, it involves pulling my drives out of my case and contorting my body, swearing a lot and generally foaming at the mouth.

Ill have a look at the settings you mention..
Thanks my2cents, if nothing else you've helped me get educated. For that I am grateful

 

[my2cents]

If/when you get this sorted, please come back and update this thread. However, you have stimulated my interest in owning one of these and I see that Microcenter has the 120GB version on sale, so I might go out and buy one myself. So, here's a thank you back atcha and I'm gonna throw in a rep (when I can) for you stimulating my interest in this model. Now, I know what to expect from it.

Cheers,

my2cents

 

[antspants]

I cant remember setting anything, I did see this (image) maybe this is the culpret. Unless its Motherboard related. All drives are set to AHCi

Maybe somewhere theres a ramdisk. Im going to have to investigate it all. Thanks for the rep. Unfortunately Ill need many of them to live down the "Goat Incident"

 

[my2cents]

I'll betcha it is that Rapid DRAM feature that is causing those bogus speeds to be reported as such. Now, please understand that I am not saying that might be a bad feature because it is intended to speed up your OS but I have to believe it is just simulating a speedup by caching those writes to RAM (which makes it look unbelievably fast) and then finalizing the writes to disk afterwards.

So, if I did a large block transfer from my OS drive to my non-OS drive, it would probably give me a transfer complete acknowledgement much faster than without that feature enabled; however, I suspect that the actual data transfer to the target hard drive (from RAM) would continue and a blinking HD light would confirm my suspicions.

Anyway, its obviously your call as to where you would like to go from here but I (personally) would have to try and toggle that feature off to see if it fixes the benchmark issue and also to see if it has any noticeable effect on my daily operations. If no differences are realized, I'd leave it off and that is exactly what I'll do (eg, test) when I buy one.

Good luck with your decision from here.

my2cents

 

[my2cents]

I just pulled this product description from Microcenter.com and it seems to support my theory:

More Speed

Significantly enhance the speed and performance of your everyday PC activities. Boot up your computer in as little as 15 seconds and optimize your web browsing, email, multimedia and gaming to work faster. Samsung RAPID technology boosts the overall performance of your PC by using idle DRAM as an ultra-fast buffer*. With Samsung’s TurboWrite write acceleration technology, you can work faster and the 5th generation 3-Core Samsung MEX Controller will allow you to multi-task faster as well.

Now, the decision to toggle or not to toggle?

 

[my2cents]

Its all explained here:

Samsung SSD (Solid State Drives) 840 EVO | Samsung SSD US




I'm going to pick one up today!

 

[antspants]

Well done, Its all making allot more sense. There are other options. "Over provisioning" for instance, also auto OS Optimization. I was hoping for super fast booting with this drive, but its not that easy with the Maximus VI Formula, many things to turn on in BIOS, also a switch on the board, 8.1 settings. Its not made easy, not that its hard but its a bit of a screw around. I had no luck with this at all. Then I found out the GPU has to accommodate the settings, which apparently ASUS GPU's don't. Which is a shame as Ive read as little as a 2 second boot time. That's impressive.
As for the drive, I might tweak some more as Fast Boot isn't an option, I will turn of OS hibernation.

After all, I can live with the 15 seconds I am currently waiting

As for the toggle, I cant see the harm in leaving the Rapid Mode on? What possible negatives could there be?


Congrats on your choice
I would of gotten the 120 but my PC is 100GB loaded with my everyday software.

 

[my2cents]

I just got back from Microcenter. I have some things to do before installation so I wo'nt get to it until much later. However, I fear that my boot time may suffer due to any RAMDisk initalization that might be required. Right now, I'm booting from power on to desktop in 7 to 10 seconds and I also have fast boot disabled. Anyway, we'll see how it works "both ways toggled " because I will test it. More to follow. BTW, my entire installation footprint is only 12.0GBs and that includes 23 installed programs and 21 portable programs so all that extra room will be wasted unfortunately.

my2cents

 

[my2cents]

UPDATE: Installation and data migration complete. Benchmark results follow:



Comments:
The above benchmark is without ever launching the Magician software to set any OS drive options.

Observations:
Hard to tell if any real-world activities have changed because my rig was already fast.
Boot time is about the same (still 7-10 seconds to desktop from power on w/fast startup disabled).

Where I'm going from here:
I am going to uninstall the Samsung Data Migration software and The Magician (before ever launching it).
No need to try the Magician because antspants has already displayed his benchmarks using Magician options.

Conclusion:
I like it!


Cheers,

my2cents

 

[my2cents]

Hi antspants,

I forgot to say thanks for making this such an interesting topic. You contributions were impressive to say the least. BTW, I think you are good-to-go "as-is" with your current settings. Thanks again.

my2cents

 

[antspants]

I forgot to say thanks for making this such an interesting topic.

Thanks That's good of you to say. I started this because I poorly assumed I had failed to understand if I had win 8.1 wrong. Thankfully with your help I am much wiser. I am glad it led you to a purchase. I suppose in time you may learn more and share that information.

There is an on-board GPU with the Maximus VI Formula. I may unplug my soon to be replaced ASUS 640GT GPU's & investigate the fast boot at some point as I can only assume the on-board GPU will support it. Just for the sake of seeing it happen.
I dont play games much, I have none loaded.
Having said that If I could change what I recently bought I wouldn't buy the Maximus VI. It is beyond a doubt a gamers board. Its the first ASUS Ive owned in over 15 years. I am really a Gigabyte man, they seem to be allot more customizable.

As I mentioned, I cant even set "Optimal" (one button config) in the bios or Win 8.1 wont boot. For now I can basically only boot on default settings. Not that I need to overclock but I have a need to learn.

But thats for another thread.