New SSD help please

danmanchester

Hello everyone,

Just last week I did a fresh Windows 7 ultimate install on a new OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD and it's running OK, but that's just it..it's only OK, not the blistering lightning speed I was expecting. Definitely faster than my previous OS sata hard drive (Samsung 1TB F3) but not the giant leap I was hoping for.

So am here to ask: what have I done wrong? What can I do to improve and optimise everything so I get the best out of finally arriving in the SSD world ?

The specs for the OCZ Agility 3 are 525 mbps read/475 mbps write but I'm not getting anything like those numbers on my system:





My pc specs: AMD Phenom II x6 1100T cpu
Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 motherboard
Kingston HyperX 1600MHz DDR3 ram 12GB

Now I did read quite a few tutorials on how to install SSD and pretty much every one said to "install the ssd and operating system in AHCI mode" in the bios. I think this is where my problem lies...although my motherboard bios shows I can select AHCI, every time I chose that option, no matter how many times I tried (and I tried for a few hours!) I could not get anything like a working installation of Win7 when installing in AHCI mode. It would go through the motions of installing Win7 but would completely freeze before getting to desktop.

So back to reading through online tutorials again and finally came to conclusion that the only way I'd get this thing working would be to install Win7 in IDE mode and then change settings to AHCI from within Windows and then the bios - which is what I did and is where I am at now.

I've checked that I have the latest bios and also the latest firmware for the SSD.

I'd really appreciate if anyone has any ideas, I've tried everything I can think of up to now.

Sorry for the long post but tried to include as much info as possible, thanks in advance.

masscrazy

I couldnt get a straight answer from google (tho i didnt look properly)

Seems your board is sata 2 3gbs, but confirm this first.

If it is sata2 then i think your hitting the limits of your ssd.

6-1, we'll see the results at the end of the season!!!!

robmar0se

Read a report in PCPro some while back that concluded that current SSD's aren't much faster than Sata II - definately not blistering speeds that you may have been expecting.

I'll see if I can find the report and edit this back.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/368179/in-depth-guide-to-ssd-performance

masscrazy

robmar0se wrote: »

Read a report in PCPro some while back that concluded that current SSD's aren't much faster than Sata II - definately not blistering speeds that you may have been expecting.

I'll see if I can find the report and edit this back.

Huh what? Ridiculous statement, no credibility what so ever, first who reads PCPro? Second have you ever tried a machine with a SSD?

robmar0se

masscrazy wrote: »

Huh what? Ridiculous statement, no credibility what so ever, first who reads PCPro? Second have you ever tried a machine with a SSD?

Sorry mate, but don't shoot the messenger. I 'm just suggesting you are experiencing what others, inc myself have experienced.

good luck...................

danmanchester

masscrazy wrote: »

I couldnt get a straight answer from google (tho i didnt look properly)

Seems your board is sata 2 3gbs, but confirm this first.

If it is sata2 then i think your hitting the limits of your ssd.

6-1, we'll see the results at the end of the season!!!!

My board is definitely Sata 3 (or maybe not apparently ...oops!)

Toxteth_OGrady

Looks like it's pretty much performing to spec for that drive on a SATA II port (which is all your mobo has).



http://www.ocztechnology.com/res/manuals/OCZ_Agility3_Product_sheet%20(4).pdf

danmanchester

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

Looks like it's pretty much performing to spec for that drive on a SATA II port (which is all your mobo has).



http://www.ocztechnology.com/res/manuals/OCZ_Agility3_Product_sheet%20(4).pdf

Thanks...seems I've completely misunderstood/confused "Sata 3Gb/s" which it says in my mobo manual for Sata III :mad: oh well...at least I know now that I have done everything kind of right - apart from choosing a Sata III motherboard!

Right...off to find a good Sata III motherboard now and flog this one on ebay !

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Ximian

Might be worth shopping around for a cheap SATA 3 card, something like this: http://intrl.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/HDD-Controllers/SATA-Cards/2-Port-SATA-6-Gbps-PCI-Express-SATA-Controller-Card~PEXSAT32

Technical info: The maximum throughput of this card is limited by the bus interface. If used with PCI Express Gen 1.0 enabled computers, the max throughput is 2.5 Gbps. If used with PCI Express Gen 2.0 enabled computers, the max throughput is 5 Gbps.

PS. the PC will also need to support booting from add-on cards if the SSD is connected to the controller card and the OS is installed on the SSD (boot from the SSD)

masscrazy

robmar0se wrote: »

Read a report in PCPro some while back that concluded that current SSD's aren't much faster than Sata II - definately not blistering speeds that you may have been expecting.

I'll see if I can find the report and edit this back.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/368179/in-depth-guide-to-ssd-performance

I think its a good time to buy SSDs they're about a pound a gig and considering you only really use it for boot/gaming drive its fine £120 for 120gb as a boot drive is more than enough. Especially since mechanical HDD prices are through the rooooof. Dont knock it till you tried!

danmanchester wrote: »

Thanks...seems I've completely misunderstood/confused "Sata 3Gb/s" which it says in my mobo manual for Sata III :mad: oh well...at least I know now that I have done everything kind of right - apart from choosing a Sata III motherboard!

Right...off to find a good Sata III motherboard now and flog this one on ebay !

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I wouldnt go that far personally. I'd just live with it, its better than sata2 thats fine. I'm still on a sata2 mechanical hdd its fine by me. But we have a SSD machine at work and its really nice to use, but my home machine is perfectly acceptable.

The agility series isnt know for its speed however, so stick with what you got, i say.

Also you wont with the league

danmanchester

The agility series isnt know for its speed however, so stick with what you got, i say.

Also you wont with the league

Aaaah, I probably fell for the "OCZ Agility 3 - The Fastest single 60GB SSD on the Market." advertising on Overclockers website and one of the reviewers' comments: "The advertised speeds stated above says 525/475, yet mine actually gets 556/492 using ATTO Disk Benchmark so most impressed. " is what had me puzzled why I wasn't even getting 200 - now I know why. Thanks for all your input guys.

Oh and we WILL win the league! :money: