Solid State Drive (SSD) info.

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February 21st, 2013, 03:37 AM
Shinma

Solid State Drive (SSD) info.
Articles and links may be of interest to some.

TheSSDReview
Click HERE

Benefits Of A Solid State Drive – An SSD Primer
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Click HERE

The Complete Guide to Solid-State Drives
Click HERE

Understanding SSD over-provisioning
January 8, 2013
Click HERE

Chart displaying benefits of SSD over-provisioning
Click HERE

Ultimate guide to SSDs (plus reviews of 7 new drives!)
Dec 28, 2012
Click HERE

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The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned
Click HERE

The SSD Optimization Guide Ultimate Windows 8 (And Win7) Edition
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Click HERE
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Parted Magic - Create aligned partition for SSD
Click HERE

AS SSD Benchmark - Benchmark SSD & check alignment
Click HERE

UNetbootin - Create bootable USB flash drive for use of updating SSD firmware
Click HERE

Acronis AlignTool - Intel® SSD Edition - Alignment software for Intel SSD
Click HERE

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SSD Product Benchmarks chart
Click HERE

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SSD Toolbox software reviews
*As of May 06, 2013,
Crucial does not provide any SSD toolbox software.
Kingston provides SSD toolbox for some models only.
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Solid State Drives to avoid and/or use caution:
- ADATA SX900 128GB - Redux
- Crucial M4 series *See post #8
- Samsung 840 120GB (MZ-7TD120BW)
For those thinking of RAID 5 with solid state drives,
- Skyera Reveals RAID 5 Hinders Reliability Of SSD Arrays
Use caution when dealing with nVIDIA chipset based mobos,
- Note1
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- One SSD vs. Two In RAID: Which Is Better?
February 23rd, 2013, 08:12 PM
Shinma

Installing an Intel/Samsung solid state drive for use with Windows XP:

Install SSD into the system.

Partition the solid state drive with desired software.
e.g. Parted Magic

Run your Windows XP disc and install onto the newly created partition,
During the installation process,
Select the Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick) option.

Continue/complete Windows XP installation.

After completion of Windows XP,
Double check alignment with software such as AS SSD Benchmark.

Install appropriate Service Pack(s), hotfixes, drivers...
Install the current Intel SSD Toolbox/Samsung Magician software for TRIM function
March 5th, 2013, 09:39 PM
Shinma

Added avoid/caution list of SSD.
March 8th, 2013, 12:17 PM
DanceMan

I read the ADATA test linked, and will be avoiding any ADATA products. Thanks.
March 8th, 2013, 03:32 PM
Huge

Thanks Shinma! (...still think you are a bot!) ;) :D
March 9th, 2013, 05:52 AM
Shinma

You're welcome both. :)
April 23rd, 2013, 10:00 PM
Shinma

Added link to new optimization guide.
April 30th, 2013, 04:45 AM
Shinma

Crucial M4 added to the caution list.
Crucial M4 series uses a Marvell 9174 controller

If the Crucial M4 was released around January 2012 and they finally fixed the firmware April 2013,
That means over a year before the problems of hanging and/or failing to function at all... were fixed.
Since the firmware 070H is only about a month old, not even sure if problems has really been fixed.

I am not impressed. :rolleyes:
April 30th, 2013, 07:53 PM
equinoxe3d

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinma

Crucial M4 added to the caution list.
Crucial M4 series uses a Marvell 9174 controller

If the Crucial M4 was released around January 2012 and they finally fixed the firmware April 2013,
That means over a year before the problems of hanging and/or failing to function at all... were fixed.
Since the firmware 070H is only about a month old, not even sure if problems has really been fixed.

I am not impressed. :rolleyes:

Where did you get that ? Your release date is for the "slim" version, the standard m4 dates from 2011 or so (bought mine in November 2011). The only "big" bug Crucial had was the 5000h BSOD bug which was known and fixed one week or two after it was discovered. Otherwise, Crucial did around 5 firmware updates in the lifespan of the drive, with many of them just to increase performance.

As for this firmware update, it seems to solve a rather isolated issue. Had no issues with mine when waking up my PC from sleep with 000F and earlier firmware. Did not upgrade to 04MH though, not broke so don't fix it ;).
May 1st, 2013, 01:25 AM
Shinma

Quote:

Originally Posted by equinoxe3d

Where did you get that ? ...

Crucial's own website.
Link was already provided in the first post/sticky.

As to the faulty firmware 040H,
That firmware was found in a retail packaging no less than 24 hours ago at a local retail store.

An acquaintance also stated firmware 040H was shipped/included in his retail purchase of a Crucial during late 2011. Encountered problems similar to those posted posted at Crucial.
Needless to say, he secure erased it and sold it to a Crucial fanboy, who did not believe him about the issues.

Personally, I have not trusted Crucial since their DDR2 Ballistix fiasco.
May 1st, 2013, 09:06 PM
equinoxe3d

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinma

Personally, I have not trusted Crucial since their DDR2 Ballistix fiasco.

Yeah, I hear you on that (had faulty DDR1 Ballistix, and Crucial's RMA was not that pleasant).
Back when I bought my SSD, the m4 was a solid choice though and I was willing to give them a second chance, as SandForce-based drives had yet-unresolved BSOD issues and Intel was too expensive at 240+ GB.
I guess I'll just steer clear of newer firmwares then and stick with my 000F.
May 1st, 2013, 09:21 PM
Shinma

OUch! That's true, I forgot the connection of the SandForce nightmares during that time period. :o