chumley Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 As a Xmas gift my wife provided me with a nice spanking new SSD. For one reason or another it only found it's way into my rig yesterday evening. Since then I have had two moments, the latest this evening, when for some inexplicable reason the SSD disappeared from view on Windows Explorer. The machine had been switched on for around five hours and was inactive until I loaded FSX in preparation for a flight. It was shortly after that the down time occurred. I have the side if the case opened at present and noticed the green light had been replaced by an orange/red one. I shut the machine down and then switched on again and lo and behold the SSD was once more visible. I'm pretty much over this at the moment. I'm trying to copy FSX back off the SSD and each time I start the copy process the SSDis rattling along at a very high transfer rate then falls over and the Ornage/red glow returns in place of the green. Any thoughts on what could be going on here? In addition, should I install AHCI and how do I know if TRIM is enabled? Thanks Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 OK - I know TRIM is enabled after running a diagnostic check suggested in these forums. I also know how to set AHCI in the BIOS but the system fails to boot so I have returned the setting to IDE. The Orange/Red LEDs are getting as much air time as the Green LED and this is due to my feeble attempts to backup the data before updating the firmware. Anyone want a surplus SSD for their system? I have a Thermaltake Toughpower 850w PSU running a Nvidia GTS 285, 3 HDD, a P6T Mobo and a Creative Soundcard so I would doubt power is inadequate. Any comments or help suggestions gratefully received. Thanks Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjallen Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 You need to update a registry Windows 7 key to use you SSD in AHCI mode. Just google it. Like you I had to do this after installing Win 7 with IDE mode active. Good Luck jja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhayes Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Chumley There is a special method for setting AHCI post Windows OS (7) install. http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation/ and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976. Careful though it can cause issues. You can't just set it in the BIOS you have to change registry settings too. Good Luck! Can any one really say that ACHI is significantly faster than IDE wrt to FSX - it would be interesting to see the figures. I still thought that TRIM worked in IDE mode (it was actually developed for IDE mode ACHI and RAID came later, and the only way I know how to really check it is working is via the Intell SSD Toolbox http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18455. Run the Intel SSD Toolbox. If your drive is not an Intel SSD, the only option available will be "View Drive Information". Click that. Scroll down to Word 169 and look at the value for Bit 0 - Data Set Management Supported. if this is 1, you have TRIM. If 0, you don't. (ref: http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/windows-7/17239-enabling-trim-support-windows-7-a.html). Regards PeterH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjallen Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Chumley There is a special method for setting AHCI post Windows OS (7) install. http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation/ and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976. Careful though it can cause issues. You can't just set it in the BIOS you have to change registry settings too. Good Luck! Can any one really say that ACHI is significantly faster than IDE wrt to FSX - it would be interesting to see the figures. I still thought that TRIM worked in IDE mode (it was actually developed for IDE mode ACHI and RAID came later, and the only way I know how to really check it is working is via the Intell SSD Toolbox http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18455. Run the Intel SSD Toolbox. If your drive is not an Intel SSD, the only option available will be "View Drive Information". Click that. Scroll down to Word 169 and look at the value for Bit 0 - Data Set Management Supported. if this is 1, you have TRIM. If 0, you don't. (ref: http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/windows-7/17239-enabling-trim-support-windows-7-a.html). Regards PeterH Peter, I'm not seeing any differences between IDE and AHCI mode (based on the Windows Performance Index that is the same). Exception is that boot times may be a few seconds faster. On the other hand, performance is not any worse either. Also, TRIM was active in IDE mode (after a firmware update). jja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhayes Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 jja Thanks for the info! I run my OCZ Colossus in IDE mode and its performance in terms of loading FSX seems very good. This drive does NOT use TRIM but OCZ's Garbage Collection which works in the background! Regards PeterH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alainneedle1 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 AHCI as to be enable before installing window 7, window 7 will configure everything when AHCI is enable before installing the OS... I can't tell between IDE or AHCI since I installed both SSD with AHCI enable but I can tell you one thing both are fast as $hi.... OS SSD FSX SSD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 Thank you everybody for your comments. Late last night I found a thread on the OCZ forums that pointed me in the direction of a couple of changes. I moved the SSD from Sata 4 to Sata 1, updated the Registry to set the AHCI drivers then corrected the BIOS. A Firmware check indicated the latest version is operating. The thread suggested a BIOS update and a Secure Erase of the contents of the drive followed by a Quick Format rather than the alternative. Whilst I would rather not do the BIOS update and to deal with the data on the drive will be annoying to say the least as I cannot copy or backup the drive contents without it falling over it looks increasingly as though that is all the options I have left. Tried a folder copy of FSX to a standard drive and 4 gb into a 43gb data copy the drive went offline. Jan is not happy to use a tired old Aussie phrase. ( ) Regards Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoseCFII Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 If you bought an SSD to avoid defrag, increase boot times, and to increase the overall system performance, I'm not sure that IDE is the best set-up option. I tried Raid0, AHCI, and IDE, and settled with AHCI. I wanted the benefits of having a trim command feature that raid does not offer. Plus, there were some unusual stutters when using FSX. My SSD is much faster than my Vrap, and I experience faster boot times, faster program loading, plus no need to defrag, etc. When using FSX, faster has always been better. There's all kinds of evidence that shows that a faster CPU, ram, GPU, and drives all have lead to better, smoother, performance in FSX. The key is "smoother." Every program I use just runs smoother with an SSD. If you're happy with IDE, then stick with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 I have now applied AHCI, flashed the BIOS (not sure why I was so hesitant as it was all over in a couple of minutes) and am now copying all the files from the SSD before a secure erase and reformat. The OCZ people suggested I replace the SATA cable, check the seating of the power supply and ensure I get a stable 5v from the PSU. The first two parts are a snip but how I check the power supply stability is anyones guess. Thanks again for the comments guys Andy b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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