[SLOW] intel 160GB 1Gen SSD

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allenpan

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[SLOW] intel 160GB 1Gen SSD

my SSD feels super slow now, it usually took 15 sec to boot Win7 and everything was blazing fast, now it took more than a min to boot and feel slower then any of my other computer..

i usually use hibernate instead of shutdown/reboot,... is that why it becomes slow???

since is 1st Gen it does not support Trim, how do i get it back up to speed without formating it?
 
Intel has a tool to manually trim, it's part of the RST package if you're using an Intel storage controller. Also, if your drive is close to full capacity, I would expect some type of slowdown, try to clear out more free space if possible.
 
i only use 34GB only, still has 77% free....

and my firmware is: 0045C8860, i dont think there is any newer one isn't it? and is the higher number better right? and why is my newer than intel website?

from intel site:
This firmware update tool provides the latest firmware for the following Intel SSDs in all capacities:
- Intel® X25-M/X18-M SATA SSD on 50nm (black case) - updates to FW version 8820
- Intel® X25-E SATA SSD on 50nm (black case) - updates to FW version 8850
- Intel® X25-M/X18-M SATA SSD on 34nm (silver case) - updates to FW version 02HD
- Intel® X25-V Value SATA SSD on 34nm (silver case) - updates to FW version 02HD
 
I am using two of the X25M 160GB (silver case, 2nd gen).
Both are on 02HD which was the last version I could find.

The trim tool is part of the Intel SSD Toolbox. I have 2.0.1 installed on XP, but did not install it under windows 7. According to something I read Win7 was supposed to enable TRIM automatically if your disk passed a certain speed after running winsat.exe.

Here is latest Crystal Disk Mark from my Dell Precsion 690:
(It is using the internal SAS controller)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 236.272 MB/s
Sequential Write : 102.731 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 231.240 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 70.110 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 17.556 MB/s [ 4286.2 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 24.696 MB/s [ 6029.2 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 24.569 MB/s [ 5998.3 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 43.583 MB/s [ 10640.4 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 85.0% (116.2/136.7 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2011/01/18 17:05:22
OS : Windows 7 Ultimate Edition [6.1 Build 7600] (x86)
 
http://www.intel.com/go/ssdtoolbox/ is the Intel SSD Toolbox, but its Optimizer only works on the G2 34nm drives. It essentially uses TRIM by filling up the free space then deleting it.

SSD slowdown happens because NAND flash can't be overwritten, only erased then written again. Whereas your hard drive can put the head in a location and tell it to write something, the SSD must issue an erase command then a write command. Also, the NAND is written in pages (usually 4KB at the moment), but can only be erased in blocks (128 pages). If you fill up a block with a few files, then want to overwrite one of those files, the SSD has to first cache the other pages in that block, erase the whole block, write the other pages back, then finally write the new pages. With TRIM, the OS tells the SSD when it's deleting a file, so the SSD can erase those pages in its spare time, so that they're available for immediate writing next time. Without TRIM, the data stays there until the OS tells it to write something else there. The SSD then has to go through the whole erase procedure while the OS is waiting to write the new data.

There's a tool called AS Cleaner that will allow you to fill the empty space with a huge file consisting only of "1" bits, which are supposed to correspond to "empty". The idea is to write all the available space on the drive with 1's, then delete the file, leaving behind "empty" NAND, which can immediately be written to. I can't say for sure if this works or not, but you could try it. Searching for "Tony TRIM" should give you some more info on it.

The other way is to back up your files, do a Secure Erase on the SSD, then restore your files. The Secure Erase will empty all the flash, but the downside is that it'll erase your data too, as you're aware.
 
So would a clonezilla backup and restore work for his system drive?

I did not know the SSD toolbox would not work with the Gen 1 drives. That is good information.

I remember a Microsoft KB article I read when I needed to shrink a Virtual PC hard disk. They recommended downloading a utility to zero out all the free space on the hard disk so the shrink util could compact the free space down. It sounds like this utility may be helpful to you also if you cannot find the AS-Cleaner InvisiBill is talking about.

Here is the KB link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824517
 
drake3 said:
I remember a Microsoft KB article I read when I needed to shrink a Virtual PC hard disk. They recommended downloading a utility to zero out all the free space on the hard disk so the shrink util could compact the free space down. It sounds like this utility may be helpful to you also if you cannot find the AS-Cleaner InvisiBill is talking about.

Here is the KB link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824517
Click to expand...

Writing 0's to it and having the flash be in an "erased" state are not the same thing. In fact, NAND flash is actually the opposite, where "1" equates to "empty". Running a tool that writes 0's would do the opposite, and fill up the flash.
 
The other way is to back up your files, do a Secure Erase on the SSD, then restore your files.
Click to expand...
A secure erase is the only way to set the drive back to factory specs by clearing the Master File Table.

It's a G1 drive and must use HDDErase 3.3. You can find a bootable version here.
 
I believe the latest Intel Toolbox now has a secure erase option,. I don't know if it works with Gen 1 drives, but since this is a separate function that has nothing to do with TRIM, it might.
 
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