Z77 Extreme 6 Slow SSD benchmarks

[dakotad555]

Okay, so I finished my new computer build this week and everything woks nicely, EXCEPT I'm getting relatively poor benchmarks out of my boot SSD.

FACTS:
1) The SSD is a Chronos 120
2) Typical benchmarks for this SSD here or here or here (Bottom line: read speeds around 500MB/s).
3) My read speeds average around 200/ MBS LESS THAN HALF of what most are benching at
4) SSD is connected to the Intel SATA III port, port 0 on the board

Here are my benchmarks, which as you can see, pretty much suck compared to what everyone else is getting with this hard drive:



TROUBLESHOOTING I've already tried:

1) Replaced the SATA III cable TWICE
2) Made double sure I'm connected to the INTEL sata III port
3) Ran the test numerous times with the same results.
4) Reinstalled all Windows 8 drivers, including the Intel Rapid Store Technology drives AND the AHCI drivers directly from the Asrock webpage

It appears to me that either the SSD itself is the problem OR the motherboard isn't working correctly. I don't have another quality SSD around to test out, but wanted to check if anyone here might know what the deal is or help me figure out if my board is at fault or if the SSD is.

Thanks, I appreciate your help!

[parsec]

It looks like that SSD is operating at SATA II speeds, but not even at the maximum for SATA II, which a SATA III SSD should reach easily.

Questions and verification:

What is the SATA mode set to in the UEFI? There are two SATA mode settings, one for each SATA controller.

Your boards SATA port are shown here:



The Intel SATA III ports are shown at item 12. Above them are the ASMedia SATA III ports, item 11. The four Intel SATA II ports are shown by items 13 and 14. Where is your SSD connected?

The ASMedia SATA III ports do not perform any where near as well as the Intel SATA III ports do, only use the Intel SATA III ports, as you know.

I'd like to see an AS SSD benchmark screen shot of your SSD, to verify the driver/controller, and alignment.

Mushkin uses the Chronos name on many of its products, and I noticed there is a certain Chronos model that uses Asynchronous NAND chips, which are slower than the recently more commonly used type, Synchronous NAND chips. What is the model number of your Mushkin SSD?

[profJim]

Your Chronus MKNSSDCR120GB uses asynchronous NAND which has significantly lower performance when it is partially filled with data.
The Chronus Deluxe and MX models use the better performing synchronous NAND.
Check out the summary page at SSDs - Mushkin Enhanced where it says:

Chronos
Positioned at the intersection of performance and value, Chronos SSDs provide
next-generation SSD responsiveness by utilizing asynchronous NAND Flash technology.
Say goodbye to rotational hard drive sluggishness by adding a Chronos SSD to your system today!

[dakotad555]

Here is the AS SSD Benchmark showing that the drive is aligned and attached to the Intel SATA III Port:



As you can see, I do have it connected to the Intel port and the drive is a MKNSSDCR120GB

It's not the deluxe version.

This review from Amazon probably sums up the problem: link

It sounds like the benchmarks offered by Mushkin for their disk have no bearing on actual real world conditions. This is especially frustrating considering my old Vertex II, other than improvements in write speed, operates at nearly the same speeds as the Chronos!

I will probably scrap this drive and get an either a Samsung 830 or a Vertex 4. Anyone care to make a recommendation?

[dakotad555]

What is the SATA mode set to in the UEFI? There are two SATA mode settings, one for each SATA controller.

Both are set to ACHI.

[profJim]

Nearly all ssd manufacturers play the misleading MB/s game, especially when they're using a Sandforce controller.

My Samsung 830 128GB has better scores using the sata2 port on my P35-DS3L system.
My older 60GB Agility2 drives had similar ATTO read scores to the 830, but the Agility2's ATTO, CDM and AS_SSD write scores were significantly lower.
Their new 840 model has somewhat similar performance to the 830, and their 840 PRO model is significantly faster.....for a price.
The Vertex 4 probably has higher 4K benchmark scores than the 830 and the vanilla 840.

Asynchronous vs. Synchronous NAND Flash SSD Performance has links that describe the real world performance issues based on which type of NAND is used.

[parsec]

I was afraid of that, your SSD being that model. Still, your results are not bad for that type of SSD, better than others I have seen. You also seem to have it pretty full, I would try to free up some space and don't use up any more. You've done well to maintain that performance relative to others, so keep it up!

[dakotad555]

Update:

I made the decision to upgrade to a raid 0 setup with another of these drives. Here's my current benchmarks:



It looks as though the two drives scale virtually 200% of one disk.

One annoying thing: my boot times still suck. I installed a brand new windows 8 install on the raid array, with only the drivers required for the board, office 2010, firefox, and a few other small programs installed. It feels like I should get a much faster boot than 39 seconds. Maybe I'm being nit-picky.