VERY poor SATA performance (2,3MB -> 6MB/sec)

[ni0wn]

Okey. This is so wierd.

I get 2,3MB/sec average at write.
And top 6MB/sev at write.

Read speeds are as they should. (50-60MB/sec)



Ain't that wierd or what?

I've tried latest bios, modded bios, latest SATA drivers for XP, tried the second SATA controller etc. I've even had in for testing. No problems.
So I figure out that SOMETHING with the mobo has to be wrong, aight?

One strange thing is that; if I hook up my 120GB HDD to my IDE -> SATA adapter, then I get write speeds at 20MB/sec.

I dunno, but as far as I've considered, maybe the SATA controller on the board is not functioning as it should? And that it doesn't "work" the same way with REAL SATA as with IDE? That's the only conclusion I've got.

My system is:
***********
AMD 2000+
512MB DDR @ 333Mhz
Abit NFS-7 V2.0
Maxtor DiamondPlus 9 (6Y200M0)
NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti200 64MB
Integrated Soundcard

Here's a thread I've posted at nForcersHQ if you want...

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43131&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

And here's another thread I've posted at Abit's forum.

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42353

Would be REALLY glad if someone could sort this out.
I'm trying to hook up friends who's using SATA disks, but it seems that I'm the only one who does :( So I haven't tried to hook up another SATA disk then the one I got. But as said, the IDE disk works as it should on the SATA controller...

Thanks in advance.

[gar187er]

what kinda shape is your power supply in?

[ni0wn]

It's not that old. 3-4 months old maybe. The max load is at 360W.
Maybe I should try to hook up only the SATA drive and the run the benchmark?

What else could be wrong? There has to be a hardware error I guess. As soon as I get some more cash I think I'll give back the mobo for testing. But it wouldn't shock me if they say: "There's nothing wrong with it."

[zeradul]

We're a pretty knowledgeable forum, and with this few of responses after 2 days means we're pretty much stumped...

One idea I had that probably isn't the solution, is is your S-ATA drive Ultra DMA enabled? (does S-ATA even use that standard anymore? does enabling Ultra-ATA on S-ATA cause probs?)

[ni0wn]

Yeah, they use DMA. I've sorted that out. It's all okey. If I only had another SATA drive to test with, then I would know. *sigh*

There H A S to be a hardware error on the mobo. I don't think it could be something else.

[zeradul]

You could try buying one of the SATA to Parallel adapters and hook it up as a IDE device and see what happens........... it should be smooth, both backwards and forwards compatable...

[ni0wn]

Yeah, I probably could. But that will cost a few bucks as well.
And if it works, then I still don't get the SATA speed. But I'll know for sure that the drive works as it should...

[zeradul]

Exactly, which is why I suggested it. I wasn't suggesting leaving as an IDE device forever.

It would not only test the drive, it would also bypass your SATA controller (which could be the problem... right?)