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**profJim** · 05-26-2011, 11:38 AM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

Check out http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...light=agility2 where I got some excellent suggestions when I was preparing to install win7 on an Agility2 ssd several months ago. At the end of the thread are several posts and links that deal with the 34 vs 25 Nand versions and some of the problems that you might encounter with the 25nm versions.

Double check the OCZ forums about some issues when using RST later than v9.6. I seem to remember that Trim might not work with any RST 10.x versions.

Let us know if you have any more questions.

**CORRECTION** I just checked the thread and using TRIM is not an issue with RST 10.x versions. As of several months ago RST 10.x did NOT support the OCZ Toolbox software. Maybe they have fixed this issue, check with the OCZ SSD forums to be sure.

**Yikes2000** · 05-26-2011, 12:09 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

Originally posted by SeanDude05 View Post

My question is - what do I need to do to prepare my system, and what are some things I need to know about SSDs?

From OCZ Forum: THE BASIC GUIDE & FAQ - ABC for OCZ SSD

It has everything you need...

**SeanDude05** · 05-26-2011, 06:50 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

thanks guys. Another question- you mentioned moving system folders to another drive? I'm a bit confused as to how you would first determine which folders to move and how you would accomplish it.

**wazza300** · 05-26-2011, 07:02 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

You just want your os on the ssd,plug it into first Intel port and enable raid or ahci,all your media,pics/music/films and non important programs regarding performance can be dragged to or installed on your storage hdd's,put all the heavy loading programs on your ssd like PhotoShop ect

**Yikes2000** · 05-26-2011, 07:16 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

Originally posted by wazza300 View Post

You just want your os on the ssd,plug it into first Intel port and enable raid or ahci,all your media,pics/music/films and non important programs regarding performance can be dragged to or installed on your storage hdd's,put all the heavy loading programs on your ssd like PhotoShop ect

On my data drive, I keep a bootable mirror of my SSD as backup:

SSD: just one partition, the "OS" volume.
HDD: two partitions, the "OS backup" volume and the "Data" volume.

The "OS backup" volume on HDD is made the active partition. Once or twice each month, I use a disk cloning program called Casper to copy "OS" to "OS backup". When my SSD dies (which actually happened to my HTPC), I immediately boot from my HDD without skipping a beat. Re-activating Windows 7 on the HDD is an easy phone call, if required.

I haven't read about anyone else doing this...

**wazza300** · 05-26-2011, 07:36 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

You need to leave around 10gb free for trim I think too? Don't use or run to many benchmark programs as it can degrade performance,I like to use atto for benching hdd's/ssd's,I remember my old HP pc having a bootable os partition,I think you create a bootable ISO image? And save it to your hdd,its good performance wise for your ssd to format then enable trim and re install os either from back up or windows disk? From what I've read

**profJim** · 05-28-2011, 06:46 AM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

Originally posted by SeanDude05 View Post

thanks guys. Another question- you mentioned moving system folders to another drive? I'm a bit confused as to how you would first determine which folders to move and how you would accomplish it.

The OCZ SSD forum threads discuss which folders can be moved from your ssd boot drive to your hdd. Check out posts 44 - 57 in http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...light=agility2 for additional information. Some of the folders can be "moved" by changing windows environment settings. I'm "saving" the first hidden hdd partition for possibly restoring my most recent saved ssd backup image in case my ssd suddenly fails because it is no longer recognized by my system. I've moved the following folders to the second hdd partition.

Temporary Internet Files
FireFox Cache
Internet Explorer Cache
Default Downloads Folder
Indexing Folder (about 400MAB)
Windows TEMP and TMP folders
Windows PageFile
Windows Hyberfile.sys (waking and sleeping should somewhat be faster if this is on the ssd)

My system seldom uses the swap file so this isn't a performance issue for me.
I manually save files to my hdd partition that has the MY DOCUMENTS folder.
I install my large graphics benchmark programs to another partition that has PROGRAM FILES and PROGRAM FILES (x86) folders.
Check out Darkje's suggested JunctionLinkMagic (in post #57) to move some folders to another location.
Now that I'm running with 8GB of ram, I'm going to follow Darkje's suggestion to use Data RamDisk to create a 2GB or 3GB ram disk for my 1GB swap file, TMP/TEMP folders and the browser cache folders.

My 60GB ssd has 32 GB of free space after 5 months of use.

**edit** Wazza300's suggestion to perform very limited benchmark tests is excellent. The OCZ forums go into a lot of detail why frequent or excessive ssd benchmark tests will severely degrade write performance for SandForce ssds. As I recall, the best way to restore performance to a degraded ssd is to perform a secure erase and then restore an o/s backup image. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure that formatting a degraded ssd and installing a backup image won't restore the ssd to like new condition.

**profJim** · 05-28-2011, 09:28 AM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

To verify that TRIM is enabled on your win7 system, here is a DOS batch file called CHKTRIM.bat:

Code:

fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify
@echo ...TRIM is  ENABLED = 0 (YIPPEE!!!)
@echo ...TRIM is disabled = 1 (boo hoo)
pause

It took many laborious hours of testing and debugging to perfect this tool.

I saved this batch file to the root directory of my D: drive.
You will need to right click and select "Run as Administrator" to run this file.

**SeanDude05** · 05-28-2011, 08:56 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

Save that text as that filename then run?

/

And a little off-topic... I just found my epic DDR2-1150 OCZ ram is now throwing 800+ errors in Memtest86+...
And apparently OCZ stopped making ram earlier this year... ****!!!!. This should be a FUN! RMA process...

**profJim** · 05-28-2011, 09:29 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

You can use CHKTRIM or any file name you want as long as the file extension is .bat
Win7 wouldn't let me save this dos batch file to my C:\ drive, so I put it on the D:\ drive.
I'm pretty sure that the windows FSUTIL program needs to be run as an administrator, that's why I right click on the batch file name and select run as administrator. This is probably due to win7's UAC (User Account Control) settings.

If you've updated your bios since your last stress/stability tests, this might be related to your Memtest errors. Bios tweaks are often/usually required when changing to a different bios version. Your memory might be stable with some minor bios tweaks. If you want some help, post your current bios template.

If you need to RMA your memory, OCZ might not have a similar replacement set, in which case they might have to reimburse you with the replacement cost for similar memory.

Let us know how it goes with the RMA.
While OCZ did a lousy job with the ssd 34 to 25ns Nand switchover, they eventually did right by unhappy customers and I expect that they will do the right thing when a ram RMA can't be handled with the standard replacement memory kit. Hopefully you won't have to raise to big a stink to get what's fair.

**edit** OCZ voluntarily quit the memory business several months ago. Legally a lifetime warranty remains in effect unless they go completely out of business.

**SeanDude05** · 05-28-2011, 09:44 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

The only settings i have active are:
DRAM voltage at 2.2v
Driving strengths 1066mhz
tRD 9
5-6-6-18 timings
3.66d divider for 1111MHz from a 333FSB, CPU has NO OC.

The ram isnt erroring AT ALL at DDR2-800(no oc), all settings on auto including voltage.
Where should I start?

*EDIT: I did update from stock beta F11d in which my standard 3.4ghz ddr2-11xx OC was working good. I updated to F11d with the updated Intel ROM.

**profJim** · 05-28-2011, 10:12 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

For 1111MHz memory speeds and Cpu Host Frequency = 333, you're using a 3.33 memory multiplier. Using the D-memory strap should only be used with 400MHz or higher cpu host frequencies. Test with the 3.20B memory multiplier and see if Memtest does any better.
With 2x2GB of ram, MCH Core = 1.20 - 1.24 is often needed with most memory brands.

Your signature lists different cpu and memory speeds.

Please provide a screen-shot described in step #4 in http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...tml#post295784, in the middle of post #5.

**edit** The only ddr2 1150 HPC memory I see on the OCZ site is 2x1GB kits, not 2x2GB.
Reaper Series OCZ Technology

**SeanDude05** · 05-28-2011, 10:22 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

sorry, I dont know where 3.66 came from... might have been the beer...
anyway... MCH voltage is at 1.2v

I will get cracking on that screenshot, then revert to 2.40B and retry memtest, thanks Jim... can I call you Jim?? :)

sorry for the sig freqs, disregard those, I will remove.

**profJim** · 05-28-2011, 10:35 PM

Re: New OCZ SSD - Expert advice requested

"Jim" is OK, I've been called a lot worse

Please update your sig with your current hardware and settings.
Be sure to include the mobo version number for your EP45-UD3P.
You'll find this number in the lower rear corner of your mobo.

In your next post, please post the current values from the MIT section for:
CPU Clock Drive ---------------- : ??? <-- show the values displayed in your bios for these four settings
PCI Express Clock Drive -------- : ???
CPU Clock Skew (ps) ------------ : ???
MCH Clock Skew (ps) ------------ : ???

This will confirm whether or not you've loaded Optimized Bios settings after your most recent bios flash.

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