Alienware M14x. Lets fix this SSD issue. (Running at lower speeds)

Alright, so I read a couple other posts on this website about the problem the Alienware M14x experiences when running an SSD, as it will NOT support SATA 3 stably.

I want to find out what exactly I can do to get my SSD to run at SATA 3 as stably as I can, as I have heard that several people can do it fine.

Firstly: I am running BIOS version AO3. It's been working fine for me, and I decided I will NOT install BIOS AO8, or BIOS A07. Apparently these BIOS versions have been fixed to not let your Alienware M14x Run at SATA 3, and instead they will only run SATA 2, they apparently have a couple other changes that decrease performance according to several other forum posts, and that is what made me decide mostly not to install them

I would also like to know what really is the difference between SATA 2 And SATA 3, I know SATA 3 runs at 6gb per second or something like that, and that its transfer rate is double of SATA 2. But does this mean that My laptop will not have the fast speeds supported by SATA 3, and will it run as slowly as a normal hard drive? Or is it still fast enough to have that 20-30 second boot speed they advertise?

Secondly, I have found that the SAMSUNG SSD'd seem to work better than those from Crucial or the other brands. Actually, it is the SAMSUNG 830 model.

Thirdly: Reinstalling Windows 7 off the Alienware Re-installation disk seems to be a much better option than cloning the hard drives. And I would also like to mention that people say NOT downloading Intel RST drivers helped maintain their system stability. And there are No boot errors, just a couple issues with Hibernation.

Can anyone, who is running a Self installed SSD, and has their system running stably, recommend otherwise or tell me of a solution that seems to work with several people. And what BIOS version I should use..

Thanks, owatch

 

Hey mate,

Regardless of what you get SATA II or III, they will be substantially faster then a mechanical drive.

SATA II max is 280Mb read/write (approx) whihc is much faster than a standard mechanical laptop drive that may get close to 80mb read/write (for a 7200 rpm drive)

i ran a thread about this and found there is no consistant data we can find as to what does and doesnt work.

I have a Corsair force 3 running the A06 bios and i get 550 read 520 write (ie sata 3 speeds and max for this drive)

but even if you got with a A08 BIOS and sata 2 drive it will be fast

difference for me i have noticed windows boots a bit faster (i had an old sata II ssd in my old laptop) and applications are a touch fastter, but to be honest you wont notice much of a difference of sata 2 and 3 speeds in day to day use, both seem fast and unless your timing your apps everytime they start up the difference between 5 and 6 sec start up times is negligible.

i went sata 3 cause it was the best value drive i could get at the time.

hope that helps

EDIT: Dont under any circumstances clone your drive to any SSD. for starters this will mis allign the drive and make it run much slower (mechanical drive speeds) but also windows wont configure properly. when you install win 7 it detects if you have an SSD and changes the install and setup accordingly to ge the best performance (and also activate TRIM)