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    SSD in A08 Bios

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by bakaraimu, Feb 5, 2012.

  1. bakaraimu

    bakaraimu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am new here but I had recently change the harddrive for my M14X to SSD Vertex 3 MI SATA III 6gb/s. But what I realized is that I get SATA II 3gb/s. Should I downgrade the Bios or should I wait for them to come up with a new bios as there are problems that people are saying about when they downgrade.

    Right now, the program starts up just fine. No BSOD, nothing even with or without RST driver, it works fine but it is just the read/write speed.
     
    bakaraimu, Feb 5, 2012
    #1
  2. c69k

    c69k Notebook Deity

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    I will give you my opinion but please first tell me what firmware you use for your SSD?
     
    c69k, Feb 5, 2012
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  3. bakaraimu

    bakaraimu Notebook Enthusiast

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    My firmware is 2.15 since I just bought it like 1 week ago.
     
    bakaraimu, Feb 5, 2012
    #3
  4. D3athScyth3

    D3athScyth3 Notebook Guru

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    If your system is running stable i wouldnt bother.

    There was a benchmark done by TomsHardware.com recently that showed the difference between and ssd running max sata 2 and running at about 550mb read/write sata 3 in every day usage is almost unnoticeable.

    the difference between apps opening and windows starting is like 1-2 sec, really not worth making the system unstable.

    the only advantage you get to running at sata 3 speeds is

    1. Bragging rights in benchmarks (if your into that kinda thing then go for it)
    2. Faster data transfer rates - However this is hampered depending on what your transferring from/to. to see an advantage you need to be transferring to an ssd in an external usb 3 case, otherwise your limited by a mechanical drive read/write or usb 2 read/write speeds.

    So personal opinion......if it aint broke, dont fix it
     
    D3athScyth3, Feb 5, 2012
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  5. bakaraimu

    bakaraimu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Okay. I am just curious about it.

    But still I want to hear some opinions.
     
    bakaraimu, Feb 6, 2012
    #5
  6. alroar

    alroar Notebook Consultant

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    call dell support about that and claim you want the specced out SATA 3
     
    alroar, Feb 6, 2012
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  7. c69k

    c69k Notebook Deity

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    @ D3athScyth3 ... exactly and +rep.

    @ bakaraimu ... +rep if you resist the following:

    I would try running the drive on MSAHCI (no Intel RST installed) and flash to A05 Unlocked with Storage Break Event Enabled respect to custom90gt (for SATA 6 Gbps speeds). Then Flash to 2.13 Firmware, because 2.15 boots Win7 10 out of 100 times from booting cold machine, but it might be my old (June2011) machine.
    And one more Power Plan tweak for stable benchmarking lol ... HAHA Geek poetry

    Simply, after all these things done my drive performs 100% stable and fast SATA 6Gbps. The only prob I have is with Win7 startups, usually my M14X starts at third try after being turned off for more than a few hours. When I start (turn-off and turn on) when warm, it starts no problem.

    I wanted full performance so I have it.
     
    c69k, Feb 6, 2012
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  8. custom90gt

    custom90gt Doc Mod Super Moderator

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    c69k, you're always over these posts in a hurry... You the man.
     
    custom90gt, Feb 7, 2012
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  9. bakaraimu

    bakaraimu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Okay, thanks. I see what I want first before I do anything to that laptop.
     
    bakaraimu, Feb 7, 2012
    #9