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    Force 3 240GB Performance -- SATA2 -- HELP!

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by cogdvfs, Aug 7, 2011.

  1. cogdvfs

    cogdvfs Newbie

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    Ok, so I'm at my wits end here. My system is a brand new shiny Lenovo Thinkpad W520, complete with SATA3/6.0GB/s. I've tried every combination under the sun (SSD in main bay, in Ultra Bay, External eSATA) and I can't seem to crack the speed benchmarks of all the reviews that are showing ~500GB/s. I'm wallowing in this 200GB/s mess.

    I've tried using both the Intel RST drivers as well as the base Windows drivers with little to no speed difference. I have ACHI turned on in the BIOS as well.

    I've also tried installing from a stock Windows 7 ISO, adding the RST drivers during the install, and all benchmarks remain locked at about these speeds.

    Does *anyone* have any thoughts here? I'm sick that I've just forked out nearly $500 for a sata3 SSD and am getting sata2 speeds...

    Am about ready to punt the laptop and the drive and just go buy an AlienWare m18x and call it a day.

    CrystalDiskInfo:
    [​IMG]

    CrystalDiskMark:
    [​IMG]

    ATTO:
    [​IMG]
     

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    cogdvfs, Aug 7, 2011
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  2. cogdvfs

    cogdvfs Newbie

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    All of these benchmarks reflect AHCI being turned on in the bios. I've not seen an option for "hotplug". I've included the 0-fill stats.

    [​IMG]
     

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    cogdvfs, Aug 7, 2011
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  3. cogdvfs

    cogdvfs Newbie

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    cogdvfs, Aug 7, 2011
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  4. cogdvfs

    cogdvfs Newbie

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    BIOS Version: 1.26 (just upgraded)

    New benchmarks after BIOS upgrade... (slightly better, 0-fill)
    [​IMG]

    While I hadn't experienced any sort of lock-ups, I went ahead and disabled Link Power Management through this guide.

    New benchmarks after LPM disable... (slightly better, 0-fill)
    [​IMG]

    Here's more details around the system/motherboard...
    [​IMG]

    And details around the adapter...
    [​IMG]

    While I understand that this REV4 of the adapter has some issues on ports 2+, ports 0 and 1 should be at full speed.
     

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    cogdvfs, Aug 7, 2011
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  5. cogdvfs

    cogdvfs Newbie

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    Alright, so next test was to actually connect the drive to a SATA6 connection on my desktop which is an ASUS P7P55D-E with dual SATA6 ports as just a sanity check. Without any driver, registry adjustments or SSD tweaks, the drive is pulling around 160MB/s.

    I've called BestBuy and they are going to ship me another one. I'll post my results on the new drive when I receive it. Hopefully I'll be screaming at ~500MB/s soon. If not, I'll punt and try an Intel. If that fails, I'll punt and send this W520 back.
     
    cogdvfs, Aug 7, 2011
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