Help with W510 SSD install and performance issues

I need some serious help please before I go crazy! I have a W510 4318 CTO (12 GB RAM installed) that I installed a new SSD (OCZ Agility 3) on along with a clean install of Win7 64 Pro. I loaded up the lenovo system updated and installed all the required drivers for the laptop. Since then Ive had nothing but issues with how the computer runs. Before I install any updates of drivers, the laptop is extremly fast and responsive. After I install the drivers and windows security updates, the performance disapears. Ive stayed away from the windows optional updates as well. Initially, I thought I might have installed something incorrectly so I wiped the drive and did a clean install again, but I end up with the same result. The SSD has the latest firmware, TRIM is enabled and ASCI is set in the BIOS. Ive been hesitant to install any programs due to how slow everything is. Im running Firefox and everythime I open a browser page, it lags and can take longer than usual to open. Ive scanned the system with MSE and malwarebytes to look for any issues but nothing ever comes up. Do I need to reload the chipset driver or something else in a different manner?

Its come to the point where having a SSD has decreased my performance and I have run into a dead end. Can anyone please advise me on this issue?



Thanks in advance

 

It defeats the purpose of having a SSD if you find it decreases your performance instead. If you haven't done so try loading the latest Intel Rapid Storage Management AHCI driver during the Windows Setup phase. Also bear in mind when doing Windows Updates your computer will feel a bit sluggish as it will be installing and configuring a lot of stuff after a clean install (I think it's over 100 updates now since Windows 7 SP1 was released) so give it a bit of time to settle in.

If it still feel a bit slow you could try finding out which drivers or applications are responsible for slowing your computer down by manually installing each one at a time. You are not required to install all the applications made by Lenovo and you can be selective on which ones you use and ones that you don't.

Though be aware OCZ Agility's are not renowned for having top end performance and reliability are a bit iffy with the Sandforce controller. If it still concerns you do a benchmark test and see what kind of figures the SSD is reporting back on your system. As reference this is the Intel X25-M SATA II drive released way back in 2009 and is currently inside my old ThinkPad T61.

 

Thank you for your response. I kept digging some more and after reading a few more threads, I was pointed to a post that was written up by an OCZ support person. Although I didnt try the clean install again, I did download Intels latest chipset driver and then I re-installed Lenovo's latest Rapid Storage drivers. After a restart, it seems to have smoothed out some. I am a little skpetical though because this isnt the first time that the laptop has ran fine only to slow down after starting it back up the next day. I will keep an eye on it and possibly follow these steps if it continues.

"Hi,

With Intel Chipset laptops and SSD not from the actual Laptop manfr itself.. there will always be some trade-offs regarding compatibility, this because of OEM specific implements for Storage related functions and more. Removing the old HDD and cloning it across or installing the OEM OS/Bloatware to the new SSD is 50/50 at best.

What I do is (long winded procedure but has a 100 percent success rate):

1. Remove the laptop supplied drive.. flash the BIOS/UEFI to the latest available and set SATA mode to AHCI or equivalent.
2. Disable any BIOS/UEFI settings for Manfr "Recovery" or OEM implements via MEBx implementation (Management Engine BIOS Extension), such as IAMT (Intel ® Active Management Technology), Local Manageability Service (or LMS), IRRT (Intel Rapid Restore Technology).
3. Insert the SSD with latest Firmware on in factory condition or having been ATA Secure Erased.
4. Fresh install a non OEM Copy of Windows.
5. Install Intel's own latest (not laptop manfrs) Chipset .inf and Management Engine drivers first. Then LAN/Wireless and then update Windows for Critical fixes.
6. Then check Device Manager for devices without drivers and update them one at a time while still using Microsoft default ahci.
7. Use default "Balanced" Windows Power scheme and run WEI index and then Test ACPI transitioning for Sleep S3 (STR) and S4 Hibernate only.. Hybrid sleep is NOT designed for Mobile implements.
8. Power Cycle and Restart the laptop at least 20 times over a 1-2 day burn-in period with no added software installed.
9. Image this build as a 'baseline' install.
10. Now add software/apps/Intel RST and re-boot between each install to check stability.

Any issues along the way in steps 1-9, first un-install the most recent software.. any major issues, restore the 'baseline' image.

If you cannot get to step 9, there could be an issue with the drive and it may have to be replaced under Warranty (short winded procedure):

New Support Ticket/RMA details HERE .
RMA Procedures are HERE
Warranty details are HERE

Regards,"

 

Agreed 10001%, especially with the reliability aspect. I wouldn't install one on any of my ThinkPads even if someone gave it to me for free, but your machine - your call.

In my not-so-limited experience, more often than not it's the AV software that bugs the machine down. What do you have running on it?

 

I guess I should have checked here first before I purchased, damn! Right now, I don't have any programs installed other than MSE and Firefox. No AV software other than windows media player and the Lenovo spec NVIDIA driver.

 

How many processes are running on the system at the moment?

 

70 processes right now. It still seems to have picked up some after installed the chipset and rapid storage but its not anything I would brag about considering its still a fresh install and only a couple small programs.

 

That sounds about right.

Not for nothing, that thing should be flying right now...W510 is not a slouch...

 

This might be a longshot but would disabling indexing help OP out? Or is that done automatically when W7 recognizes an SSD?

I have not used an SSD in ~2 years now. Tech for the SSD has changed since then so forgive me for being newbish here

 

It's not done automatically and I'd d suggest taking that route, along with killing defrag, superfetch/prefetch...

 

Ive turned off indexing for the drive along with defrag. I originally turned off the superfetch but when I run the performance troubleshooting, the system turns it back on. I cant seem to find a definite solution for that, some say to turn it off, others say it doest matter and to keep it on. If I would have known it would be this much hassle, I would have have stuck with a 7200 hard drive. Honestly, that seemed to run real fast in my old Vaio with no issues, even after cloning the drive.

 

It doesn't have to be *that* much hassle. You've got a roadblock somewhere in the system, and that may very well be the SSD itself...

This is a pretty decent and easy to use tool, IMO:

SSD Tweaker 3.05 Download - TechSpot

That being said, I'd just get rid of the Agility and install an Intel/Crucial/Samsung SSD and start fresh, but that's me...

Good luck.

 

Well, Im back at it again. Due to the lackluster performance, I did another clean install after I gathered all of the required drivers. I installed them in order and updated all the Microsoft updates. I ran the WEI to see how its performing before I loaded any drivers and its looking good so far. I expected my I7 720 to be the weak like and it showed but my hard driver score was 7.7 out of 7.9, the highest Ive achieved so far. Now its time to load the hardware drivers but Im a little skeptical to use Lenovo's update because it shows a lot of drivers that Im not familiar with or do not need. in the past, I only loaded drivers for camera, fingerprint scanner, SD card, LAN, and Hot Keys, but Im concerned about the rest. What do you think about other drivers? What do I need to install versus what should I use windows to install? The update also shows 2 MS fixes to install. Every time I end up installing files I think I should, the computer ends up bogging down. Its actually running great right now, but I have a few yellow icons in my device manager.

 

What devices are those for?

 

Right now, all that's left is a PCI simple communications controller. I don't know what that could be. Could that be due to me not installing the SOL driver? Besides that, I have not yet installed Lenovo's "Intel RS AHCI Driver" yet. Im still on the standard controller like mentioned in the list.

 

I'm going to say it's the AHCI driver, chipset driver or combination of the two.

My take would be to install the chipset driver first if you haven't already done so.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

 

After many attempts to fix this and re-installing windows 7 I have finally discovered the problem. My 135 Watt power supply was only registering as a 90 watt, therefore reducing the performance of the computer the entire time. I noticed it while looking at the power manager and then reading a up on it. I had a wire on my plug that had become damaged and disconnected (center pin to ground). After taking the plug apart and soldering it back together, the power sully registered 135 watt and the comp now runs great.
FYI, Im also still on the standard AHCI driver which is giving me slightly better performance than the intel driver. Thanks for everyone's help!