How does the SSD cache work?

The notebook NP530U4C-S01IN has 24GB SSD Sandisk cache

How will this drive be used?

The laptop originally came with Windows 7 and the laptop seems faster when resumed from sleep / opening lid

I re-installed the OS with Windows 8.1 Pro and the laptop isn't that fast anymore.

How can I know that the SSD cache is being used? In the device manager I see that the content of the drive is 23.5 GB and free is also 23.5 GB

 

if in device manager the cache drive is present it is not being used as a cache drive. Usually with Samsun laptops you have to deformat the drive and unallocated then install Samsung's express cache software.

 

You need to "Enable acceleration" in the Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology) application[1].
After that the cache drive will not be assigned a letter anymore but it will be automatically used to enhance the disk drive operations on the accelerated volume.

[1] http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-032826.htm

 

These have a 24 GB iSSD express cache. I do not think Intel SRT can enable it as it is not a regular msata device.

 

I've never tried with SanDisk drives. Is it a ReadyCache?
The minimum drive capacity for Intel SRT is 16GB[1], so if that's the only issue it should work fine.

[1] http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/smart-response-technology.html

 

The problem with the Samsung iSSD is it is not part of the SATA at boot, it is initialized after bios. If it is a true SanDisk msata drive then it is a different story but these have the included iSSD 24gb.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-i-want-my-expresscache-back-edition.638788/

 

I think this looks like ExpressCache. I do have the Intel Express Cache installed (part of Samsung drivers) and see the service running too
not sure if that is doing it's job

 

When I ran the "eccmd -info" I get the following

 

Your ExpressCache appears to be working fine, based on that ECCmd output.

As already pointed out by others, ExpressCache is purely a software based implementation from the company Condusiv Technologies (formerly Diskeeper) -- software based in the sense that the iSSD won't do anything unless the ExpressCache software is installed and running. Without that software installed, it can be used as a regular SSD drive -- albeit small and fairly slow. And (as mentioned by @TANWare) it it is invisible to BIOS, which unfortunately makes it unbootable.

For other who might see this, much of our useful ExpressCache discussion is in the thread linked below, including this post on the last page about where to find the latest version.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-i-want-my-expresscache-back-edition.638788/