(Storage) SSD Discussion Thread

[hanlsnx]

Hi guys just my 2 cents here.

OCZ does have many reported BSODs in their forums. This is public knowledge no one can deny it. A likely reason being they are the first to have access to the latest SandForce controllers before other brands. Likewise OCZ is also the fastest to release Firmware updates due to their priority access and close working relationship with Sandforce. I have been informed that OCZ engineers in fact share firmware tweaks and advice to the Sandforce team. I know this since I am a OCZ partner but there is no public information to prove this.

Till date almost all SSD manufacturers have faced their own issues (Intel, Crucial, OCZ, Samsung too in their early days when OCZ had used their controller in the Summit series). No one can declare which brand is 100% trouble free. Consumer SSD technology is only about 5 years old vs HDD which has been around since 1960 (consumer HDD only became affordable in late 1980s Hard disk drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Understandably HDD is going to be more trouble-free with so much time for the technology to mature.

Hope this proves insightful to all who understand or are new to SSDs. Ultimately its your choice of brand. Information is widely available online its just how you draw your own conclusions

No disagreements there but there is no denying what you just said but then again will never bother looking at a new launched OCZ product. If its me I will wait for at least 2 revisions.

Fastest to release firmware upgrades is also a double edged sword. With OCZ acquisition of Indilinx I am pretty sure that big things to come from them. But against the big boys like Micron , Intel and Samsung. Pretty soon it will become clear that price point will be the only competitive factor and OCZ has been proving only 1/2 decent in that department.

OCZ's Octane solid-state drive arrived with one major question mark; can it make the Indilinx Everest controller a viable alternative to the established solutions from the likes of Marvell and SandForce?

The answer's yes, but it isn't quite as clear cut as that. SandForce drives still have the edge in terms of raw throughput, Marvell-driven SSDs have proven to be strong all rounders, and the Octane - albeit equally potent in certain scenarios - isn't any cheaper and needs to undercut the competition to truly stand out.

As a home-user upgrade, the 128GB, SATA 6Gbps model will deliver an instant jolt of speed that's consistent irrespective of the data type in use, and it's well worthy of consideration for that purpose alone. But less-than-stellar write speeds - particularly at high queue depths - prevent the drive from being a great all-rounder.

And then there's the issue of tried-and-trusted reliability. Drives based on Marvell and SandForce controllers have been available for some time, and both have benefited from firmware updates that introduced greater performance and stability. The relatively-new Octane, and its underlying Indilinx Everest controller, remains something of an unknown entity.

Really right now there are many companies in the same ball game with sorry to say similar controllers with different ram chips and different marketing strategies that's all. I am still waiting for OCZ to finally come good with Indilinx controllers.

 

[adrianlee]

Corsair Performance Pro 256GB SSD Review
Corsair Performance Pro 256GB SSD Review
Corsair Performance Pro 256GB SSD Review - Introduction & Specifications
OCZ Octane 128GB SSD Review
OCZ Octane SSD (128GB) - Storage - Review - HEXUS.net

Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD Review
Kingston HyperX 240 GB Review - Page 1/11 | techPowerUp

Patriot Pyro SE 120GB & 240GB SSD Review
Patriot Pyro SE 120GB & 240GB SSD Review - Introduction & Specifications

60/64 GB SSD Shootout: Crucial, Samsung, And SandForce
60/64 GB SSD Shootout: Crucial, Samsung, And SandForce : Which 64 GB SSD Is The Best?

Corsair Performance Series Pro 256GB Solid State Drive Review
Reviews Content Archive Listing :: TweakTown USA Edition/4504/corsair_performance_series_pro_256gb_solid_state_drive_review/index.html

Corsair Force GT & Performance Pro SATA III SSD Roundup
Corsair Force GT & Performance Pro SATA III SSD Roundup - Corsair Offers Compelling SSD Choices - Legit Reviews

Corsair Performance Pro 128GB SSD Review
Corsair Performance Pro 128GB

Patriot Pyro SE 120GB RAID0 SSD Review
Patriot Pyro SE SATA III Solid State Drive Review - HotHardware

 

[rty]

So right now the only one left with a solid track record is Intel and Samsung.

My 128GB Samsung SSD bought from Amazon died a week after installation

 

[zer0ne]

u muz be kidding me... i bought their SSD less than 2 days ago for its reliability... Oh well...

Crucial released their latest firmware 0309 for M4.

 

[xtreme84]

Crucial released their latest firmware 0309 for M4.

I've updated the firmware for mine. It was quick and painless. I hope this update really fixes the bug.

 

[habsters]

My 128GB Samsung SSD bought from Amazon died a week after installation

 

[habsters]

Crucial released their latest firmware 0309 for M4.

updated... Yup I felt that firmware 0309 is faster than 0009... The speed is quite noticeable aft I did the upgrade, startup time faster by a few seconds than usual... thanks for informing us on this update...

 

[Citiguy]

Crucial released their latest firmware 0309 for M4.

zer0ne, how does one check the existing version of the SSD firmware? TIA for replies.

 

[Citiguy]

I've updated the firmware for mine. It was quick and painless. I hope this update really fixes the bug.

xtreme84, did you use the instructions as listed here? > http://edge.crucial.com/firmware/m4/0309/ProductFlyer-letter_m4-firmware0309_01-12.pdf

 

[zer0ne]

zer0ne, how does one check the existing version of the SSD firmware? TIA for replies.

I guess those ssd benchmarking software does the trick...like as-ssd , hdtune etc

 

[xtreme84]

xtreme84, did you use the instructions as listed here? > http://edge.crucial.com/firmware/m4/0309/ProductFlyer-letter_m4-firmware0309_01-12.pdf

Yup, I did. But I actually followed the instructions in the links that @MacClipper gave and made a bootable USB drive with the contents of the .iso file. It took less than 5 minutes and all my data are intact. Check out the links in his post.

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/63268431-post40.html

 

[Citiguy]

I guess those ssd benchmarking software does the trick...like as-ssd , hdtune etc

Thanks zer0ne, I guess whatever my present firmware version now, I would still need to update to firmware Rev 0309. No choice!

 

[samtang]

zer0ne, how does one check the existing version of the SSD firmware? TIA for replies.

If you buy it brand new, it is written on the back label. Otherwise can go device manager, click properties of the drive, then check disk id.

 

[Citiguy]

If you buy it brand new, it is written on the back label. Otherwise can go device manager, click properties of the drive, then check disk id.

Thanks samtang, I've followed your instruction and found that my M4 firmware is Rev 0009.

 

[samtang]

Thanks zer0ne, I guess whatever my present firmware version now, I would still need to update to firmware Rev 0309. No choice!

Ya, no choice. Sooner or later will hit the problem. See changelog. Used the CD method to update mine. Reckon this is easier than trying to create a bootable flash drive unless you don't have a CD drive. Don't need to revert back to ide mode i.e. can remain in ahci mode (the instruction to change is not there anymore).

Release Notes Firmware 0302

Release Date: 01/13/2012
Change Log:
Changes made in version 0002 (m4 can be updated to revision 0309 directly from
either revision 0001, 0002, or 0009)
Correct a condition where an incorrect response to a SMART counter will cause
the m4 drive to become unresponsive after 5184 hours of Power-on time. The drive
will recover after a power cycle, however, this failure will repeat once per
hour after reaching this point. The condition will allow the end user to
successfully update firmware, and poses no risk to user or system data stored on
the drive.
This firmware update is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for drives in the field. Although
the failure mode due to the SMART Power On Hours counter poses no risk to saved
user data, the failure mode can become repetitive, and pose a nuisance to the
end user. If the end user has not yet observed this failure mode, this update is
required to prevent it from happening.
If you are using a SAS Expander please do not download this Firmware. As soon as
we have a Firmware Update that will work in these applications we will release
it.

 

[Citiguy]

Ya, no choice. Sooner or later will hit the problem. See changelog. Used the CD method to update mine. Reckon this is easier than trying to create a bootable flash drive unless you don't have a CD drive. Don't need to revert back to ide mode i.e. can remain in ahci mode (the instruction to change is not there anymore).

Release Notes Firmware 0302

Release Date: 01/13/2012
Change Log:
Changes made in version 0002 (m4 can be updated to revision 0309 directly from
either revision 0001, 0002, or 0009)
Correct a condition where an incorrect response to a SMART counter will cause
the m4 drive to become unresponsive after 5184 hours of Power-on time. The drive
will recover after a power cycle, however, this failure will repeat once per
hour after reaching this point. The condition will allow the end user to
successfully update firmware, and poses no risk to user or system data stored on
the drive.
This firmware update is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for drives in the field. Although
the failure mode due to the SMART Power On Hours counter poses no risk to saved
user data, the failure mode can become repetitive, and pose a nuisance to the
end user. If the end user has not yet observed this failure mode, this update is
required to prevent it from happening.
If you are using a SAS Expander please do not download this Firmware. As soon as
we have a Firmware Update that will work in these applications we will release
it.

Ya, I am planning to use the CD option. (since I have a lot of empty CDs on hand).

But I am concerned on Step 2:
2. Plug Drive into Motherboard port 0-3
If your SSD is in a desktop computer system, ensure that your SSD is plugged into one of the first four ports on the motherboard, typically labeled 0 through 3. Some systems do not support “hot-plugging” your SSD. If necessary, shut down power to your system before plugging your SSD into a new port.

I don't know how to check that my SSD is plugged into the first four ports. How do I check this fact?

TIA for replies.

 

[samtang]

Ya, I am planning to use the CD option. (since I have a lot of empty CDs on hand).

But I am concerned on Step 2:
2. Plug Drive into Motherboard port 0-3
If your SSD is in a desktop computer system, ensure that your SSD is plugged into one of the first four ports on the motherboard, typically labeled 0 through 3. Some systems do not support “hot-plugging” your SSD. If necessary, shut down power to your system before plugging your SSD into a new port.

I don't know how to check that my SSD is plugged into the first four ports. How do I check this fact?

TIA for replies.

You can check the port that the drive is connected to by looking closely to the bootup messages (not sure if your pc post those msg). Normally it is very fast and you have really got to catch it. After 2 or 3 reboot you should be able catch it. Alternatively have to open the cover to check.

Why don't you try booting with the CD. Check if it could find the SSD. You can always say no to the update after it found the drive. I reckon that if it finds the drive, it should be OK. Users has reported that they could update on the Sata 3 port as well.

 

[Citiguy]

You can check the port that the drive is connected to by looking closely to the bootup messages (not sure if your pc post those msg). Normally it is very fast and you have really got to catch it. After 2 or 3 reboot you should be able catch it. Alternatively have to open the cover to check.

Why don't you try booting with the CD. Check if it could find the SSD. You can always say no to the update after it found the drive. I reckon that if it finds the drive, it should be OK. Users has reported that they could update on the Sata 3 port as well.

Hi samtang,

My casing has a clear window. Me looking at the mobo now, but me being such a noob, can't figure out which is the head and which is the tail!

Anyway, I have burnt the new firmware to a CD. I then tried to press F12 during the bootup and then selected CD as the first boot drive.

After that gave it a try! It worked! My firmware is now Rev 0309!

Thanks to everyone here who has helped to comment on my questions and to raise the awareness of this M4 problem.

P/S: After the update, I took note of the boot-up message as what samtang has advised. I now noticed that my SSD is on Port 0. At least, now I know what information I can get from the boot-up message.

 

[xonix]

Please give some comments/feedback, looking at 3 SSD ( all 60gb capacity ), intended usage is for SSD caching.

In terms of price from lowest to highest:

ssd 1 ( jmicron JMF616 ) > ssd 2 ( sandforce-1222 ) > ssd 3 ( indilinx martini )

 

[loupgarou2]

if i hold OS on normal HDD + caching ssd (ocz synapse eg), would it be better rather than holding everything on a eg: (ocz agility) in terms of lifetime of the ssd.

I would think things like swap files and torrent downloads all introduces all kind of disk trashing which on a ssd probably decreases its lifetime.