Why You Need TRIM for your SSD [bit-tech]

[FiXT]

I've been doing a bit of research on SSD's recently after completely ignoring them since they became more mainstream.

Consequently I really didn't understand the "what" or "why" of the TRIM function. All I knew was that everyone told me I HAD to have it.

bit-tech writter Harry Butler has written a GREAT article about "Why You Need TRIM For Your SSD" and runs a bunch of comparison benchmarks to show the benefits.

Definitely a recommended read if your looking at diving into the SSD world

While the worlds of CPUs and GPUs continue on an ever-upward trundle in performance, their progress has been nothing compared to the performance improvements that SSDs have achieved over conventional hard disk drives since the first real consumer products started appearing on the market eighteen months ago. It’s why they’re such an enormously exciting part of the industry right now and with demand continuing to outstrip supply and despite increasingly volatile NAND pricing, it’s clear that many enthusiasts feel the same way.

[Link]

[SugarJ]

I read that article this morning before you posted. I now want a Vertex.

[rjbarker]

Huh....just updated FW to 02HD...now I can run Intel SSD Toolbox and Intel SSD Optimizer....no noticeable difference with HD tune Benches before and after FW Update, but I take it, from what little I've read, TRIM function is working in the background with this FW 02HD?

btw:
Transfer Rate:
Max 232.6
Min 165.8
Avg: 226.8

Burst Rate: 145.6
Access Time: 0.1 ms

Those numbers are very close to the same as when I tested it after new installation about 4 months ago. Had the original FW on it up to today.

Cheers

[AERo]

Great article.

While the worlds of CPUs and GPUs continue on an ever-upward trundle in performance...

He forgot to mention the ever-constant energy efficiency.

Performance increase, blah blah blah, but energy consumption / efficiency progression is horrid.
Just look at the bloody PSUs that are out these days... The look like blunt instruments of death.

SSD's energy efficiency isn't as good as one would expect either.
I have to give it to the SSD; not having noise or much heat to deal with is fantastic though.
(Not to mention the performance on Indilinx based SSDs)

I read that article this morning before you posted. I now want a Vertex.

Just got myself a Vertex
It had TRIM already on it, so I'm right now fine with not flashing it to 1.5
(Since I don't really see the benefit of GC, as I already have TRIM... Useless Intel propaganda)
I installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on it, and I must say, I was blown away by it's boot up time
and general performance. (SSD and the OS)

[BrianHanna]

Originally Posted by AERo

Great article.


He forgot to mention the ever-constant energy efficiency.

Performance increase, blah blah blah, but energy consumption / efficiency progression is horrid.
Just look at the bloody PSUs that are out these days... The look like blunt instruments of death.

SSD's energy efficiency isn't as good as one would expect either.
I have to give it to the SSD; not having noise or much heat to deal with is fantastic though.
(Not to mention the performance on Indilinx based SSDs)


Just got myself a Vertex
It had TRIM already on it, so I'm right now fine with not flashing it to 1.5
(Since I don't really see the benefit of GC, as I already have TRIM... Useless Intel propaganda)
I installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on it, and I must say, I was blown away by it's boot up time
and general performance. (SSD and the OS)

i have a vertex, got it a few days ago, the driver version seems to be 1.4

am i right in saying that i already have TRIM support?

i'm kind of confused with it, is it an automatic thing? or is there something i need to do manually.

Also, if anyone knows, is there anything special i should do in order to maintain my SSD, anything i should know (besides not de-fragmenting it)

[AkG]

ITGC is not useless. It is just another way of keeping things fast. In fact many people, myself included, PREFER ITGC to TRIM (or at least Indilinx's version of ITGC), as TRIM robs cycles when you are USING the SSD, instead of using cycles when you are not using it like ITGC does.

As for energy efficiency.....huh? 128GB SSD uses about the same power as 2.5 7200rpm drive and yet outperform a frickin VRaptor! That IS efficient. Sounds like you are the one spouting FUD as that came from a now debunked article where the SSD used more power than a hard drive during a certain test.....unfortunately what was NOT disclosed at the time of that early review was that it DID more in the same amount of time. :/

Furthermore their idle power consumption is EONS better than any HDD out there. Something which is important for laptop users.

YMMV I guess.

[AkG]

Originally Posted by BrianHanna

i have a vertex, got it a few days ago, the driver version seems to be 1.4

am i right in saying that i already have TRIM support?

i'm kind of confused with it, is it an automatic thing? or is there something i need to do manually.

Also, if anyone knows, is there anything special i should do in order to maintain my SSD, anything i should know (besides not de-fragmenting it)

Yes 1.4 has TRIM. 1.4.1 is ITGC version. 1.5 combines both, but it is unclear right now if wiper ext works with it or not (I assume it does).

All you basically have to do is set your BIOS mode to AHCI and not IDE and use MS AHCI drivers.....and of course use an TRIM aware OS, like windows 7. ;)

IF you are using an earlier OS. I recommend either 1.4.1 or 1.5 and using wiper.exe as that is basically a manual trim (kinda sorta).

TRIM is an automatic command that is sent by the OS which tells the SSD to not only mark a deleted file as deleted but to refreshen the cells it was in (i.e. bring them back to a virgin state).

Turn off defrag and indexing as they are the two big ones that will wear out the cells in your SSD faster than it should. On avg you have 10,000 write cycles w/ MLC NAND (reads dont really count) after that...they cant be written to and that is when you will start to see your drive "die".

firmware 1.5 is rumoured to bring back a lot of the power that was lost by introducing TRIM. So it may end up being the best firmware revision yet and be the best of both worlds! :)

[BrianHanna]

Originally Posted by AkG

Yes 1.4 has TRIM. 1.4.1 is ITGC version. 1.5 combines both, but it is unclear right now if wiper ext works with it or not (I assume it does).

All you basically have to do is set your BIOS mode to AHCI and not IDE and use MS AHCI drivers.....and of course use an TRIM aware OS, like windows 7. ;)

IF you are using an earlier OS. I recommend either 1.4.1 or 1.5 and using wiper.exe as that is basically a manual trim (kinda sorta).

TRIM is an automatic command that is sent by the OS which tells the SSD to not only mark a deleted file as deleted but to refreshen the cells it was in (i.e. bring them back to a virgin state).

Turn off defrag and indexing as they are the two big ones that will wear out the cells in your SSD faster than it should. On avg you have 10,000 write cycles w/ MLC NAND (reads dont really count) after that...they cant be written to and that is when you will start to see your drive "die".

firmware 1.5 is rumoured to bring back a lot of the power that was lost by introducing TRIM. So it may end up being the best firmware revision yet and be the best of both worlds! :)

i turned off defrag no problem, how do i turn of indexing? just right click -> properties -> check box to turn of indexing?

[AkG]

Here is a good list of tweaks and how to do them:

Windows 7 - Ultimate SSD Speed Tweaks

:)

[BrianHanna]

Thanks!