Search found 35 matches

by CTT
Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:57 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Is it possible to check the "usage" on an Intel SSD?
Replies: 8
Views: 5525

Re: Is it possible to check the "usage" on an Intel SSD?

What would that SMART attributes be?
I updated the firmware on my X25-M twice and I didn't see any of the SMART values I was checking (media wearout, host writes, power-on hours) being reset.
by CTT
Sun May 01, 2011 1:07 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Single Platter 500GB 2.5" Hard Drive?
Replies: 15
Views: 14636

Re: Single Platter 500GB 2.5" Hard Drive?

Hitachi announced a 500 GB/platter drive for quiet some time. It's on their website with datasheet and everything but I haven't found it in retail yet.
http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib. ... 500_ds.pdf
by CTT
Tue Apr 19, 2011 12:44 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: SSD Endurance - My Personal Surprise
Replies: 35
Views: 19395

Re: SSD Endurance - My Personal Surprise

1. All things equal will a 120G SSD with 30G of data on it have 2x or 3x the number of writes than a 60G SSD with 30G of data on it? 2. Does wear leveling mean that even untouched files are moved around? 3. If an SSD uses its extra space for wear leveling, why does it help to convert some of that s...
by CTT
Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:18 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Is it possible to check the "usage" on an Intel SSD?
Replies: 8
Views: 5525

Re: Is it possible to check the "usage" on an Intel SSD?

ces wrote:
CTT wrote:Have a look at the Host Writes attribute in Intel's SSD Toolbox
Does the Toolbox run as a normal application that you launch after Windows is up and running?
Yes.
by CTT
Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:11 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: SSD Endurance - My Personal Surprise
Replies: 35
Views: 19395

Re: SSD Endurance - My Personal Surprise

SSDs are indeed somewhat hindered by the limited erase cycles, but this shouldn't be a problem under normal (i.e. non-server) usage if: a) You don't write significant amounts of unnecessary data. b) Give it a bit of breathing space. To address these two issues (that for me seemed the most important ...
by CTT
Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:50 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Is it possible to check the "usage" on an Intel SSD?
Replies: 8
Views: 5525

Re: Is it possible to check the "usage" on an Intel SSD?

Yes, it's possible to check the amount of written data. Have a look at the Host Writes attribute in Intel's SSD Toolbox (Check SMART Attributes menu).
by CTT
Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:50 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Intel® Solid-State Drive 320 Series
Replies: 23
Views: 13699

Re: Intel® Solid-State Drive 320 Series

The sample in the review is the smallest version (80GB); they'll be available in sizes up to 600GB.
Higher capacity will bring higher speeds (at least for sequential writes).
by CTT
Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:35 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: What Causes "snappiness" in Performance
Replies: 33
Views: 7937

Re: What Causes "snappiness" in Performance

As far as I can tell (from personal experience) all trivial tasks are I/O-bound on modern PCs. CPUs (and motherboards) aren't really a factor and eye-candy (if you're into that sort of things) it's handled with relative ease even by integrated graphics. My Athlon X2 (underclocked to) 1 GHz and Athlo...
by CTT
Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:46 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Which material would transfer heat but not vibration?
Replies: 11
Views: 4409

Re: Which material would transfer heat but not vibration?

I think the document people are referring to is this one: http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fresearch.google.com%2Farchive%2Fdisk_failures.pdf&ei=j-FkTenoDoGfOoWBsfYF&usg=AFQjCNGdAu5mMDlzXvPg0CSZPH6HavPX3g I'm not terribly concerned about high temperatures e...
by CTT
Sat Jan 08, 2011 2:28 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Moving a 4k sector drive from XP to 7
Replies: 3
Views: 3410

Re: Moving a 4k sector drive from XP to 7

1. No, the drive doesn't come prepartitioned. You will have to create a partition with a third party software tool or let Windows setup do it for you. 2. Yes, kind of. WD Align will move this partition, but the alignment is not "to Windows XP" but to the internal sectors of the drive. Once you have ...
by CTT
Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:53 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Moving a 4k sector drive from XP to 7
Replies: 3
Views: 3410

Re: Moving a 4k sector drive from XP to 7

"Doing the partition align with WD Tool" is the same thing that Windows Vista/7 do on a new (i.e. unpartitioned) drive, so there should be no problem when moving to 7. If you go the jumper way Windows 7 will actually misalign the partition if you try to repartition the drive with it. If you keep you...
by CTT
Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:33 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 2010 SSD pricing (for drives >= barefoot controller perf)
Replies: 114
Views: 55718

The fact that the new generation will be introduced at about the same price point as the last one is understandable and quiet predictable.
Unfortunately the G2 didn't really go down in price during its life cycle as it happened with G1.
by CTT
Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:00 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: SandForce-based SSDs join the entry-level bunch
Replies: 3
Views: 2492

Just for the record (if anybody else was wondering), the F40 uses 12 NAND ICs, hence 6 channels (48GB total with 22% of that for over-provisioning).

http://www.storagereview.com/corsair_fo ... eview_40gb
by CTT
Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:07 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: SandForce-based SSDs join the entry-level bunch
Replies: 3
Views: 2492

SandForce-based SSDs join the entry-level bunch

Corsair announced new SandForce-based SSDs, including a 40GB model: http://www.techpowerup.com/127001/Corsair_Announces_Additions_to_its_Force_Series_Family_of_Solid-State_Drives.html http://www.cdrlabs.com/News/corsair-announces-40gb-80gb-and-160gb-force-series-ssds.html I was wondering if SandForc...
by CTT
Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:51 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Do SATA drives need 3.3V?
Replies: 6
Views: 5267

Back in the days the molex connector was introduced, 5V for integrated circuits was standard so they could run directly on the 5V line while the motors used the 12V. Nowadays 3.3V is more common (that's why SATA added it to the power connector), but I wouldn't be surprised if HDD/ODD controllers sti...
by CTT
Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:01 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Do SATA drives need 3.3V?
Replies: 6
Views: 5267

Most probably no.

All HDDs/SSDs that I had so far worked with Molex to SATA power adapters (no 3.3V).
by CTT
Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:17 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Are there still bios undervolt motherboards?
Replies: 10
Views: 6251

Most Gigabyte motherboards have undervolting options.
I don't think Asus would be a good choice from this point of view; I exchanged the last Asus motherboard I had (AMD 780G) for a Gigabyte with the same chipset and one of the two reasons was specifically this - lack of undervolting.
by CTT
Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:03 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 1TB most silent drive?
Replies: 27
Views: 20310

Note: 4th has same density as 3rd. I just made it a separate generation in that list because it has a drastically different logical structure: 4096 byte sectors instead of 512 byte which is used by EVERY other HDD on the market. Not compatible with Windows XP and older. That last sentence it's a bi...
by CTT
Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:26 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Looking for low-power 2.5" HD, 320+ GB
Replies: 2
Views: 2229

If you want to avoid using multiple ports or external power supplies, I would start looking for a drive that has a cable with a single USB connector; it will probably still push a bit the USB specs (at startup) but you'll have a better chance it won't be by much. I would suggest getting an external ...
by CTT
Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:07 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Looking for quiet, low power, single platter desktop HDD
Replies: 9
Views: 4871

Noise-wise I can't really hear the difference between the WD10EADS and WD15EARS, so it's possible that the EARS is quieter than the EADS for the same number of platters.
Regarding the power, I don't have any means to measure it; the temperature is about the same.
by CTT
Tue Jan 26, 2010 4:24 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Looking for quiet, low power, single platter desktop HDD
Replies: 9
Views: 4871

I have a 500GB F2 EcoGreen (single platter) and indeed it is very quiet (the quietest drive I've ever had, actually). Unfortunately the seeks are pretty noisy, especially considering how quiet the drive is, and changing the AAM setting doesn't help that much either. I also have two WD Caviar Green d...
by CTT
Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:22 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: My experience with a new WD1500HLFS
Replies: 3
Views: 4090

Usually the number of platters does influence noise and heat/power (not just in theory, also in practice), and I would expect it to be even more so with high RPM drives.

It seems WD's next generation Raptor is in development:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17194
by CTT
Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:55 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: AMD 905e - anyone using it?
Replies: 17
Views: 8903

The 905e is 65W, so if you want the lowest TDP (AMD) quad core possible (45W) you'll have to go for an Athlon II (600e, 605e). As far as I know there's no Phenom II with 45W TDP at the moment.
by CTT
Fri Dec 25, 2009 2:38 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: greater than 2 Tb 3.5"?
Replies: 4
Views: 4442

We can only speculate about the release of higher than 2 TB HDDs as there are none announced at this moment (as far as I know). Technically, I think it might be possible to build one now with 5x500GB platters; however, it seems manufacturers will break the limit with higher density platters: http://...
by CTT
Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:20 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: SDHC raid
Replies: 15
Views: 10677

I had a try at using a CF card (supposedly SLC) with an IDE adapter as a makeshift SSD for the OS (WinXP). It didn't really work. I tried aligning the partition, removing the swap file and all sorts of tricks but in the end it was still stuttering (and yes, it was working in DMA mode - some adapters...
by CTT
Thu Dec 03, 2009 1:17 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Micron C200 and C300 SSDs with Marvell controller
Replies: 4
Views: 2858

The cache is "only" 256 MB (2 Gb), not 2 GB - see last paragraph here: http://www.dailytech.com/UPDATED+Micron+Announces+Worlds+First+Native+6Gbps+SATA+Solid+State+Drive/article17007.htm They have some benchmarks in the video below, not complete (only synthetic & sequential, no random 4K) but a star...
by CTT
Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:17 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: TRIM is released...
Replies: 34
Views: 19405

You don't "have" to run SSD Optimizer, but it improves performance in the short run. Imagine the situation where you have written two 40 GB files before the TRIM firmware update (just for the sake of argument, I'm not considering here the real user capacity of the drive or file system overhead). At ...
by CTT
Wed Oct 28, 2009 11:26 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: TRIM is released...
Replies: 34
Views: 19405

I think Intel is a bit confusing about this, so here's how I see it (I sure hope I'm not confusing anybody more than I need to :D): TRIM is a command sent to the SSD drive by software; this software can be the OS or an application. The command specifies what sectors are free from the "software" (fil...
by CTT
Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:29 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 2.5" vs 3.5" HDD.
Replies: 22
Views: 9467

I have a 500 GB WD My Passport (external) which supposedly has a WD5000BEVT inside and I find it to be noticeably louder than Samsung F2 EcoGreen 500 GB and WD Caviar Green 1TB (2 platters); vibration wise it's even worse (although its lower mass means it shouldn't be that hard to dampen). Comparis...