Intel 520 + LSI 9260 performance issues

Hey folks,

getting some really crappy results out of 4x Intel 520 240GB SSDs in R0 on an Intel RS2BL040 (= LSI 9260) Controller. I can't get over ~800MB/s sequential out of the array no matter what I try (tested CDM, AS SSD, and lots of other tools). Is there some sort of known compatibility issue with Sandforce drives and this controller? But I can't imagine, considering both pieces of hardware run Intel firmware.

Or could the issue be related to the fact I'm using an EVGA SR-2 motherboard, thus the card being controlled by those cursed NF200 chips?

Basically my question is whether another Raid card would fare better here.. I seem to recall people getting good results with Areca on the SR-2? What I'm looking for is good overall performance here.

The SR-2 can do much better!

Someone used 2x 9260-8i's with the SR-2 in this forum and got great results, NF200 was an issue but I can't recall to what extent.
I haven't "seen" him for a long time, will try to see if I can find the thread. (he was the thread starter so it's not part of some other thread)

Have you tried other slots?

Not yet, that is next on the agenda. 2x HD7970's blocking slots 1-4, controller is in slot 5 at the moment. Full WC so can't really move the GFX cards.

Edit: I know it can do better, I've set up 8x Vertex 3's in a span array on 2x Areca 1880's for a customer a while back, and I got over 3500MB/s sequential in CDM. Just a weird combo of cards and slots, maybe...

Here's a link to the thread

Link

Thanks... so he was using 3 cards initially, then went to another motherboard, which didn't improve performance...? I'll try swapping slots and report back...

Swapping slots did not help. Ordered an Areca 1882i. We shall see :P

Weird that it did not help.
It could be a bad combo of components, I've never had issues getting the 9260 working except for some issues where it was unable to load pre-boot setup (WebBIOS).
(not an issue for me as I don't boot on the raid controller, easily configurable using MSM)

Let us know how it works out.

Putting the 1882 in Slot 6 worked well. Performance is now at ~1.8GB/s sequential with 4x R0, 4k qd32 values also doubled to 300-400MB/s, latency decreased. AS SSD Score went from 708 to 1500 something. Winsat showed 1780MB/s seq. read and the max. delay was 1.8ms which is awesome :)
Will use the LSI/Intel Controller in another rig (without NF200's...) with 2-4x Plextor M3s now, should work better.