Raid0 and TRIM Support on Intel 11.5 OROM and Latest v11.5.0.1184 RST Drivers ?

[Fernando]

anyone know if X58 was finally included in letting TRIM pass-thru to RAID?

Only Intel 7-Series and X79 chipsets are natively supported by the TRIM in RAID0 feature.

or maybe even hacked drivers?

It aren't the drivers, but the Intel RAID ROM module, which prevents, that the TRIM command passes through the Intel ICH9R/ICH10R SATA RAID Controllers of X58 chipset RAID0 systems. TRIM in RAID0 is a no go for X58 chipset RAID0 arrays, not even a modified Intel RAID ROM will enable this feature.

[daedao]

I have :

- one Gigabyte UD5 motherboard running on the official F13 (latest) BIOS
- 2 Crucial m4 64gb running in AHCI mode
- I will have 2 Samsung 840 Pro 128gb in 2 days (they are shipping as I write this)


I downloaded from tweaktown:
- modded BIOS F13 with IRST 11.5.0.1347 orom
- modded BIOS F13 with IRST 11.1.0.1413 orom
- modded BIOS F13 with IRST 11.6.0.1702 orom


I want:
- to set the 2 Crucial ssds in RAID 0
- to set the 2 Samsung ssds in RAID 0

Can someone please advise on which modded BIOS should I use to get the best performance?

Can someone please advise also on which RST driver version should I install on W7x64?

The general rule of thumb is that x58 ICHR10 DOES NOT SUPPORT TRIM IN RAID 0.
Thank you very much Intel, you s.

But I'm betting the house on Crucial's and Samsung's Garbage Collection algorithms on the ssds firmware.

Am I stupid for all of the above?
Should I just forget about Raid 0 on x58?

Thank you for bearing with my long plea for an honest advice.

[Fernando]

Can someone please advise on which modded BIOS should I use to get the best performance?

If I were you, I would take the actual BIOS F13 with the Intel RAID ROM v11.6.0.1702.

Can someone please advise also on which RST driver version should I install on W7x64?

If you want the best performance, you should install the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006.

The general rule of thumb is that x58 ICHR10 DOES NOT SUPPORT TRIM IN RAID 0.

Yes, that is fact and may minimize the life time of your SSDs.

Should I just forget about Raid 0 on x58?

To be honest: I would not run the SSDs as RAID0 without having TRIM support.

[daedao]

To be honest: I would not run the SSDs as RAID0 without having TRIM support.

Not to dismiss you, since you are a legend with modded bioses, but wouldn't GC (garbage collectors) have the same effect as TRIM?
I know that passing the TRIM command to the controller is more elegant and rapid, but with GC you get the same results just not right after you delete a file.

Your SSD has to be in idle state for the GC to kick in.
At least with the Crucial drives. And I believe Samsung has something similar if not better than Crucial's implementation. Both I think are good at this.

SSDs have come a long way since 2007-2008 era when having TRIM functionality was a must have.
I believe that today's SSDs have better firmwares. Crucial and Samsung are probably the best right now.

I plan to use the raids for booting Windows, Linux, games and some virtual machines loading and java compiling, and since i'm on an "old" chipset (x58) I do not have sata 6gbps ports, so I want to make up for that by using SSDs in raid 0. So I won't be writing to the SSD all that much. Just initially when I setup my OS and restore my Steam collection and copy my VMs.
After that it will mostly be reading from the SSDs.

I'm not that rich to buy a new motherboard and processor just because Intel wants so and I plan to give my platform a few more years.
My UD5 coupled with my i7 980x and 24 GB ram rocks. I see no real reason to upgrade.

[DooRules]

Used R0 for years without trim, and have seen no negative results from it. Nice to have it but not the be all end all from where I stand and it surely would not prevent me from using R0 now if I did not have trim.

[Ourasi]

Raid0 without TRIM is the reality for the majority of raiders with SSD's, and if you keep enough free space or have a decent spare area combined with good GC/FW, there is no reason not to enjoy raid0, as many of us XS-storage-nerds has for years..

TRIM+raid0 makes SSD-raid0 less high-maintenance for powerusers and is alot more bench-friendly, but we can live without it... The SSD-raid0 newb however, that fills the the array to the brink and benches to the tillt before popping up on various forums complaining about bad performance, it might be a godsent

[Fernando]

@ daedao:
My answer "I would not run the SSDs as RAID0 without having TRIM support" was valid just for me and not for all other SSD RAID0 users.
So there is no difference between Ourasi's and my statement.
Furthermore I want to mention, that the relevance of the TRIM support does not only depend on the usage of the SSDs, but on their intern Controller and Firmware too. Not all SSDs have a very effective Garbage Collection.

[stasio]

RST 12.6.0.1028 (ROM 12.6.0.1867) is out.

[daedao]

@ daedao:
My answer "I would not run the SSDs as RAID0 without having TRIM support" was valid just for me and not for all other SSD RAID0 users.
So there is no difference between Ourasi's and my statement.
Furthermore I want to mention, that the relevance of the TRIM support does not only depend on the usage of the SSDs, but on their intern Controller and Firmware too. Not all SSDs have a very effective Garbage Collection.

I'm not saying you're not right. TRIM is important, but I think that it's also overrated.
Good garbage collection does the same.

Anyway thank you for your advices, I was able yesterday to flash the bios very easily and with no problem whatsoever.

Maybe this weekend I'll have some time to set up my new Windows 7 install on the RAID stripe.
After that I'll post some numbers here.

[stasio]

Intel? Rapid Storage Technology Driver 12.6.0.1033 WHQL is out.

[EricCRNA]

Newbie here! I am a bit confused on all this TRIM for SSD RAID 0.
I want to build a new system with 2 ssd's in raid 0 with TRIM. What motherboard can I purchase that will support this without having to install modified bios? Which X79 mb? Which Z77 mb? or must I install a modded bios to have trim function? I am interested in the AsRock x79. Thank you and sorry if I ask dumb questions.

[Zaxx]

afaik...Z77 based mobos don't need the bios modded to allow raid arrays to be trimed, it's the Z67/Z68 (maybe X79, not sure) that do. Not sure if intel ever 'fixed' the raid for X79's. I remember some pretty mad X79 owners when they seen that everyone else could get trim working except folks that bought high end intel gear (X79 and socket 2011). I'd be mad as hell to lol. They may have pulled it off by now....I quit following the story once I got a hold of a modded bios/rom for my Z68...lol

You may want to wait 2 weeks for Haswell and the Z87 chipset to launch....I would, but that's just me. If u do wait you can spend the time picking out all the other components for your build. You'll pay a little more (vs. Z77 etc.) cuz you're buying at launch time but it shouldn't be too terrible.

[Lu(ky]

Does anyone know if the new Intel Z87 motherboard that are all SATA 6Gb/s will run a 3 or 4 x Samsung 840 Pro in the Intel RST with trim? As of now I am getting the following results pictured below and probably only going to get maybe a increase in Writes if anything. But only having 2 x 128GB I need a bit of more space and I figured why not try it.. Any thoughts
Thanks

[Lu(ky]

Does anyone know if the new Intel Z87 motherboard that are all SATA 6Gb/s will run a 3 or 4 x Samsung 840 Pro in the Intel RST with trim? As of now I am getting the following results pictured below and probably only going to get maybe a increase in Writes if anything. But only having 2 x 128GB I need a bit of more space and I figured why not try it.. Any thoughts
Thanks

Well after reading Gigabyte manual I've discovered that in a RAID 0 or 1 you must have 2 or more or even number of drives it says. So I assume 3 x Samsung 840 Pro's in a R0 will not work. Heading to Microcenter to pick up my 4th 840 Pro. Not worried about so many drives as I will be building another system soon if I do not think the performance is all that great I will split 2 x to the other system.

Anyone have any ideas on what I should put for the block size.

Thanks


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[B Gates]

you can use 3 or 5 drives it doesn't matter

[Lu(ky]

Thx B Gates

Here is what I got with my so far still feel my reads should be in the 1500..

[B Gates]

Thx B Gates

Here is what I got with my so far still feel my reads should be in the 1500..

You need to turn on write caching its not turned on. Also make sure your cstates are turned off. 11.2 is a better driver too

[andressergio]

guys i need to clear my mind with something...

if my raid is not trimed and i do an image to disk with Acronis True Image Home 2013 then i erase the SSD and dump the image back, would it be of any benefit on performance ? does acronis alings or trims the data ?

Thanks !!!
Sergio

[B Gates]

guys i need to clear my mind with something...

if my raid is not trimed and i do an image to disk with Acronis True Image Home 2013 then i erase the SSD and dump the image back, would it be of any benefit on performance ? does acronis alings or trims the data ?

Thanks !!!
Sergio

thats even better than TRIM its a great way to refresh your array

[the_real_7]

guys i need to clear my mind with something...

if my raid is not trimed and i do an image to disk with Acronis True Image Home 2013 then i erase the SSD and dump the image back, would it be of any benefit on performance ? does acronis alings or trims the data ?

Thanks !!!
Sergio

Acronis 2010 thru 2013 align disk if your not sure open as ssd and look up at the top left .

[B Gates]

(4) Samsungs on Z87:

[Computurd]

Stanky

[B Gates]

current setup:

[andressergio]

(4) samsungs on z87:

mama mia !!!

[andressergio]

thats even better than TRIM its a great way to refresh your array

Acronis 2010 thru 2013 align disk if your not sure open as ssd and look up at the top left .

thanks guys !!!