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

[B Gates]

andressergio definitively had used the Intel RST(e) drivers, before he "downgraded" to the RST driver v11.2.0.1006.
Furthermore there are big differences regarding iaStorF between Windows 7 and Windows 8. Win8 doesn't use the SCSI filter driver iaStorF.sys at all, even if you install any of the RST(e) drivers.
Reason: Win8 and Win8.1 do support the UNMAP command, whereas Win7 doesn't do it. The TRIM in RAID0 feature requires the UNMAP command to let TRIM pass the Intel SATA RAID Controller into the RAIDed SSDs.

RAID 0 TRIM works with windows 7. I have never used a RST(e) driver just standard. Unless 12.7 beta is a RST(e) driver.

[Fernando]

I have never used a RST(e) driver just standard. Unless 12.7 beta is a RST(e) driver.

All Intel v12.7 RAID drivers (Alpha, Beta and Final) are RST(e) ones.

[B Gates]

Oh I did not realize that. Is that why 11.2 is faster for raid? But on the other hand 12.7 is much faster than 11.2 with a single drive.

[Fernando]

Is that why 11.2 is faster for raid?

I don't know the exact reason, but I suspect, that the Intel RST driver v11.2.0.1006 has been optimized for Intel RAID0 systems.

But on the other hand 12.7 is much faster than 11.2 with a single drive.

The measurable performance differences are quite small, if you compare different Intel RST and RST(e) drivers in AHCI mode, but remarkable, if you do the same with a RAID0 system.
I have posted such a comparison of different AHCI and RAID driver version within the second post of >this< thread.

[B Gates]

How come windows 8 has such lousy performance when compared to win 7. I don't use windows 8 because its such a difference.

[Fernando]

How come windows 8 has such lousy performance when compared to win 7. I don't use windows 8 because its such a difference.

I can not confirm your experience with Windows 8.
My benchmark results with Win7, Win8 and Win8.1 are quite similar.

[B Gates]

I can not confirm your experience with Windows 8.
My benchmark results with Win7, Win8 and Win8.1 are quite similar.

there is a pretty big difference in performance look here: http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?id=832 there is a direct comparison with a sandisk extreme II both win 7 and win 8.

[B Gates]

RAID 0 is even a bigger difference look here: http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?ca...2&pagenumber=5

[Fernando]

@ B Gates:

To be honest: I only trust my own benchmark comparison results, because only the user himself knows, what he has done (or missed to do).

[B Gates]

fair enough

[theoldtimer]

(4) Samsungs on Z87:

Great score B Gates.

Did you test the Z87 with two of the Samsungs?

[B Gates]

Sure did look here: 2 thru 5 drive arrays There is some stuff I've been able to establish that previous testing did not show and that will be coming out in the next review.

[B Gates]

The bottom line with Haswell is that it is great in a workstation environment which fits everyone's profile for the most part because Queue depth levels are very low. If you are using Haswell in an enterprise scenario like a file, web or database where high queue depths are much more common then Haswell is not the way to go. It has up to 10 times worse performance in those server categorizes than Z77 with arrays of 2 drives or more, with the exception of workstation environment where queue depth levels are very low then Haswell is markedly better. You can also see this in CDM 4K:QD4 and 4K:QD32 testing too.

[B Gates]

Great score B Gates.

Did you test the Z87 with two of the Samsungs?

this is a big compliment coming from the Vector King. I would love to see what you could do with a 3 drive Vector array.

[B Gates]

I'm benching a pair of CR EDITION SuperSSpeed S301 128GB SLC drives on Haswell as we speak. I will make a thread and post the benches shortly. I will do a windows 8.1 comparison too that will follow shortly.

[theoldtimer]

this is a big compliment coming from the Vector King. I would love to see what you could do with a 3 drive Vector array.

Thanks for the compliment.
I'd like to test the Z87 as I haven't tested much of anything for quite a while now. I'd like to test three of the Samsungs this time but the piggy bank won't allow that.

I look forward to your next review.

[tiro_uspsss]

TRIM over RAID on X58 is now enabled - in fact anything since P35 is do-able. Just a FYI if you're late like me!