LSI 9211-8i versus LSI 9260-8i versus Areca 1231ML-2G

[Ao1]

I'm not sure if I did this correctly however I used the Win 7 Performance Monitor to find out the max MB/s whilst loading the last level of COD MW2. (I selected maximum on the report and histogram within the general tab on the Performance Monitor Properties. I then started the counter as I loaded COD. Once the level had loaded I closed it down and paused the counter.)

Results -
7200RPM HDD
Read Max = 44MB/sec
Load time - approx 10 seconds
Intel G2
Read Max = 96MB/sec
Load time - approx 6 seconds

The read seems to have maxed out on the HDD, but the read on the G2 is well below the theoretical max. Intriguing.

Now check out the AnandTech Storage Bench - Gaming Workload in this review. The Kingston SD Now (JMicron 602 - 170MB/s sequential read) is just as fast at loading as an Intel X25-E (250 MB/s sequential read)

Assuming it takes around 400MB to load a game and the load is predominately sequential reads the difference in my loading times between the hdd and ssd is close.

The question is why was the ssd read limited to 96mb/s? Neither the cpu or the ram broke into a sweat.

EDIT:
L4D2 1st level.
Intel G2
Read Max = 108MB/sec
Load time - approx 7 to 8 seconds

Edit 1: and if I run AS Benchmark I get the correct read reading on the Performance Monitor so I think I am doing this correctly.