Help setting up / transferring new Samsung 840 PRO

[DPOverLord]

Hey guys,

So I finally upgraded to to a 512mb SSD (Samsung Pro 840), I read the reviews it seemed to be the best out there and everyone made the point that it was one of the singular best upgrades I could do to speed up my system.

With that being said I find myself in a conundrum in A. Where to setup the drive (which port), B. How to transfer everything.

M setup Gigabyte X58A-ud5 rev 2 I have the following ports:

6 SATA 3Gbps ports. These are all being used with
- All used with 3 1.5TB Seagate and 3 3TB WD Red.

2 Sata 6Gbps Ports using the Marvell 9128 chip (NONE USED)

I remember everyone saying that the Marvell chip in this board should not be used as I would not see the speeds I would need. So my questions

1. Being my first SSD Drive, which port should I install this on? Also, what should I do with ny other 6 drives.

2. How do I transfer everything wihtout reinstalling windows 7 and reinstalling my games?? I just did a fresh install last month and I would hate to spend hours doing everything again.
- Migrating wise, my C:\ Drive is using 148GB, then my seperate game drive is using 140GB for a total of 288GB which would leave me another 200GB.

3. What is the best thing to keep on the SSD vs What is the best thing to keep on my IDE drives.

Thanks a lot

 

[jkauff]

Use one of the Marvell ports for the SSD. An Intel 6Gbps port on the mb would be best, but since you don't have one use the Marvell. The SSD needs all the bandwidth you can give it.

The Samsung drive ships with a CD that contains disk cloning software. This is a version of the Acronis cloning software, which is very reliable. I would recommend cloning your C: drive, then reinstalling your games to the SSD, rather than leaving them on the slower drive. Copy all the game drive files to the proper locations on the SSD, then re-install so the drive letter gets updated in the registry and any .ini files. You'll want all your programs and games on the SSD if they'll fit, the speed difference is incredible.

 

[DPOverLord]

Now my only issue is installing this in a tower since I dont have the adaptor

 

[kmmatney]

Now my only issue is installing this in a tower since I dont have the adaptor

A couple of options. One thing that has worked well for me in the past is to line up the side of an SSD with the hard drive slots, and and use 2 screws into the side of the SSD. One side of the SSD will be in mid-air, but they are light, so this works fine. If you want the SSD to be flat against a side-wall, then you can probably find a way to get at least 2 screws into the bottom of the SSD by rotating it diagonally. Or just use Velcro tape and put it anywhere.

You can buy a cheap adapter, but they are easy enough to secure without needing to buy anything.

 

[DPOverLord]

thanks a lot!

 

[Z15CAM]

Sata HDD's even in RAID-0 will never saturate a Sata 3 Port.

If you only have 2 Intel Sata 6 ports and say 4 Intel Sata 3 Ports - Place the SSD on the 0-Sata 6 Port. I would place RAID-0 on Sata 3 along with my Optic Drive and BackUp HDD, leaving a SATA 6 Port open for whatever - Another SSD perhaps ;o)

NOTE: Set your Intel Sata in RAID Mode (Not AHCI) - Any Drive that is not in the Raid Array will operate as AHCI - So TRIM is effective on the SSD with the latest Intel RST Drivers.

DISABLE your MARVEL Sata in BIOS if not using them - They usually don't support Raid.

I have 16GB's of RAM and find I never use more the 3.8GB's of it even running Prime95 - So I have Dual Registry BackUps to Load a 12 GB RAMDisk drive on which I place all Win7 x64's SP1's and Application TEMP, Event Logs and Indexing Crap to conserve SSD Writes.

Have you ever copied a 4GB file from RAMDisk to a SSD. It happens in a FLASH ;o)

If you intend to transfer your OS to the SSD and not do a fresh Install I suggest you Insert your Win7 CD and run Repair/DISKPART to Partition your SSD the way you want with say a 1024 Alignment.

Prepare a SYS-Prep Disk Image of your Original OS using say 1.34MB's of DOS GHOST to FAT32 HDD or USB - Whatever (This uses up one of your SYS-Prep Options - I believe there's 3 available) then Dump the Image onto the appropriate Partitions you have made on the 840 Pro and Reboot - The Win Installation will Run, Checking your Hardware and Install all your Programs - However - Log on as a TEST USER (BIG Issue if you have relocated "My Documents" if you don't use a TEST User your DeskTop may be Dead with the ERROR "Server Not Found" when trying to navigate. When in the TEMP User assign your Drive Letters and ensure My Documents are in the position your Original OS expects it to be (Remember NotePad has a File Explorer ;o), Reboot and Log on to you User Account and Delete the TEST User ;o)

Your SSD will be aligned and TRIM activated even though you have the BIOS SATA Mode set as RAID.

HINT: Don't use the Samsung SSD Software. It's not Intel compatible in Sata RAID Mode. It does work in AHCI Mode but AHCI Mode has limited options - Particularly NO Intel RAID.

Use the latest Intel RST Driver and this TRIM Check Tool: http://blog.thecybershadow.net/2012/12/09/ssd-trim-check-tool/

 

[DPOverLord]

Hey Z15CAM

I have a Samsung Pro 840 and looking to get another. I have never used Raid, and on my motherboard the Marvell SATA6 ports are terrible.

Would it be better to just have 2 SSD's separate on the intel port or learn how to do raid 0 for the first time?

If I did raid whats the best way of setting it up since I already installed windows on one of the drivves?

Thanks a lot!


Those are my speeds now which seem really low