How do I get faster read speeds with my Samsung 840 Pro?

[Schfifty Five]

I just installed my Samsung 840 Pro SSD and running AS SSD benchmark shows that I'm only getting a read speed of about 270mb/s.

I'm using an ASUS PX58D-E mobo w/ AHCI enabled and Marvell 91XX 6G Controller.

I've seen people post higher read speeds (500mb/s+) on the same SSD.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

 

[Fernando 1]

I've seen people post higher read speeds (500mb/s+) on the same SSD.

These users probably have connected the SSD to a native Intel 6G SATA AHCI Controller as part of their Southbridge. This combination is much faster than yours.
You may try these options:

1. Install the Marvell 91xx SATA driver instead of the generic MSAHCI one.
2. Connect the SSD to one of the Intel 3G SATA ports and compare the benchmark results with your currently ones.

 

[GAO]

Are you sure these are hooked up to your Marvell controller? The sequential speeds look like top SATA 3 Gb/s speeds.

You probably aren't going to do much better with that Marvell controller (except sequential maybe) , it isn't as fast as Intel's, maybe you could eek out a little more with the Marvell drivers. If not, you would probably be better of using your Intel 3 Gb/s SATA ports with Intel RST drivers. Your sequential speeds would be limited to around 260 MB/s, but your randoms should be better.

 

[Charlie98]

The sequential speeds look like top SATA 3 Gb/s speeds.

I think GAO is correct...

Here is my 840P I just installed... running off a SATA III port...

 

[Schfifty Five]

These users probably have connected the SSD to a native Intel 6G SATA AHCI Controller as part of their Southbridge. This combination is much faster than yours.
You may try these options:

1. Install the Marvell 91xx SATA driver instead of the generic MSAHCI one.
2. Connect the SSD to one of the Intel 3G SATA ports and compare the benchmark results with your currently ones.

Hmm, i just noticed the AS SSD shows MSACHI. I do have the Marvell 91XX SATA 6G controller driver installed. I can view it under my device manager.

How come it's not showing up in the AS SSD program?

 

[Schfifty Five]

Ok, I just realized that I am not connected to my marvell controller. I thought my mobo only had SATA 6G ports so I just connected to those. I think I need to connect to the correct SATA ports to get the 6G (marvell controller) speeds. I'll try that when I get home from work.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Are you sure these are hooked up to your Marvell controller? The sequential speeds look like top SATA 3 Gb/s speeds.

You probably aren't going to do much better with that Marvell controller (except sequential maybe) , it isn't as fast as Intel's, maybe you could eek out a little more with the Marvell drivers. If not, you would probably be better of using your Intel 3 Gb/s SATA ports with Intel RST drivers. Your sequential speeds would be limited to around 260 MB/s, but your randoms should be better.

I think GAO is correct...

Here is my 840P I just installed... running off a SATA III port...

Thanks guys. I think I need to install the SSD into a marvell port.

Since I already installed windows on the SSD, will it a problem if I plug the SSD from a SATA 3G port to a SATA 6g port?

 

[Charlie98]

No... just swap ports. On my Gigabyte board, the SATA III's are white, the SATA II's are blue. In question, look at the labeling on the board...

 

[Schfifty Five]

Also, are there differences between SATA data cables?

My mobo manual says it came with 4x SATA 3G cables, and 2x SATA 6G cables. I only seem to have 2 SATA cables and don't know if it's 3G or 66.

 

[Charlie98]

Look at the label on the wire... there will be a description of what the cable is capable of.

 

[Schfifty Five]

No... just swap ports. On my Gigabyte board, the SATA III's are white, the SATA II's are blue. In question, look at the labeling on the board...

Sweet :thumbsup:

 

[Schfifty Five]

Look at the label on the wire... there will be a description of what the cable is capable of.

Cool. I wonder where all my SATA cables went lol

 

[jjjayb]

Also, are there differences between SATA data cables?

My mobo manual says it came with 4x SATA 3G cables, and 2x SATA 6G cables. I only seem to have 2 SATA cables and don't know if it's 3G or 66.

Doesn't matter. No difference between them.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Doesn't matter. No difference between them.

Sounds good. Thanks.

 

[Schfifty Five]

So after putting the SSD onto the marvell 6G controller port, my speeds are actually slower! Only Sequential is slightly higher, but everything else is significantly slower.

Is it just the marvel controller being somewhat crappy?

 

[groberts101]

So after putting the SSD onto the marvell 6G controller port, my speeds are actually slower! Only Sequential is slightly higher, but everything else is significantly slower.

Is it just the marvel controller being somewhat crappy?

yep.. GAO already warned you about the potential outcome.

Although, I will say that if it's "significantly slower"?.. you may have another issue at play there. My 9128 chip is slower than the 3G Intel ports in small file performance and latency.. but certianly not by a mile.

 

[Charlie98]

yep.. GAO already warned you about the potential outcome.

Although, I will say that if it's "significantly slower"?.. you may have another issue at play there. My 9128 chip is slower than the 3G Intel ports in small file performance and latency.. but certianly not by a mile.

Is there that big of a difference between the Marvell and the Intel controller...???

 

[jiffylube1024]

There are sata3 (6Gbps) and sata2 (3gbps) cables. Your results (~260MB/s) are right around the cap for Sata2 speeds. Something is holding you back - it's probably that you aren't using a sata3 cable.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Is there that big of a difference between the Marvell and the Intel controller...???

Let me upload a pic of the new results.

 

[Schfifty Five]

There are sata3 (6Gbps) and sata2 (3gbps) cables. Your results (~260MB/s) are right around the cap for Sata2 speeds. Something is holding you back - it's probably that you aren't using a sata3 cable.

It definitely could be. I'll look into this more. Right now, I've only got 3 SATA cables and they don't appear to indicate if they are SATA 2 or 3.

 

[Charlie98]

It definitely could be. I'll look into this more. Right now, I've only got 3 SATA cables and they don't appear to indicate if they are SATA 2 or 3.

They should quote the Gb/s rate on the casing...

Doesn't matter. No difference between them.

...I don't really know if that's true or not.

Edit: Apparently not.

OP, maybe swap the cable for another to rule out a bad cable... but any SATA cable should be good.

 

[Schfifty Five]

Here is the speed test after setting the SSD to SATA 6G. As you can see, everything went down except for sequential read which went up a decent amount.

 

[Zap]

6Gbps SATA Performance: AMD 890GX vs. Intel X58/P55

Intel’s X58 still has a few tricks left up its sleeve - it manages to be a very high performing 3Gbps SATA controller. Other than in sequential read speed, it’s even faster than Marvell’s 6Gbps controller with a 6Gbps SSD - although not by much.

It would seem as if your stuff is working EXACTLY as it should.

To get higher performance, you would need to upgrade to a newer platform.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Here is the speed test after setting the SSD to SATA 6G. As you can see, everything went down except for sequential read which went up a decent amount.

Yep. This shows that you're no longer sata2 limited since you're way past the ~265mb/s limit of sata2. Now, you're limited by how bad the Marvell sata3 controller is. Charlie98's results above are what you should be getting on AS SSD using a good SATA3 controller (ie. Intel).
--

Zap's post above is spot on. Good info about the Marvell controller vs the Intel one. You'll need to upgrade your platform to get better performance, unfortunately .

Btw, here's the Samsung 840 (non-pro) in my Dell laptop (below). The non-pro is an underrated performer!

 

[beginner99]

It definitely could be. I'll look into this more. Right now, I've only got 3 SATA cables and they don't appear to indicate if they are SATA 2 or 3.

No, does cables just like gigabit Ethernet cables are a complete scam.

The poor results are entirely due to the crappy Marvel controller.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2227791&highlight=marvel+sata

and the reviews as previously already linked:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2973/6...-intel-x58-p55