Intel SRT questions!

[TBSN]

Simple questions about SRT that I couldn't find a clear answer to:

Does setting up a HDD with an caching SSD require a reinstall of windows?

Is using the maximized setting as dangerous as RAID 0 (I.E. would YOU use it, or stick to "enhanced"?)

What if I don't want to spend more than ~$80 on a caching drive? Is it worth it to get some cheapo or older-tech SSD or is it best to get something fast like Intel's (tiny) new caching drive?

Thanks for any help!

 

[sep]

No, you don't need to reinstall windows if you're adding the SSD to cache your existing drive.

Yes, I believe Maximized is a risk that data could get corrupted or lost. That has been posted everywhere.

I wouldn't focus on the performance of the SSD being cached. You should be able to get a sub $80 drive and use for caching.

 

[Aharami]

how big of an SSD are you using for caching? I'm wondering if I can get something like a 60 gig SSD, and use 40 gig of it for OS installation and leave 20 gig for caching purposes for my non SSD drive. This will be for a HTPC so I want bootup to be super fast

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The largest size drive that can been used in Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology) is 64GB.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/2

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[sep]

Aharami...

Main PC: 2500K, 16GB P8Z68-V LE 8800GT 128SSD(-20GB Caching) 750GB WD Black Win7Pro-64bit

Newegg has the 64GB version (C300) for $80. This would be ideal for your setup.

 

[Aharami]

thanks to both of you

 

[greenhawk]

Does setting up a HDD with an caching SSD require a reinstall of windows?

Is using the maximized setting as dangerous as RAID 0 (I.E. would YOU use it, or stick to "enhanced"?)

What if I don't want to spend more than ~$80 on a caching drive? Is it worth it to get some cheapo or older-tech SSD or is it best to get something fast like Intel's (tiny) new caching drive?

a re-install is only needed for the maximize option IIRC.

Though Maximize is as dangerous as raid 0 in that if either dies or plays up, all data is lost (technically, only the data on the lost drive is lost, but then a full HDD is basically all, and a 60GB SSD would be 60GB of random data most likly including the file allocation table, so not assurances of knowing what is were for data recovery).

Cheap SSD's can work and most people are going that way (IIRC it was/is needed for a while as the intel SSD's are taking a long time to get to my country). Done side from the reviews I have seen is that a cheap unit can be worse than the fast intel drive due to worse specs, but the cheap ones make most of that back by being 3 times larger.

edit: only down side to using a really cheap SSD is getting a SSD that has known stuttering issues as that would greatly effect using the SSD as a cache drive.

 

[greenhawk]

how big of an SSD are you using for caching? I'm wondering if I can get something like a 60 gig SSD, and use 40 gig of it for OS installation and leave 20 gig for caching purposes for my non SSD drive. This will be for a HTPC so I want bootup to be super fast

you can, but from what I have read, setting it up that way is not the easiest thing to do.

 

[sep]

you can, but from what I have read, setting it up that way is not the easiest thing to do.

Nope, did it for my rig. It really wasn't hard to do at all. you need to install windows twice. The first time on a drive you can clean up after you install the cache, then remove the drive and install on the SSD's remaining space. It's that easy.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You should be able to go back and forth between "Enhanced" and "Maximized" without any reinstallation, but until you feel confident that no glitches or cache-corruption occurs over some reasonable period of time, you're advised to use "Enhanced."

The worst scenario with Maximized mode: you may have been in the middle of a large software installation, or for that matter -- any software installation.

Further, ISRT has a few glitches of its own, and Intel has released some two or three versions of IRST -- the software, Intel Rapid Storage Technology.

On the matter of drive size, I'm not running a testing lab, so I'm not yet trying to do simulation or replication samples for troubleshooting. But I was able to get 333 MB/s sequential reads and about 150 MB/s in sequential writes with an SATA-III SSD on an SATA-III controller to accelerate an SATA-III Veloci-Raptor -- both ported to the SATA-III plugs. To do that, I used the 20GB option to make the cache on a 120GB SDD, and used the remainder of the available space as a formatted partition. When I used the 64GB option, seq. reads benched at 252 MB/s, and the writes were around 133.

These results may be insignificant in predicting performance of SATA-III drives and connections against either an SATA-III or SATA-II HDD ported as SATA-II. Given the specs in sustained throughput for the Veloci-Raptor, I don't think it saturates the bandwidth of SATA-II. And in all cases, performance moves toward 80% of SDD standalone results, and "as much as" 400% of the HDD standalone benchies.

Under my assessment then, I think the Patriot Pyro 60 GB drive shows great promise. My tests were done on an Intel series 510 Elm Crest, with seq-reads/seq-writes 450/250. The Patriot is both rated and confirmed by customers at more than 500/400 [or thereabouts.] I just placed my order for one, so we'll see how it pans out.

You could use the entire drive as a cache, or try it as 20GB and 60GB to see what results you obtain. Right now, the Egg has them for around $99 after $20 rebate (and state taxes at the appropriate rate on $119.)

There is some "skinny" I heard that running too many disk benchies on the drive or especially its cache is not recommended. I suspect this may affect each subsequent result to its detriment. But it really depends on whether TRIM is implemented in the OS natively, as it is in Win 7. Probably best to benchmark right after creating a new cache.