Question: I upgraded my Windows 7 PC from a Samsung Spinpoint F4EG HD204UI HDD to a SanDisk Pulse SDSSDP-128G-G25 SSD but, unlike seemingly everyone else in the world, I have never noticed a performance increase – system or program startup, etc.
A 5 1000MB CrystalDiskMark 64-bit version 3.0.3.b test on the SSD:
———————————————————————–CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo ??Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/———————————————————————–* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s] ?Sequential Read : ?244.966 MB/s ?Sequential Write : ?33.956 MB/s ?Random Read 512KB : ?177.489 MB/s ?Random Write 512KB : ?10.441 MB/s ?Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : ?11.718 MB/s [ ?2860.9 IOPS] ?Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : ?10.086 MB/s [ ?2462.4 IOPS] ?Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : ?27.991 MB/s [ ?6833.8 IOPS] ?Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : ?6.606 MB/s [ ?1612.7 IOPS] ?Test : 1000 MB [C: 91.6% (109.1/119.1 GB)] (x5) ?Date : 2015/06/16 20:03:27 ?OS : Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
Even though those stats aren’t terrible, it really doesn’t seem like the system is operating at that capacity and, according to Kingston SSDNow V300 PCSTATS Review – SSD Benchmarks: CrystalDiskMark 3, AS SSD, others have had significantly better results than I have with SSD performance.
Comparatively, a 5 1000MB CrystalDiskMark 64-bit version 3.0.3.b test (same as above) on the HDD:
———————————————————————–CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo ??Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/———————————————————————–* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s] ?Sequential Read : ?85.479 MB/s ?Sequential Write : ?81.741 MB/s ?Random Read 512KB : ?27.918 MB/s ?Random Write 512KB : ?40.336 MB/s ?Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : ?0.319 MB/s [ ?78.0 IOPS] ?Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : ?0.670 MB/s [ ?163.6 IOPS] ?Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : ?0.445 MB/s [ ?108.7 IOPS] ?Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : ?0.568 MB/s [ ?138.8 IOPS] ?Test : 1000 MB [D: 98.4% (1833.4/1863.0 GB)] (x5) ?Date : 2015/06/16 20:18:05 ?OS : Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
In answer to the most common questions:
“Was Windows reinstalled?”I don’t recall. The SSD order acknowledgement email is dated 2012/11/23 and wmic os get installdate reports 20130117141810.000000+000 so that would suggest so but I am one for imaging (of which I usually use Acronis True Image) and I doubt imaging would change that date but I will answer imaging-related questions too just in case.
“Were the sectors aligned by 1024?”No, but I believe it’s too late now.
“Is SATA in AHCI mode?”It wasn’t for a long time but I enabled it in the BIOS and tweaked the registry to force the install of compatible drivers in Windows a few months ago and it didn’t made a difference.
“Is TRIM enabled?”Yes. fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify reports 0.
“Is the defragsvc (Disk Defragmenter) service disabled?”Yes.
“Is indexing disabled?”No, but I believe that wouldn’t cause a performance decrease (or lack thereof) like this.
“Are there any related Error or Warning System events?”Not that I can see or have ever noticed.
“Was it a cheap / bad SSD?”It was ?44.15 ($69.09) and is generally rated ~9/10. See Sandisk Pulse 128GB 2.5inch SSD – Ebuyer
“Has it degraded?”A scan with SSDLife Free version 2.5.82 says it’s absolutely fine but is missing a few details: ?
Update 2015/06/16 22:34: In response to @Jet, @Paul, and @JulianKnight.
“Is the SysMain (Superfetch) service disabled?”No, but, from what I’ve read, doing so can be counterproductive, even with an SSD.
“Did the performance decrease as storage usage increased?”If I recall correctly, there has never been a performance increase, even when Windows was freshly installed and, therefore, barely using any of the available storage. It currently has 10.1GB of 119GB free (8.5%).
A 3 1GiB (default) CrystalDiskMark 64-bit version 4.0.3a test on the SSD:
———————————————————————–CrystalDiskMark 4.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2015 hiyohiyo ??Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/———————————————————————–* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes ?Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?262.641 MB/s ?Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?134.803 MB/s ?Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?33.444 MB/s [ ?8165.0 IOPS] Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?14.342 MB/s [ ?3501.5 IOPS] ?Sequential Read (T= 1) : ?242.868 MB/s ?Sequential Write (T= 1) : ?125.209 MB/s ?Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : ?13.668 MB/s [ ?3336.9 IOPS] ?Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : ?13.472 MB/s [ ?3289.1 IOPS] ?Test : 1024 MiB [C: 91.5% (109.0/119.1 GiB)] (x3) ?Date : 2015/06/16 22:36:35 ?OS : Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
Update 2015/06/17 18:57: In further response to @Paul.
WinDirStat version 1.1.2.80 scan of the SSD pre-cleanup (~8.8% free):
WinDirStat version 1.1.2.80 scan of the SSD post-cleanup (27.8% free):
Update 2015/06/18 00:46: In response to @Bigbio2002 and @CarlB.
msinfo.exe > Components > Storage > Disks reports the SanDisk SDSSDP128G ATA Device’s Partition Starting Offset value as 105,906,176 bytes. 105906176 / 512 = 206848. 206848 / 8 = 25856. So, as it’s a whole number, the sectors are aligned?
I will try a new SATA cable tomorrow.
I will also time my initial system and program startup to get a more specific idea of the performance.
Update 2015/06/18 19:00
I have replaced the SSD’s SATA cable.
Here are the times:
Admittedly, I do have quite a few startup items and Google Chrome extensions. Each program does open much quicker after the startup has completed but I still wouldn’t say lightning quick. ?
Update 2015/06/25 16:09:
Today, as part of work, I cloned a Samsung ST1000LM024 1TB HDD to a Crucial CT1000MX200SSD1 1TB SSD in a Lenovo B5400 80B6 running Windows 8.1 Pro which was plagued with problems but after fixing the boot records I ran a 3 1GiB (default) CrystalDiskMark 64-bit version 4.0.3a test:
———————————————————————–CrystalDiskMark 4.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2015 hiyohiyo ??Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/———————————————————————–* MB/s = 1,000,000 bytes/s [SATA/600 = 600,000,000 bytes/s]* KB = 1000 bytes, KiB = 1024 bytes ?Sequential Read (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?496.050 MB/s ?Sequential Write (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?490.690 MB/s ?Random Read 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?359.141 MB/s [ 87680.9 IOPS] Random Write 4KiB (Q= 32,T= 1) : ?346.611 MB/s [ 84621.8 IOPS] ?Sequential Read (T= 1) : ?301.568 MB/s ?Sequential Write (T= 1) : ?490.550 MB/s ?Random Read 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : ?27.512 MB/s [ ?6716.8 IOPS] ?Random Write 4KiB (Q= 1,T= 1) : ?82.835 MB/s [ 20223.4 IOPS] ?Test : 1024 MiB [C: 22.6% (210.2/930.2 GiB)] (x3) ?Date : 2015/06/25 15:50:28 ?OS : Windows 8.1 Pro [6.3 Build 9600] (x64)
These are the kinds of speeds I expected.
My colleague ran the same test on his SSD at home and although it wasn’t as fast as this SSD it was still miles ahead of mine.
http://www.pc-specs.com/storage/SanDisk/SDSSDP-128G_128GB/448, http://www.scan.co.uk/products/128gb-sandisk-pulse-25-ssd-7mm-slim-sata-iii-6gb-s-mlc-flash-read-490mb-s-write-350mb-s-8000-iops-pc, and http://www.dabs.com/products/sandisk-128gb-ssd-sata-6gb-s-2-5–solid-state-drive-870X.html all say that my SanDisk SDSSDP128G features read speeds of 490 MBps and write speeds of 350 MBps and is well-reviewed.
All of this is making me think that my SSD is faulty. I very much doubt it but I will see if it has any kind of extended warranty. ?
Update 2015/06/25 19:38: ?
According to http://www.sandisk.co.uk/about-sandisk/warranty-and-user-guides/warranty-table/#Table5, SanDisk Solid State Drives have a warranty period of 3 years. Today is 2015/06/25 and I bought it 2012/11/23 so I still have a good couple of months of warranty left. As advised by SanDisk’s Twitter team I have contacted their customer care and am currently awaiting their response.
Also, a Speccy 64-bit version 1.28.709 scan on the SSD:
SanDisk SDSSDP128G ATA DeviceManufacturer ?SanDiskHeads ?16Cylinders ?15,566Tracks ?3,969,330Sectors 250,067,790SATA type ?SATA-III 6.0Gb/sDevice type FixedATA Standard ?ACS2Serial Number ?123917400287Firmware Version Number 2.0.0LBA Size ?48-bit LBAPower On Count ?1562 timesPower On Time ?404.1 daysSpeed ?Not used (SSD Drive)Features ?S.M.A.R.T., APM, NCQ, TRIM, SSDMax. Transfer Mode ?SATA III 6.0Gb/sUsed Transfer Mode ?SATA II 3.0Gb/sInterface ?SATACapacity ?119 GBReal size ?128,035,676,160 bytesRAID Type ?None ?S.M.A.R.T ?Status ?Good ?S.M.A.R.T attributes ??05 ??Attribute?name ?Retired Block Count ??Real value ?0 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?0000000000 ??Status ?Good ??09 ??Attribute?name ?Power-On Hours (POH) ??Real value ?404d 3h ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?00000025E3 ??Status ?Good ??0C ??Attribute?name ?Device Power Cycle Count ??Real value ?1,562 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?000000061A ??Status ?Good ??AB ??Attribute?name ?Program Fail Count ??Real value ?0 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?0000000000 ??Status ?Good ??AC ??Attribute?name ?Erase Fail Count ??Real value ?0 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?0000000000 ??Status ?Good ??AD ??Attribute?name ?Wear Leveling Count ??Real value ?237 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?00000000ED ??Status ?Good ??AE ??Attribute?name ?Unexpected Power Loss Count ??Real value ?113 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?0000000071 ??Status ?Good ??BB ??Attribute?name ?Reported Uncorrectable Errors ??Real value ?0 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?0000000000 ??Status ?Good ??E6 ??Attribute?name ?Life Curve Status ??Real value ?790 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?0000000316 ??Status ?Good ??E8 ??Attribute?name ?Endurance Remaining ??Real value ?0 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?5 ??Raw Value ?0000000000 ??Status ?Good ??EA ??Attribute?name ?Vendor Specific ??Real value ?1,037 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?000000040D ??Status ?Good ??F1 ??Attribute?name ?Lifetime Writes to Host ??Real value ?7,715,083,148 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?00CBDAD38C ??Status ?Good ??F2 ??Attribute?name ?Lifetime Reads from Host ??Real value ?10,210,604,495 ??Current 100 ??Worst ?100 ??Threshold ?0 ??Raw Value ?00609975CF ??Status ?Good ?Partition 0 ?Partition ID ?Disk #2, Partition #0 ?File System NTFS ?Volume Serial Number ?94976081 ?Size ?99 MB ?Used Space ?34.1 MB (34%) ?Free Space ?65 MB (66%) ?Partition 1 ?Partition ID ?Disk #2, Partition #1 ?Disk Letter C: ?File System NTFS ?Volume Serial Number ?829CF24F ?Size ?119 GB ?Used Space ?87 GB (73%) ?Free Space ?31.8 GB (27%)
Answer: Try freeing up disk space. SSD drives tend to take a big performance hit when they have less than 10% free space.