Inuiry for Z68, Z77 and X79 motherboards owner/users do you use SSD Caching?

Do you use RST / SSD Caching?

  • Yes I use RST / SSD Caching

    Votes: 5 12.2%

  • No I do not use RST / SSD Caching

    Votes: 19 46.3%

  • What is RST / SSD Caching?

    Votes: 6 14.6%

  • I prefer speed and even if expensive a big SSD is for me

    Votes: 11 26.8%
  • Total voters
    41
J

Juan_Jose

ASUS Technical Marketing Specialist
Joined
May 30, 2009
Messages
374
Hello All,

Been alittle since I have posted ... with that out of the way Happy New Year!

For you that currently have a RST / SRT enabled chipset ( Z68, Z77 ) it would be great to have feedback RST - SRT / SSD Caching functionality/usage?

If you happen to have an ASUS X79 board as well your feedback would be appreciated as many of our models offer SSD caching support.

If you do use it please clarify why and how you are using it

If you are not using it please clarify why your not using it

Lastly if you do use it and have feedback what type of flexibility do you wish was offered if there are aspects you want?

As always appreciate everyone's feedback and input!

Thanks in advance HardOCP legion!

Seeing some of the feedback I think I will include some performance numbers as SSD Caching can provide a nice bump in performance for users using their mechnical HDs and need capacity vs the quickest option of an SSD.

To clarify overall performance and experience of storage is noted below.

Native SSD to SATA
Mechnical HD with SSD for caching
Mechanical HD alone
 
Last edited:
x79 rampage iv extreme

dont use cacheing on ssd because i doubt it would make a difference. I only run ssds in this system
 
Z77 Sabertooth.

I do NOT use SSD caching because I am perfectly content with the performance offered from a smaller SSD as my boot drive and a spindle drive for my games, applications, and files. Price of the SSD is a concern for me, so this is the best compromise since I didn't want to pay an exorbitant amount for a large SSD (480-512+ GB).
 
Hello RedRage,

Thanks for the feedback. So you do not even use a mechnical HD of anytype in your rig?

Additionally the RIV series not offerign SSD Caching as compred to our our non ROG X79 boards( Like Deluxe or TUF or WS ). We chose a higher performance SATA controler ASMedia 1061 on that board. As more users would generally run Raids or chose higher capacities on ROG boards.

Again thanks!
 
On my Sig rig I spent over two months trying to make SSD Caching work, I posted questions here, on the ASUS VIP board and on a couple of other boards and no one was able to help me. I was most disappointed as it was a selling point that ASUS pushed hard and I bought into it. It did influence my MB choice. Also, disappointed with the Marvell 6 Gb/s ports performance, both of these features seem to me like marketing gimmicks now.

I recently set up a P8Z77V-LK,. Does it have the ability to do RST or SSD Caching? If so I would be willing to try it out.

I also have a P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 set up that I could try it out on too, if it will do RST or SSD Caching.
 
Hey Tom,

feel free to PM me as it is a pretty simple process to enable on the Deluxe.

Additionally the performance of the 9128 is quite good when you consider that is not saturated by mechnical hard drives and has more than enough bandwidth to provide an increase in performance for SSD caching. It is only when comparing the 9128 to the SATA6G PCH that a real difference in max throughput difference is noticed. Keep in mind though for real world usage ( launch application performance, boot time and things like that would generally be very close between the two ).

I believe i previously released information in the community on setting it up. With that noted it will be worth me going back to see if it was put here so users can easily see how to set up for both X79 and Z77.

For Z77 as it is part of the chipset specification it is supported but requires a few more steps than the simple setup on X79.

Thanks for your feedback.
 
Juan_Jose said:
Hello RedRage,

Thanks for the feedback. So you do not even use a mechnical HD of anytype in your rig?

Additionally the RIV series not offerign SSD Caching as compred to our our non ROG X79 boards( Like Deluxe or TUF or WS ). We chose a higher performance SATA controler ASMedia 1061 on that board. As more users would generally run Raids or chose higher capacities on ROG boards.

Again thanks!
Click to expand...


i see never really looked.

nope no mechanical drives are ins installed. i store most everything i don't use daily on synology NAS. i got 1 samsung 830 1 adata and 2 agility 4s that get swapped on a dock when i need

i was looking for free good RAM cache software though, just to try out.
 
So Asus rep doesn't know the difference between RST and SRT?
RST = Intel Rapid Storage Technology
SRT = Smart Response Technology = SSD Caching

No wonder they don't update RST RAID OROM on P67, they think it's SSD Caching which is not supported on P67 anyway.
 
Hello Mircx,

I am aware of the difference but most users are not generally aware of the SRT naming. As SRT functionality is accessed within the RST application and is enabled by the RST application/driver I felt it provided a easier and more general way to be ware of the function/feature being discussed.

In regards to OROM validation we work at length to provide overall better long term UEFI support which includes MEI, OROM and overall microcode support that competitors. That being noted OROM considerations are complex and require extensive validation. Even Intel when they release the OROM updates does not mean they have been validated. Keeping this in mind it is up to each vendor for each specific platform and PCH they are incorporated for to completed this validation. Hopefully this provides some clarification. If you have further questions feel free to PM me.
 
I have a X79 WS and I don't use SSD caching. I only run mechanical drives in my server for storage and all of my other PCs utilize SSD only.
 
I use the SSD caching, I have a 30 gb micro SD and it does work but it only works for the most used programs and only after they have been started up once or twice.

I have also noticed if I update windows and restart sometimes I have to restart once or twice to get windows to boot up correctly. I never lose any data but I suspect this to be because of the SSD, although I have never done anything to narrow down the cause.

After installing the micro SD I am wishing I would have picked up an actuall SSD for my system volume/Online Games.
 
Hello Dookey

Why not consider at least a small capacity SSD to improve overall read performance? Are generally using the storage/server for the purpose of streaming or playback content such as music.movies,photos or are you running an locally installed applications?

Thanks for your feedback!
 
Hello Sinker,

Can you clarify microSD? our SSD Caching only works with actuall SSD's drives that are connected to the SSD Caching SATA port?

I see in your sig you are using a Gigabyte motherboard so do you mean you are using a mSATA SSD?

Thanks!
 
Sorry I did in fact mean mSATA. I guess I have to finish my coffee before replying to threads. :eek:

The brand I have is in my signature as well.
 
I got an early Z68 board that was able to set up and run Intel® SRT (Smart Response Technology) and I will really impressed with the boost in performance that it allowed for a low cost.
 
I don't use SRT on my Z68. I run the OS, currently playing games, and apps straight from SSD. Everything else goes on mechanical because I don't need any more performance for media playback, old game storage, etc.
 
Appreciate the forum's response and feedback so far! Thanks!
 
I tried it on my Evga z77 ftw and it caused BSOD so I said screw it and never used it.
 
I have a Sabertooth X79 board and I do not use the SSD Caching, I have my main drives as SSD for my applications and the other mechanical drives for all other data storage. :)
 
I use a 256 GB SSD for OS and applications and a 3 TB drive with a spare 64 GB SSD as SRT cache as bulk storage for data and for my Steam folder.
Not sure which option I should select in that case, because I would always get a large SSD first, there is just no way I could fit my games on the SSD.
 
DejaWiz said:
Z77 Sabertooth.

I do NOT use SSD caching because I am perfectly content with the performance offered from a smaller SSD as my boot drive and a spindle drive for my games, applications, and files. Price of the SSD is a concern for me, so this is the best compromise since I didn't want to pay an exorbitant amount for a large SSD (480-512+ GB).
Click to expand...

+1 -the z77 part
 
I have 120gb intel ssd on my asus maximus iv gene-z for my boot drive and a few games, its about half full. I don't use the caching feature because it doesn't benefit me. I have a 1tb green drive for storage of files, mostly school work and isos.
 
Hello omniscence,

Sounds like you are exactly using it as intended with a mix of SSD as Primary OS but for large game installations and applications use it to enhance your TB mechanical storage.

As for the vote it would be that you use RST/SRT - SSD Caching.

Thanks for your feedback.
 
Hello ForcefulPWNZ ,

Why not consider a small SSD though to improve the read performance especially for games or applications you have on the mechanical HD. The cost is pretty low considering you can get a 60 or 64GB SSD for caching for around 60 to 75 dollars. If you are ok going smaller then of course this price goes down as well.

Thanks for your feedback.
 
Hello munkle,

If you are generally using your mechanical drive only for playback or reference of documents you are correct caching or even and SSD would not be of an immediate value. If you are running applications though or games then you could of course see an improvement. At the end of the day it really comes down to knowing your usage.

Appreciate your feedback.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top