AS SSD - Kingston: High Performance Test Failed

[WasntMe]

My company purchased a Kingston SSD for my PC so that we could attempt to compile code faster (yay).

It has been hell trying to get our hardware team to install the drive. First the driver was wrong (no AHCI), then the builds corrupted.

Now I finally have the right driver and AHCI setup correctly. I downloaded AS SSD and the driver is iaStor and the entry is displaying 31K - BAD (not Good or OK).

Also when I try to run the test, it fails on the first part as "High Performance Timer Test Failed! This is due to an under or overclocked CPU." The CPU is a quad core Intel and it is not under or over clocked.

I *am* running in WinXP 32-bit. We haven't migrated past WinXP yet so I can't use Win7 or Vista.

Any ideas on what could be causing the failed test issue?

 

[Flexion]

I *am* running in WinXP 32-bit. We haven't migrated past WinXP yet so I can't use Win7 or Vista.

I believe this is your problem. I'm pretty sure that native ACHI drivers were a Vista and everything after wards feature. I think this may cause problems with XP32.

ACHI is not native with WinXP and I believe you have to hit F6 and install your chipset drivers separately to get everything to behave properly. The erratic behavior you're expiencing probably has something to do with this.

Good Luck!

 

[sub.mesa]

You don't really need AHCI, but you do need proper alignment. XP does not align partitions properly. That means all SSDs will be slower with XP than Vista and Win7.

The SSD that is least affected by misalignment is Intel; so Intel is highly recommended for WinXP systems which want an SSD. Other SSDs are less forgiving, and significantly drop in speed. This speed drop is not measurable with old benchmarks like HDTune, but can be made visible with both AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark benchmarks.

Also, enter the system BIOS and look for an option called "CPU C1E Power Saving" or anything with "C1E" in the name; disable it to enhance SSD performance at the cost of higher power consumption.

 

[WasntMe]

This is a Kingston drive.

How do I fix the alignment problem? I though AHCI was required for TRIM to work, am I wrong?

Do you recommend IDE or AHCI for WinXP Kingston drive?

 

[Pyrolistical]

you won't compile code faster.

do some googling, and you'll discover its mostly cpu limited process

just think about it. source code is tiny, so loading all of it ahead of time is not a big deal. once its all in memory compiling is just taking cpu time

 

[WasntMe]

you won't compile code faster.

do some googling, and you'll discover its mostly cpu limited process

just think about it. source code is tiny, so loading all of it ahead of time is not a big deal. once its all in memory compiling is just taking cpu time

Agreed. Try telling that to the guys who buy hardware.

We got all new PCs and this what they gave us.

 

[Zerosum]

Agreed. Try telling that to the guys who buy hardware.

We got all new PCs and this what they gave us.

I don't know to weep or laugh at some of our 'hardware' purchases from these same type of people. This only works when you're on the side with larger budgets then sense. I'm sure most people are on the other side where trying to justify every tiny cent spent. "Your machine works and you can do your work. You don't need more then what you have to compile stuff." While staring at the 2gb of ram installed.

My place is almost nuts on the other side. We have a dumb test fileserver which is headless after the install contains and it contains a 480 card. Well, I should say it 'contained' as I have replaced that with a significantly cooler FX card.

The actual thought process was more like this. We don't need that expensive hardware. Well what's the difference between the cheap and expensive options? That's it? Just buy the expensive option. When they usually buy these items from enterprise providers like HP, Dell, EMC... and you request a 'junk' $3000 throwaway development machine, they see it as a huge savings.

 

[Flexion]

@Zero.

Yes, because it's typically these mofos, that tell their bosses, that the crap they bought 6 months ago is obsolete. How do you think teh HaXoRz get that rackmount gear? Lols.

 

[JMke]

you won't compile code faster.

do some googling, and you'll discover its mostly cpu limited process

just think about it. source code is tiny, so loading all of it ahead of time is not a big deal. once its all in memory compiling is just taking cpu time

hah, hah.

tiny files means fragmentation,
means SSD have the upper hand.

Compiling java based code:
HDD - 20min
SSD - 20seconds

 

[sok0]

If you are using Windows xp, you have to boot into windows using the SSD as a secondary drive, go into disk management, format/partition the SSD with 1024 alignment, then reboot computer, plug SSD as main drive, boot with windows xp disk and install onto the SSD without formatting.

And im pretty sure Windows XP doesnt support native SSD trimming, but I think you can get an intel program to manually do it. It has been a few years since I touched XP though.

 

[MarkL]

What your IT people really need to do is just manually install Windows 7 on your machine. Sure it isn't your standard build - but if your job is coding/compiling and they purchased the SSD to help that, the best thing is to reinstall fresh with Windows 7 and just have a non-standard PC..