slow hard drive performance

[polonyc2]

strange issue I'm having...I noticed that my hard drive benchmark numbers (using CrystalDiskMark) are much slower then they used to be and I can't figure out why...I did a reformat of my hard drive and ran CrystalDiskMark after every driver and software I installed and saw that my performance was fine...but after shutting down my computer for the night and restarting the next day and running the benchmark again my speeds were much lower

I have a 640GB Western Digital drive and am using AHCI...I have write caching enabled in Device Manager...also using Windows 7 + SP1...here are 2 screenshots, the first one showing my CDM score after installing SP1 and the other after shutting down my system for a few hours and restarting...anyone have any idea what may be causing the slowdown?

 

[john4200]

There appears to be 20GB / 17GB used in the first and second benchmarks. Did you install something onto the HDD after reformatting?

 

[polonyc2]

There appears to be 20GB / 17GB used in the first and second benchmarks. Did you install something onto the HDD after reformatting?

probably was when I deleted the SP1 backup files...like I stated earlier I installed everything and immediately benchmarked to see if the benchmark numbers changed...everything seemed fine so I shut down the computer for the night...when restarting this morning and running CDM, I saw the lower numbers

I first noticed this issue a few days back when my drive was installed with everything on it so I decided to reformat to see if I could find the cause...that's why only 20GB is currently installed on the drive

 

[john4200]

probably was when I deleted the SP1 backup files...like I stated earlier I installed everything and immediately benchmarked to see if the benchmark numbers changed...

Actually, no, you did not state earlier that you installed anything to this particular drive -- it was ambiguous in your post whether you were installing the OS to this drive or another.

So, are you saying that you are benchmarking the drive that you have Windows installed on?

If so, that is likely to be the cause of the inconsistent results. The OS will perform various tasks in the background, and these will affect benchmark results.

I suggest you use AS-SSD instead of CDM -- it is more consistent. Then run AS-SSD several times during the day (with hours in between), and see if the results vary depending on if you just booted up, or if the computer has been on for several hours and idle.

Or, if you are so inclined, you could install and boot your OS from a different drive, and then benchmark the drive in question without and OS running off it. That should give consistent results.

 

[polonyc2]

Actually, no, you did not state earlier that you installed anything to this particular drive -- it was ambiguous in your post whether you were installing the OS to this drive or another.

So, are you saying that you are benchmarking the drive that you have Windows installed on?

If so, that is likely to be the cause of the inconsistent results. The OS will perform various tasks in the background, and these will affect benchmark results.

I suggest you use AS-SSD instead of CDM -- it is more consistent. Then run AS-SSD several times during the day (with hours in between), and see if the results vary depending on if you just booted up, or if the computer has been on for several hours and idle.

Or, if you are so inclined, you could install and boot your OS from a different drive, and then benchmark the drive in question without and OS running off it. That should give consistent results.

yes I'm benchmarking the drive that Windows 7 is installed on...I've done this for years and never had wildly fluctuating numbers...yes there is always a little bit of a difference but nothing this big...I ran AS SSD and got pretty much the same lower numbers

 

[polonyc2]

I think the problem might be the Intel Rapid Storage AHCI drivers...I erased my hard drive again but this time went with the standard MS AHCI drivers and even after a long shutdown benchmarks stayed the same...I think it has something to do with the power management features of the Rapid Storage drivers which are causing the lower benchies but I tried looking for a way to tweak the power settings and could not find any...I have 'High Performance' selected under the Windows 7 'Power Options' but couldn't find any other hard drive power settings (even under Device Manager)