X64 64GB 2.5" SSD - First SSD Ever

I have decided to take the plunge and just ordered online a Corsair X64 64GB SSD drive. Now since im new at SSD I based my purchase on the following specs:-

 

Maximum sequential read speed up to 240MB/s

Maximum sequential write speed up to 170MB/s

Indilinx Barefoot controller and Samsung MLC NAND flash for maximum performance

64MB DRAM cache for stutter-free performance

No moving parts for increased durability over standard hard disk drives

Decreased power usage for cool and quiet operation and increased laptop battery life

100+ Year Life Expectancy (MTBF)

User upgradeable firmware

Two year warranty

 

Now before my purchased, other brands mentioned this feature:-

 

NAND flash memory with wear-leveling technology

 

I chose Corsair because of their high quality, and have used Corsair RAM for years and not a faulty module yet. Does Corsair have the "NAND flash memory with wear-leveling technology" and if not is this important? Are Corsair the the best featured best priced drives compared to the opposition who make all these fancy claims and fancy terms? I will be using this drive in a laptop.

if SSD did not have wear-leveling they would die within an month or less, all SSDs have wear-leveling in them (same as whats in an USB pen stick with out wear-leveling the flash would wear out fast)

if SSD did not have wear-leveling they would die within an month or less, all SSDs have wear-leveling in them (same as whats in an USB pen stick with out wear-leveling the flash would wear out fast)

Thanks for the info was checking as this is not listed with the product info on Corsair's site or the online store where I purchased it from - which makes it look as if this is a bonus feature on other brands. Any special recommendations before installing Windows 7 on this new drive, or just simply plug it in, and install Windows 7 RC1 X64?

leexgx That is not accurate, where are you getting this information? And the information on these drive is indeed listed on our web site Please look here and then select Resources for more information, and this if off of the SSD section Extreme Series

Hi Ramguy, I checked the SSD Extreme part of your web page but didnt see anything listed as "NAND flash memory with wear-leveling technology" as on other brands so thought well does Corsair have it and if not is it required? I also noticed or some odd reason that the Performance drives have double (128MB) the cache of the Extreme drives (64MB) - shouldnt it be the other way around? Is there a logical reason for this? Also what does Corsair say to this: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3608

hmm post removing or am i seeing things (must of not press post button or opera crash before)

 

the Quote you posted was basically the same thing that i posted just bit more detail, all SSDs have wear-leveling in them to prevent the drive from dieing very fast (any make)

Ram Guy, no one can see deleted posts but us.

Today received my first SSD - the X64 Corsair. Now I want to run some tests on my existing hard disk to get a comprison. I have HD Tune, but what tests should I run to see how my current 320GB 7200RPM 2.5" HDD runs? Also is it recommended I connect my ssd to my 2.5" caddy which connects via USB and E-SATA to do some speed tests within Windows 7 or just install Windows 7 to it and then run the HD Tune tests? Also is there a special format I system I have to use to use the drive as an external drive, and as for Windows 7 do I just run the setup disc as normal and it does everything required to the SSD to format it?

I am not sure that you can install that as an external HDD and load an O.S. on it, not sure about Windows 7 but that is not supported by Windows XP or VISTA. And use the E-SATA port it will be much faster.

Just use the default Quick format DO NOT Full Format the drive and there should be utilities that came with the drive.

Clarification: I wasnt going to install another OS on the SSD as an external drive within Windows 7 itself, it was merely to run benchmarks before installing an OS on it within a 2.5" caddy via an E-SATA connection. After the testing I would install the SSD (in the computer itself) and load Windows 7 off the install CD. Additionally, no utilities came with the drive, it was in a white box, with a plastic box inside it holding the SSD drive. I have attached pictures as proof:

 

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/aliciasbf/DSC00653.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh95/aliciasbf/DSC00654.jpg

 

Also, what features do I turn off, write caching, defrag, etc. What ones do I disable and how?

do not turn write cacheing off leave it on the default setting on (as it will make small Writes slower)

 

defrag, prefetchers, should be off, superfetch will auto turn off once you have run WEI (windows experience index) as its not needed on SSDs as they have basically instant access

 

windows indexing and Swap file does not need to be turned off but if you got a lot of ram 4gb or more and x64 os the Swap file can be turned off but you have to make sure you do not run out ram or programs will just crash and system will go unstable

do not turn write cacheing off leave it on the default setting on (as it will make small Writes slower)

 

defrag, prefetchers, should be off, superfetch will auto turn off once you have run WEI (windows experience index) as its not needed on SSDs as they have basically instant access

 

windows indexing and Swap file does not need to be turned off but if you got a lot of ram 4gb or more and x64 os the Swap file can be turned off but you have to make sure you do not run out ram or programs will just crash and system will go unstable

How do I turn off defrag, Superfetch, prefetchers, etc off and using 4gb of ram so will leave swap file enabled. I have heard if certain features are on they will wear out or shorten the life of these drives, so just need to know what to do to make the SSd run it's best with windows 7 without prematurely sending the drive to an early grave.

when you open degrag it has an option in there on witch dives get auto defraged at 3am in the morning just untick the SSD drive press ok (agane windows 7 should be auto turning off defrag on SSD but it did not on my system)

superfetch will auto turn off when you run the WEI

prefetchers can only be disabled in reg (but windows 7 should be doing that but did not on my windows 7 install as it was making prefetch files in the prefetch folder)

for the most part you only need to turn off defrag on windows 7 once the WEI has been ran (windows experience index)

 

for the most part SSDs should last 10 years under norm use (less then 10gb an day Writen to the SSD) but thats just based on that amount, you would of more then likely upgraded to an bigger SSD by then, before the SSD fails but big guess really as its new tech the, MTBF is always an guess, but flash is bit more predictable due to the amount of Writes it can handle

Well it looks like my hope to be running an SSD for a while has dramatically come to a halt. I finally installed windows, just had the basics running, suddenly IE was no responding and MSN. Press CTRL ALT DEL and still no action. Forced the laptop off but holding the power button. I then press the power button and then told to choose a boot device. Rebooted system, went into BIOS and surprise surprise the drive is no longer listed. No hard disk was detected at all. The "hard disk" option in the BIOS was not showing. I put my old HDD in and went into the BIOS and all was fine. So in under 8 hours the drive went from fully functional to fully dead. To test it further, I rebooted on my normal HDD, plugged the drive into a caddy - and nothing - no drives appeared at all. This really makes me question the quality / reliability of these drives. This is the quickest drive failure in the history of all my hard disks. Not impressed Corsair.

Mate, USB has horribly limited bandwidth. It would even bottleneck a regular hard drive, let alone an SSD! Connecting an SSD via USB would defeat the whole purpose of it.

 

No offence but someone who's buying such cutting-edge hardware should be aware of a basic limitation like this.

Mate, USB has horribly limited bandwidth. It would even bottleneck a regular hard drive, let alone an SSD! Connecting an SSD via USB would defeat the whole purpose of it. No offence but someone who's buying such cutting-edge hardware should be aware of a basic limitation like this.

The USB connection via a 2.5" caddy was after I realised the drive had died as a test. It was only to verify the drive was completely dead after I put my original WD 320GB Scorpio Black 7200RPM hard disk back in my computer to boot windows normally. I put it in a 2.5" caddy (e-sata and usb), the green light lit up but no drive appeared at all within Windows as it originally did when I first bought it. Eg. Since the BIOS was not detecting the SSD drive at all, I decided once I put my original working HDD back in an booted windows, that I would verify to see if the drive would appear in Windows as another hard disk as it did originally before Windows was installed on the new SSD. Clarification: I was not trying to run windows via a caddy ever - it was only to verify the drive had completely died - basic troubleshooting.

Let's get it replaced, please use the On Line RMA Request Form and we will be happy to replace it. And please let me know the RMA number when you get it as I would like to see that drive, this is the first SSD that has failed that I know of.

I told the company I purchased it from and sent it back to them under RA. The company will refund the cost once the dead drive is verified. A 128GB version will arrive today and hopefully no issues because these are AU$550 each. My RMA is 9011458 - it was purchased from http://www.auspcmarket.com.au.

 

Clarification: There seems to be some confusion regarding why I used a caddy. My SSD was in the computer when windows just froze, the HDD indicator was going constantly despite everything not responding. CTRL ALT DEL did not respond. I forced the laptop off by holding the power button. Once I verified the BIOS was not even detecting the SSD, I put my original HDD back in the laptop and booted Windows as normal. Then, I put the 2.5" SSD in a caddy only to see if windows would detect the drive as it did before Windows was installed - that also failed - no drive appeared in Windows at all despite the green LED on the caddy lighting up. The caddy was only used to see if the SSD would appear in windows as another hard disk / drive - nothing appeared and not even the usual sound windows makes when USB flash drives are connected - zip nada nothing - it was completely dead. The tell tale sign of this SSD failing was when the BIOS fails to even detect it as it did originally.

 

NOTE: When the SSD drive was removed it was extremely hot, I could feel the heat through the HDD cover underneath my ASUS G1S laptop yet my laptop is on about 6 stoppers, so it sits about 1cm (5mm) above the surface it sits on, plus the HDD cover has air vents. I find it odd why an SSD with no moving parts gets so damn hot in a laptop for which it was designed.

I think RG was thinking of the Corsair RMA #, if you were going to RMA it in directly.

I think RG was thinking of the Corsair RMA #, if you were going to RMA it in directly.

Well since I only had the drive for a grand total of 6 hours in operation, I returned it to where I purchased it online via RA. No point me spending a fortune to send it to the USA, when it was still under the DOA period. Im not very impressed with my first ever SSD dying on me, but I knew as soon as the BIOS failed to even find it, it had gone past the point of no return and would never come back from the brink.

That is OK but I doubt I will see the drive but normally SSD Drives run very cool in fact mine never gets above room Temp.

Well this SSD was approaching the same temperature as my WD 320GB Scorpio Black 7200RPM drive, extremely warm - and the HDD runs about 50 degees celcius according to HD Tune. Maybe Corsair might have to include a mini fan inside this to distribute airflow if they are overheating. I also noticed reviews of the P series had screenshots which indicated "Made in Korea" on the SSD drive, yet the X Series are assembled in Taiwan - this makes no sense - a higher performance drive not Made in Korea - should be the other way around.