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Corsair X64, if i wanted to reinstall windows ?


uscool

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Hi, i got the corsair x64 and got it running with windows 7 and very happy and runs super fast, cant notice any decline, but i was wondering what do i have to do if i had to reinstall windows, or i was gonna build another system, can someone help me the steps that i would have to do, dont think would be easy as using windows 7 on installation format ? and also when new firmware is out would it wipe the whole drive ?

 

Thanks

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You can just format and reinstall, but this won't restore performance. All formatting does is remove the file allocation table entries the data will still be there until it is over-written and this is where the performance degradation occurs. Basically it is better termed as latency because the drive's firmware has to move data around whilst erasing blocks before fresh data can be written to it. The more work it has to do the slower the drive's performance in terms of *writes* .... *read* performance is not affected.

 

Using a piece of software (such as HDD erase and/or G-Parted) erases everything so you get a boost in write performance. The thing to remember is that performance will *never* get back to factory fresh levels; even a spinning HDD never performs as good after use - simple use plus wear and tear will always degrade a drive. However, that is not to say that SSDs are fragile little babies that need to be wrapped in cotton wool; SSDs will out-perform and out-live any spinning drive (barring hardware failure problems inherent in both mediums).

 

Once new firmware is released to address the problems of *write* latency then we should see a reduction in performance loss - whether this is using a tool or relying on Windows 7 TRIM function it doesn't really matter. The thing to remember is that SSDs haven't been out in the wild for any great length of time and various problems are cropping up with different systems and these problems take time to address.

 

Install Windows 7 and just let it do its job and see what transpires - if you have a severe performance loss on *writes* and this affects your workflow then you will need to clean the drive with HDDerase or G-Parted and reinstall again. You can image, but there are underlying problems with going down this route that *may* or may not affect performance.

 

Tell us what happens whatever you decide ;-)

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stuck now, i have the drive installed and running windows 7 , working brillant, but planning to buy another motherboard and ram, and would need to reinstall windows again, just wanted to know what options would be the best, and all this thing i hear about decreasing performance etc, what would you advise me to do, quick format using windows 7 inbuilt format when reinstalling, or other way ? and thanks alot for the help, now im wondering as soon i build new pc up and install windows, the firmware will be released
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If you're not in a hurry to build your new system then I would wait until around the end of November - firmware releases should be available and when they are released it is most likely that any upgrade will result in all data being wiped.

 

When the time comes to do that reinstall, then I would use G-Parted to secure erase the drive (this will clear all the Nand cells and get you to around 80% of factory fresh) and then just let Windows 7 do its bit on the reinstall. It's always best to do a fresh install rather than image - some potentially inherent problems from an imaged drive could be transferred to the new install. It's a pain having to do that, but if you image your drive after a fresh install and get it sweet before imaging then a reimage should be fine.

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Thanks for your help, makes much more sense now, ya i can wait till end of november, ram prices may drop :roll:, i dont like the imaging drive etc, when i install new board and ram etc, just like to start fresh, dont like having prevous drivers bits left over etc, hopefully when new firmware is out they will also provide a wiper tool to restore performance that would be great

 

Thanks again

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