Existing Sata-3 interface, SSD runs at Sata-2 speed

[Alarms]

Hello. I recently received a Toshiba P70-A-11Q notebook. The notebook allows the installation of a 2nd HDD. On the second slot i installed a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD which i installed windows 8 on it.

After installing also the Samsung magician and activated Rapid, i made a benchmark. Here are the results.

Trying to find why the speeds are so low, my first thoughts went on AHCI. AHCI seems to be finally enabled. Second thought was that the interface the SSD is connected is not SATA-3. The answer is that the port is indeed SATA-3.

After running different software drying to identify if the SSD runs on Sata-2 or 3 i saw following (confusing) which i still am not sure in the end.

So it seems that the drive is on a SATA-3 but runs at SATA-2 speed ? If not what else could i check?
I know i should be expecting 100-150mb more.

Thank you in advance

 

[Dereck47]

SATA 1 (1.5Gb/s) speeds are from 1MB/s to 150MB/s.
SATA 2 (3Gb/s) speeds are from 151MB/s to 300MB/s.
SATA 3 (6Gb/s) speeds are from 301MB/s to 600MB/s.

Your AS-SSD results show that your SSD is performing normally at SATA 3 speeds.

 

[Alarms]

SATA 1 (1.5Gb/s) speeds are from 1MB/s to 150MB/s.
SATA 2 (3Gb/s) speeds are from 151MB/s to 300MB/s.
SATA 3 (6Gb/s) speeds are from 301MB/s to 600MB/s.

Your AS-SSD results show that your SSD is performing normally at SATA 3 speeds.

First of all thank you for your reply. What you say makes some sense, but:
1) Why do 2-3 apps show that the disk is running on SATA-2
2) Should i expect higher speed rates ?

Thank you

 

[Dereck47]

1) Why do 2-3 apps show that the disk is running on SATA-2

Sorry, I don't know.

2) Should i expect higher speed rates ?

You won't get maximum advertised Read/Write speeds since you're on a laptop. Update your BIOS to its latest version and update your AHCI drivers to the latest version and that might slightly improve your benchmark results. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=22271

 

[JohnnyLucky]

^5 +1 what Dereck47 said.

I have an older Toshiba laptop. Had to update everything Dereck47 mentioned. I also installed new memory with twice the capacity of the original. There was a very noticeable improvement but SSD performance was still lower than benchmarks published for desktop computers.

 

[Alarms]

1) Why do 2-3 apps show that the disk is running on SATA-2

Sorry, I don't know.

2) Should i expect higher speed rates ?

You won't get maximum advertised Read/Write speeds since you're on a laptop. Update your BIOS to its latest version and update your AHCI drivers to the latest version and that might slightly improve your benchmark results. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=22271

About the intel Rapid driver.
Is there any kind of conflict with the RAPID of Samsung magician ? can i install it without a risk ?

 

[Dereck47]

There's no conflict, you can install it without risk. You are currently using an Intel AHCI driver, all you're doing is updating to a newer version.

 

[Alarms]

Now this is disappointing !!!!!
I don't know if this was due to the installation of HCI: Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Driver for Intel Desktop Boards
but look at those numbers ! 2mb/s write speed ? There is something wrong for sure now.

 

[Alarms]

I have just uninstalled the Rapid Storage Technology Driver 12.8.2.1000 rebooted and went through the test.
This time i am getting the exact opposite behavior . I get extreme high numbers

5000mb/s write as you see on one benchmark . If you compare also the very first screenshot on my first post from AS SSD Benchmark,
the values have changed a lot. Some have increased (like 4k write from 57mb it got up to 288mb)

I don't know. i am totally confused which values are valid. I am also confused what i should do from this point. Install again the drivers ?

 

[Dereck47]

Your weird benchmark results are probably due to RAPID mode being enabled. Probably best to disable it until you get everything straightened out.
Reboot your system after you disable RAPID mode and then uninstall all of your Intel drivers that you've installed recently.
Reboot your system and let Windows install its own default drivers.
Benchmark your drive with Samsung Magician and see how things look.

 

[Alarms]

So i have installed the latest Intel RST drivers, disabled RAPID (Magician) and rerun the test.

Does this look any better, assuming the drive runs on Sata-3 interface ?

 

[Alarms]

Problem solved. I added the SSD on the pripary caddy and it runs on SATA-3. Cadd2 on this laptop is a SATA-2 as all the softwares show.
Finally the speeds are now close to 450mb/s .

 

[Dereck47]

Good. You can now enable RAPID mode now that you are fairly satisfied with the performance.

 

[Alarms]

Good. You can now enable RAPID mode now that you are fairly satisfied with the performance.

No. Not yet. I didn't swap the disks. I have to find first brackets in order to fit the HDD on the 2nd drive slot.
I got to see on the web if i can find something for this. I am not risking let the HDD lose hanging just by the SATA connector.