Is there even a P55 mainboard that supports high speed SSDs (~500mb/s)?

[Jerizo]

Hey I got this issue with my new Sandisk Extreme II ssd (500+ reads/writes) and since my mainboard ga-p55 ud3 only has a Sata II controller I went ahead and got the updated version ga-p55a ud3 with Sata III support (Marvel).

I ran Crystaldiskmark and only got peak reads of about 330 and writes somewhere mid 200s which isn't what i was anticipating at all. I was hoping to get the max performance by upgrading to the Sata III version of my board.
Well now that I did some more research I found out that the Marvell 9128 controller apparently is known for bad results in terms of high performance SSDs. Sata II writes supposedly even beat the Marvel Sata III. Intel controllers seem to be the way to go but I can't find a P55 board with Intel controllers.

Getting different cpu chipset mainboard is not an option for me so I'd have to get another P55 one that actually provides true Sata III performance. Are there even mainboards that do that or am I stuck here? I can't find many other P55 Sata III mainboards that are available specially cuz they obviously are no longer sold by the manufacturers anymore and I have to look for used ones.

I could use some advice, I feel like I'm stuck.

 

[Dereck47]

Are there even mainboards that do that or am I stuck here?

Yes, you are stuck. The P55 Chipset was released in 2009.

SATA 3 (6Gb/s) speeds are from 301MB/s to 600MB/s. So your SSD is getting SATA 6Gb/s speeds, but you can't connect a current generation SSD to a P55 chipset and expect to get maximum advertised Read/Write speeds.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The answer to your main question is NO! The P55 Series motherboards do not properly support modern 3rd generation SATA 3 6Gb/s solid state drives. There were a few attempts to add SATA 3 6Gb/s support to a couple of motherboards. Results were mixed. For example, your motherboard might not support SATA 3 if you are using multiple video cards in a CrossfireX configuration. In addition, other motherboard components might become unstable.

To be honest, your motherboard has had more than its fair share of problems.

 

[Jerizo]

The answer to your main question is NO! The P55 Series motherboards do not properly support modern 3rd generation SATA 3 6Gb/s solid state drives. There were a few attempts to add SATA 3 6Gb/s support to a couple of motherboards. Results were mixed. [...]

Have they not had any success making any controllers/ mainboards that run well/ at or near rated speeds or does the lack of sata 3 performance lie in the nature of pp5 cpus themselves?

Cuz pcie sata controller cards come to mind and while i dismissed that idea after receiving your feedback on the Asus U3S6 Sata 3/ USB 3 expansion card I checked back to see if I could find a alternative that seemed more promising. Heres the newegg, some users report great success with this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=16-115-114).

I particularly found this review interesting because this is also on a 2009 board:

Installed on SATA II board ( Asus M4A78T-E ) with SATA III SSD ( Corsair Force GT 120GB ) attached and now gone from
223 Write 244 Read MB/s with onboard controller to
521 Write 542 Read MB/s With this card. Not The max but it's a GREAT!! improvement for this system.

Could this be the solution or am I missing something?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The P55 motherboards were designed back when SATA 2 3Gb/s was the standard. There was no SATA 3 6Gb/s standard. When the newer standard was adopted the motherboard manufacturers simply designed new motherboards.

Could you please post a link to the quote? I'd like to read the rest of the information.

 

[Jerizo]

Its actually from the reviews section of the Newegg page i linked, look at the botom of the 2nd or top of 3rd reviews page, thats where the comment is currently located.

Do you think this is gonna work?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Sorry for the delay in response. Your link is for an entry level Rocket Raid Controller card that uses a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface. If you have a spare PCIe 2.0 x4 or x8, or x16 slot on your motherboard it "might" work. Those particular cards were the subject of much discussion here a few years ago. The low budget cards had more than their fair share of problems. The company does have much better cards that cost more but with your motherboard you would be taking a chance.

 

[Jerizo]

I don't really have the budget for the better cards so I was gonna give this one a shot but I just realized that my board only has a spare PCIe 16x running at 4x (not PCIe 2.0). This won't work at all then right?

thanks for your help by the way