Samsung 840 SSD slow speed

[harshil123]

Computer specs:

Processor- Intel i5 760
Mobo- P7P55D-E-LX
SSD- Samsung SSD 840 series 125gb

I have two sata connectors on the motherboard; one is the default Intel one and one is the marvel one. After looking around it seems the Intel one is better to use. However I'm concerned with the speeds I'm getting:

http://puu.sh/hWy3q/532ef58327.png

http://puu.sh/hWyew/045c2aafd6.png

http://puu.sh/hWyga/453bd9cf39.png

http://puu.sh/hWynD/95006ec592.png

As far as I'm aware my mobo does support Sata 3 so I should be getting higher speeds. In particular, I'm concerned with the write speeds.(http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P7P55DE_LX/)

 

[reedo_43]

You definitely want the intel ports. Did you update your chipset and sata drivers. You are correct...something is not right there. Have enabled rapid mode in magician? Not sure why magician is complain about your ports not being sata 3 because asus says otherwise.

 

[SkylerJacobs]

You need to use the Gray ports to be using SATA 3 (6 GB/s)

While using the Intel controller, you will be limited by the SATA 2 (3GB/s) interface. However, your Write speed does seem lower than it should be.

Have you updated to the latest firmware for your SSD?

 

[rcald2000]

Update to the latest firmware (for good measure)
Install "Samsung SSD 840 EVO Performance Restoration"

<load URL below>
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/ssd840evo/overview.html
Underneath heading "Download Files" <click> "Download Zip", next to "Performance Restoration Software".

Just for my own curiosity: How long have you owned the 840 EVO and did you purchase it new or used?

 

[reedo_43]

Also is the sata mode in the bios set to ahci?

 

[harshil123]

You definitely want the intel ports. Did you update your chipset and sata drivers. You are correct...something is not right there. Have enabled rapid mode in magician? Not sure why magician is complain about your ports not being sata 3 because asus says otherwise.

http://puu.sh/hWzGU/03bd74faa5.png

Rapid mode is not supported apparently.

You need to use the Gray ports to be using SATA 3 (6 GB/s)

While using the Intel controller, you will be limited by the SATA 2 (3GB/s) interface. However, your Write speed does seem lower than it should be.

Have you updated to the latest firmware for your SSD?

So are you advising for me to try the Marvel ports and then check the speed?

According to the Samsung magic, I'm already running the latest firmware for the SSD: http://puu.sh/hWzKc/0bf9cb6578.png

Update to the latest firmware (for good measure)
Install "Samsung SSD 840 EVO Performance Restoration"

<load URL below>
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/mi...
Underneath heading "Download Files" <click> "Download Zip", next to "Performance Restoration Software".

Just for my own curiosity: How long have you owned the 840 EVO and did you purchase it new or used?

It was purchased brand new only 2 years ago..

Running the program now, and will post results..

Also is the sata mode in the bios set to ahci?

Yeah its already set to that...

 

[reedo_43]

Not sure yet. Reading the manual now. I have the 840 evo, so guess your is not supported.

 

[reedo_43]

The manual is confusing, but I would stick to the intel ports.

 

[rcald2000]

I previously owned the Samsung 840 EVO, but have since upgraded to the 850 EVO because I experienced the performance bug that Samsung had with the TLC technology when they introduced it in the 840 and 840 EVO. The performance restoration application "might" help. However, Samsung Magician never reported that my system wasn't support SATA 3 (6.0 Gb/s). If you are absolutely certain about your motherboard model, I would upgrade the marvel driver and perhaps the BIOS as well, if you haven't done so already. Obviously you would update these after the performance restoration completes; I think it took my system 60 minutes to finish the performance restoration. Also save and close all applications before you start the marvel driver and bios updates. I've placed the Asus link below. Looks like Asus hasn't updated drivers for this board in quite some time.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P7P55DE_LX/HelpDesk_Download/

 

[harshil123]

Tried to use the Performance restoration but that's for the samsung 840 evo (mine is just the stanard)

http://puu.sh/hWAVj/b81415b3bc.jpg

 

[SkylerJacobs]

Tried to use the Performance restoration but that's for the samsung 840 evo (mine is just the stanard)

http://puu.sh/hWAVj/b81415b3bc.jpg

After looking at the correct product page (Was looking at the 840 EVO page) I see now that the Samsung 840 has a limit of 130 MB/s Write, and 530 MB/s Read.

Your SSD is performing fine, as it is connected to the SATA 2 (3GB/s) Interface.

 

[harshil123]

After looking at the correct product page (Was looking at the 840 EVO page) I see now that the Samsung 840 has a limit of 130 MB/s Write, and 530 MB/s Read.

Your SSD is performing fine, as it is connected to the SATA 2 (3GB/s) Interface.

That makes sense but if my mobo claims to support sata 3, should I both to plug it into the marvel connector and see if that makes any difference (Although from looking around it seems the marvel ports are actually worse).

 

[rcald2000]

I've located the answer in an old Tom's hardware forum post, but you won't like it. I recommend that you read the entire thread, but here is the gist of it. Long story short, you're screwed:

"An SATA 6Gb/s controller on a PCIe 2.5 Gb/s lane can't even run at 3Gb/s.

Second, Intel's 3Gb/s controller has higher I/O per second than Marvelle's 6Gb/s controller"

"That's all fine and well if the board properly supports the controller at full speed, but how to you get more than 2.5Gb/s over a P55 PCH's 2.5Gb/s PCIe pathway? This is not one of those boards that combines eight 2.5Gb/s lanes into four 5.0Gb/s lanes through a PLX bridge. "

-- Cashman (Tom's Hardware Team)

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262926-32-sata-working-asus-bios

Google query: asus p7p55d-e lx sata 3 driver
Google result: Sata 6G not working in Asus Bios [Solved]...

 

[SkylerJacobs]

[After looking at the correct product page (Was looking at the 840 EVO page) I see now that the Samsung 840 has a limit of 130 MB/s Write, and 530 MB/s Read.

Your SSD is performing fine, as it is connected to the SATA 2 (3GB/s) Interface./quote]

That makes sense but if my mobo claims to support sata 3, should I both to plug it into the marvel connector and see if that makes any difference (Although from looking around it seems the marvel ports are actually worse).

You don't have to, and you probably will not notice a difference (besides benchmarks), but if you want you can try and see.

 

[reedo_43]

Now I am totally confused! I am outa here...sorry

 

[rcald2000]

Now I am totally confused! I am outa here...sorry

Sarcasm? <Sheldon stare>

The Marvel controller is bottle necked by single PCIe 2.0 lane running at 2.5 gigabits per second, which gives a theoretical speed of 312.5 megabytes per second. I guess when the good folks at Asus designed this motherboard, they were only concerned with allowing maximum bandwidth for hard drives, not SSDs. Although to be perfectly fair, this board did come out in 2010.

Harshil123, time to bite the bullet and upgrade your system. Please mark this post as the answer. Thanks and good luck.