Why Asymmetrical Read/Write Speeds?

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital WD1600JBRTL
drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0 pri master channel.

The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes at
60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.

The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.

The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on Gigabyte's
web site.

Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it related
to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector translation
slowing down the read?

This is on Windows 2000 SP2.

I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.

Any ideas?

--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

Hay Mark ... That *is* curious.
Is it something easy like you jumpered for master when you should have no
jumper? Or maybe a bad 80 conductor cable?
It would interesting to know what measuring software you use.
That is a very fast drive.
JPS


"Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:6L3dc.1083$zj3.761@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital WD1600JBRTL
> drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0 pri master
channel.
>
> The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes at
> 60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.
>
> The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.
>
> The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on Gigabyte's
> web site.
>
> Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it related
> to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector translation
> slowing down the read?
>
> This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
>
> I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> --
> Take care,
>
> Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
>
> VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> Business sites at:
> www.dv-clips.com
> www.mwcomms.com
> www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> -
>
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

the raid controller should work fine.. just make sure you arent using the MS
supplied driver.

I have built a few systems with HPT and Promise raid controllers in them,
and not had any problems with 2000Pro, 2000Server, XPPro, or 2003 server. In
every case, I provided the drivers and made sure that they were being used,
and not over written.

NuTs

"jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:2c4dc.210507$1p.2437032@attbi_s54...
> Hay Mark ... That *is* curious.
> Is it something easy like you jumpered for master when you should have no
> jumper? Or maybe a bad 80 conductor cable?
> It would interesting to know what measuring software you use.
> That is a very fast drive.
> JPS
>
>
> "Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:6L3dc.1083$zj3.761@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital WD1600JBRTL
> > drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0 pri master
> channel.
> >
> > The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes at
> > 60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.
> >
> > The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.
> >
> > The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on
Gigabyte's
> > web site.
> >
> > Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it
related
> > to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector translation
> > slowing down the read?
> >
> > This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
> >
> > I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> > properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > --
> > Take care,
> >
> > Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
> >
> > VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> > Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> > Business sites at:
> > www.dv-clips.com
> > www.mwcomms.com
> > www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> > -
> >
> >
> >
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

I used two different benchmarks:

nBench
and
RexTest

Both agree on results. nBench let's me test with files up to 999MB.

Drive is jumpered for Master and is in the primary master position.


To give some perspective, these benchmarks score in the mid 40s when testing
my preexisting RAID 0 array, consisting of two 2-year-old 80GB Maxtor
drives. It scores 8191kilobytes per second on an attached IBM SCSI drive on
the Adaptec controller. RexTest also agrees.

The new drive is darned fast on writing. I just wish it would READ as fast
as it writes!


--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-



"jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:2c4dc.210507$1p.2437032@attbi_s54...
> Hay Mark ... That *is* curious.
> Is it something easy like you jumpered for master when you should have no
> jumper? Or maybe a bad 80 conductor cable?
> It would interesting to know what measuring software you use.
> That is a very fast drive.
> JPS
>
>
> "Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:6L3dc.1083$zj3.761@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital WD1600JBRTL
> > drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0 pri master
> channel.
> >
> > The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes at
> > 60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.
> >
> > The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.
> >
> > The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on
Gigabyte's
> > web site.
> >
> > Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it
related
> > to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector translation
> > slowing down the read?
> >
> > This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
> >
> > I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> > properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
> >
> > Any ideas?
> >
> > --
> > Take care,
> >
> > Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
> >
> > VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> > Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> > Business sites at:
> > www.dv-clips.com
> > www.mwcomms.com
> > www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> > -
> >
> >
> >
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

I have two nearly identical systems here, one based on Gigabyte's GA-7DXR
(this is the one in question) and one based on Gigabyte's GA-7DXR+. The
latter has a newer ATA 133 controller chip on the RAID and a different RAID
driver. I am running that system on SP4 with no problems.

Unfortunately, the former system's RAID hangs for long periods during reads
with the Promise 1.30 driver (which is the last version that Gigabyte has on
their web site going on 2 years now). As a result, read speeds are just
4MB/sec on the RAID under SP3/SP4 (tried both). Writes are fine and system
does not freeze. Reads are interrupted by total system freezes every 2-3
seconds, lasting 10-15 seconds, then resuming. During the freezes, the mouse
pointer is also frozen. The entire system pauses. I rolled back to SP2 and
the problem went away. At first, I thought I had a bad drive, but rolling
back to SP2 alayed that concern.


Getting back to the primary IDE controller, where this WD drive is located
as a system boot drive, I am wondering if read performance is slow BECAUSE
of SP2. I wonder if there is some translation going on because of the large
(160GB) disc size? The installation instructions indicated that SP3 or above
is required to access drives over 137GB. But I can see all of the drive
(it's partitioned into four logical drives) as the partitions add up to the
expected drive size. But I do wonder if there is a slowdown with SP2 and
this drive. I need to install SP3 because a software application upgrade is
being prevented under SP2, requiring SP3, but I cannot use SP3 because it
kills the RAID operation at 3-5 second intervals on reads.

Any ideas whether there is a compatibility problem with 7DXR's Promise
controller and SP3/4? As I mentioned, the newer version of this board (my
other machine) is happy on SP4. I did try reinstalling/refreshing the RAID
drivers on the 7DXR, but the problem remained until I rolled back to SP2.


--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-



"NuT CrAcKeR" <nutcracker@internationalhacker.org> wrote in message
news:jrudnSurL9jMTundRVn-gw@speakeasy.net...
> the raid controller should work fine.. just make sure you arent using the
MS
> supplied driver.
>
> I have built a few systems with HPT and Promise raid controllers in them,
> and not had any problems with 2000Pro, 2000Server, XPPro, or 2003 server.
In
> every case, I provided the drivers and made sure that they were being
used,
> and not over written.
>
> NuTs
>
> "jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:2c4dc.210507$1p.2437032@attbi_s54...
> > Hay Mark ... That *is* curious.
> > Is it something easy like you jumpered for master when you should have
no
> > jumper? Or maybe a bad 80 conductor cable?
> > It would interesting to know what measuring software you use.
> > That is a very fast drive.
> > JPS
> >
> >
> > "Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> > news:6L3dc.1083$zj3.761@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > > I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital
WD1600JBRTL
> > > drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0 pri master
> > channel.
> > >
> > > The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes
at
> > > 60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.
> > >
> > > The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.
> > >
> > > The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on
> Gigabyte's
> > > web site.
> > >
> > > Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it
> related
> > > to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector translation
> > > slowing down the read?
> > >
> > > This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
> > >
> > > I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> > > properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
> > >
> > > Any ideas?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Take care,
> > >
> > > Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
> > >
> > > VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> > > Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> > > Business sites at:
> > > www.dv-clips.com
> > > www.mwcomms.com
> > > www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> > > -
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

A WD drive that is alone on an EIDE port ( no secondary drive), does not use
a jumper.
JPS
"Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:xw5dc.1126$zj3.343@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> I used two different benchmarks:
>
> nBench
> and
> RexTest
>
> Both agree on results. nBench let's me test with files up to 999MB.
>
> Drive is jumpered for Master and is in the primary master position.
>
>
> To give some perspective, these benchmarks score in the mid 40s when
testing
> my preexisting RAID 0 array, consisting of two 2-year-old 80GB Maxtor
> drives. It scores 8191kilobytes per second on an attached IBM SCSI drive
on
> the Adaptec controller. RexTest also agrees.
>
> The new drive is darned fast on writing. I just wish it would READ as fast
> as it writes!
>
>
> --
> Take care,
>
> Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
>
> VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> Business sites at:
> www.dv-clips.com
> www.mwcomms.com
> www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> -
>
>
>
> "jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:2c4dc.210507$1p.2437032@attbi_s54...
> > Hay Mark ... That *is* curious.
> > Is it something easy like you jumpered for master when you should have
no
> > jumper? Or maybe a bad 80 conductor cable?
> > It would interesting to know what measuring software you use.
> > That is a very fast drive.
> > JPS
> >
> >
> > "Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> > news:6L3dc.1083$zj3.761@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > > I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital
WD1600JBRTL
> > > drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0 pri master
> > channel.
> > >
> > > The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes
at
> > > 60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.
> > >
> > > The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.
> > >
> > > The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on
> Gigabyte's
> > > web site.
> > >
> > > Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it
> related
> > > to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector translation
> > > slowing down the read?
> > >
> > > This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
> > >
> > > I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> > > properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
> > >
> > > Any ideas?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Take care,
> > >
> > > Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
> > >
> > > VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> > > Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> > > Business sites at:
> > > www.dv-clips.com
> > > www.mwcomms.com
> > > www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> > > -
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss wrote:
> I recently replaced a Maxtor 6Y120P0 with a Western Digital
> WD1600JBRTL drive. Both have 8MB cache. Both were used on the IDE 0
> pri master channel.
>
> The Maxtor read and wrote at 59.87MB/sec. The Western Digital Writes
> at
> 60.18MB/sec but reads at only 34MB/sec.
>
> The mainboard is Gigabyte GA-7DXR.
>
> The chipset and IDE drivers are the current versions offered on
> Gigabyte's web site.
>
> Is there a known compatibility problem with the WD drive? Or is it
> related to the fact that it's a 160 GB drive? Perhaps some sector
> translation slowing down the read?
>
> This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
>
> I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
>
> Any ideas?



Not good, as 48-bit LBA is not supported in Win2K SP2. Jpsga is correct in
stating the jumper needs to be removed if the WD160 is the sole device on
the primary IDE channel.
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

"jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Yccdc.100230$JO3.51948@attbi_s04...
> A WD drive that is alone on an EIDE port ( no secondary drive), does not
use
> a jumper.
> JPS


But one that is primary master on a controller shared by a DVD writer in the
slave position needs to be strapped as master, which this is. But I shall
recheck the jumper setting. (old eyes have trouble seeing objects that small
nowadays..)

My intuition still tells me it's an OS/driver/hardware conflict of some
sort.

--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

> > This is on Windows 2000 SP2.
> >
> > I can't run SP3 because the RAID controller on this board doesn't work
> > properly on SP3 and SP4. I've had to roll back to SP2.
> >
> > Any ideas?
>
>
>
> Not good, as 48-bit LBA is not supported in Win2K SP2. Jpsga is correct in
> stating the jumper needs to be removed if the WD160 is the sole device on
> the primary IDE channel.
>
>

I NEED to go SP3 or above so that I can install the upgrade to Sonic
Scenarist, but I have a problem in that my RAID array becomes useless on SP3
or above. I thought I had a failing drive (because my system was freezing up
when trying to read files from it and it was impossible to play any video
off the array with the 20-second pauses, 2-3 seconds of play, the pausing
the whole system for 20 seconds again...) Read/write performance on the RAID
went from symmetrical to wildly asymmetricall on SP3/SP4--- Writes at
47MB/S, reads at 3.5MB/S!! (due to the periodic freezing of the whole
system). So I rolled back to SP2 and the RAID was fine again. I went fishing
for new drivers, but Gigabyte still has the same old drivers from 2 years
ago for the 7DXR RAID.

Having experienced that, I am fielding the idea that SP2 is slowing down
reads on the WD in the standard IDE 0 controller in a similar manner. But
I'm not seeing the mouse pointer freezing every 3 seconds like with the RAID
on SP3/4.

I have to solve the RAID driver problem to get SP3 or SP4 in here.

My other machine based on the 7DXR+ is happy with SP4--no problems with the
RAID freezing.

I wonder if Promise Technology has a web site with generic drivers that are
newer and compatible with SP4?


--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

If you have not already done so, I would
get some Visine
unplug the DVD writer
remove the HDD jumper
and retest.

BTW. I have gotten some odd results using test software the does not set the
HDD controller correctly. Modern HDD internal controllers associated with
large buffers appear to be very fussy.

Two testers that are free that have been re-worked in the last few months
are HD Tach and AIDA32.
JPS

"Mark & Mary Ann Weiss" <mweissX294@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:FJodc.1416$l75.1036@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> "jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:Yccdc.100230$JO3.51948@attbi_s04...
> > A WD drive that is alone on an EIDE port ( no secondary drive), does not
> use
> > a jumper.
> > JPS
>
>
> But one that is primary master on a controller shared by a DVD writer in
the
> slave position needs to be strapped as master, which this is. But I shall
> recheck the jumper setting. (old eyes have trouble seeing objects that
small
> nowadays..)
>
> My intuition still tells me it's an OS/driver/hardware conflict of some
> sort.
>
> --
> Take care,
>
> Mark & Mary Ann Weiss
>
> VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
> Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
> Business sites at:
> www.dv-clips.com
> www.mwcomms.com
> www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
> -
>
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte (More info?)

"jpsga" <jpsga@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:EMGdc.102924$gA5.1368860@attbi_s03...
> If you have not already done so, I would
> get some Visine
> unplug the DVD writer
> remove the HDD jumper
> and retest.
>
> BTW. I have gotten some odd results using test software the does not set
the
> HDD controller correctly. Modern HDD internal controllers associated with
> large buffers appear to be very fussy.
>
> Two testers that are free that have been re-worked in the last few months
> are HD Tach and AIDA32.
> JPS
>

I tried these two programs tonight. AIDA32 provides a wealth of general
information about the system.
HD Tach only does read tests unless you register, but here's what I found...
read speed for the WD drive was 37.3MB/s, which roughly agrees with nBench.
AIDA32 gave similar scores on the average.

I did a full backup of the system drive and proceeded to install Gigabyte's
VIA chipset drivers just for laughs. After installing the chipset and filter
drivers, rebooting and running the tests, read speeds took a nosedive to
27MB/s on the WD drive.

Next experiment was to install SP4 on Windows 2000. No effect on the WD
single drive performance, but radical effect on the RAID array! Writes at
62MB/s, reads at 3.4MB/s!

After a frustrating series of tests, I restored the system configuration (in
less than 3 minutes, thanks to Norton Ghost) and rebooted. Interestingly,
under SP2, my RAID array does 62 write and 60 read (MB/s).

Still haven't solved either problem yet.

Oddly, AIDA32 gives my very old 20GB Maxtor drive the same read score as
this new WD drive. nBench showed vast differences between the drives.

Haven't tried pulling the CD/DVD off the cable yet and jumpering for master
only.


--
Take care,

Mark & Mary Ann Weiss

VIDEO PRODUCTION . FILM SCANNING . AUDIO RESTORATION
Hear my Kurzweil Creations at: http://www.dv-clips.com/theater.htm
Business sites at:
www.dv-clips.com
www.mwcomms.com
www.adventuresinanimemusic.com
-
 
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