End user input needed for proper SATA speed database in OCZ SSD

[Anuja Darzi]

I am retailer for laptops and PCs and recently I have sold many laptops with SATA 3 SSDs of OCZ. One of my colleagues brought to my notice that the write speeds of the SSDs are too low for a SATA 3 level. It seems that the laptop is using a SATA 2 SSD. Same goes for SATA 2 level SSDs which also have low speed. I am looking for some solution that will bring the SSDs to their normal speeds if any of my costumer comes back asking about it. What if I do AS-SSD and ATTO tests to figure out any possible solution for this problem? These tests will reveal the maximum speed that the SSD can achieve. So when a customer comes back I can benchmark their SSD and increase the speed of it?

[Lisa Boney]

I know this problem which you have described and too face the same problem with my OCZ Agility 3 SSD. I updated Intel RST driver to 10.8.0.1003 and executed an AS SSD benchmark test. Now the speed of my SSD has increased four times and even the firmware of OCZ has become stable. You can upgrade the firmware of the SSD to its latest version that is version 2.15. Along with the low write speed of the SSD, I have been experiencing system halts, BSODs and failure in detection of SSD. When the SSD would fail to be detected, a black and white screen with some text would appear prompting me to check if the SSD is properly connected or not. The connections were right, once I rebooted my system, the SSD will automatically be detected again. At that time I was using firmware version 2.11, but now updating to firmware version 2.15 has solved my problem. The AS SSS benchmark result that I had achieved when using firmware version 2.11 is quite low than the score that I achieved after updating the firmware to version 2.15. The ATTO Benchmark results didn’t show much difference when done on firmware version 2.11 and firmware version 2.15. I did not rebuilt my system drive neither did I secure erase any data from my SSD. I built my system drive by using Paragon disk imaging software which also has functionality to align and partition the drives properly. I know that OCZ recommends building of system drivers from scratch but, I never followed it and it succeeded. All is working fine in my system except for one thing, my SSD has started making a low pitch sound as if something is broken or damaged.

[chuck28]

I am currently using OCZ Vertex 3 SSD in my PC and the firmware that it has is version 2.06. The motherboard too is of Intel. Whenever I try to update the firmware to version 2.15, my computer freezes or locks up. I have also experienced blue screen errors when trying to update the firmware. I think that there is an incompatibility issue with the motherboard I use and the firmware update that I am trying to use. I have updated the firmware of my motherboard, which I think might help in solving this problem.

[phunsuk]

I am using Lenovo ThinkPad W520 with Linux installed in it as my operating system. I am using an OCZ SSD in it and I want to update its firmware. So I burned the image of the firmware on a pen drive and tried installing it. The firmware that I am trying to install is of version 2.15. As I tried installing it, it gave me a bluescreen error. At that time, I had attached my laptop to the charging dock. I thought that this error must be occurring due to clash of working between the dock and the firmware. My friend suggested me that the firmware updates if trying to install using a pen drive, then only USB 3.0 should be used as it works perfectly. So I tried changing the USB ports but still it didn’t help. I unplugged my laptop from the dock and tried again, this time I didn’t get any bluescreen error or no other problem. But the installer showed me that I have installed firmware version 2.15 already. I can’t understand what it is, but my SSD seems to work fine. There is no increase in speed, but I don’t think there is any major issue other than display of wrong firmware in my computer. I benchmarked the SSD and I feel that the speed has increased somewhat. But again when I put the laptop on power saving mode, the speed gets reduced. I think I will visit the service centre of OCZ to get my problem solved.

[Faiyaz9]

Since you are using a laptop and I assume that the SSD came along with it by default, then it won’t be useful in visiting the OCZ service centre. Any problem in OCZ products will be handled by OCZ service centre, if that part is purchased individually and not in combination with product of different manufacturer, in your case, Lenovo ThinkPad W520. You will need to visit Lenovo service entre to get your problem solved.

[Gameli]

If the ATTO benchmarking is not showing any difference in readings, then it is happening because you must have too much of non-Microsoft applications and processes executing at the startup of your operating system. This affects the ATTO benchmarking process greatly. You try running the ATTO benchmarking in Safe Mode as no extra process will be executed at startup in this mode. Also there are many processes that run in background and are invisible; they have great effect on benchmarking process. If still the problem persists than you can try running the ATTO benchmarking in a freshly installed Windows. If you are following this method, then it is highly recommended that you do it using MSconfig. Also you can use IObit's "GameBooster" if you don’t want to set every parameter and take every decision manually. IObit's "GameBooster" will perfectly optimize all the settings according to the resources available on the system. I have used Acronis too for benchmarking; it is great software for this purpose as it creates the virtual copy of one’s operating system. This is used to revert changes if anything goes wrong. But this software works slowly and needs a good amount of time to work.

[Amadou]

I am using Speccy for benchmarking OCZ Vertex 3 SSD in my PC. It is of SATA 2 connector and also suffers from low write speed problem. I don’t know why it is happening, but it fails to detect my SSD. So I am tried Paragon Imaging software which I found best for benchmarking an SSD. It uses the cloning technique which is very helpful in alignment of drives and partitions in an SSD. Building a system from scratch using this software proved risky for me by using Paragon Imaging software, but on success, it reduced the boot time of my system which means that the SSD is being quickly detected. The time previously needed by the operating system to detect the SSD is reduced. My experience using Paragon Imaging software is very good; it has reduced the bluescreen error greatly. After using it, I don’t remember getting freeze in computer or any sort of lock-ups. I think that creating boot drive from scratch will fasten my system more.

[ErikaGeek]

I too have OCZ Vertex 3 SSD in my computer. I use Windows XP as my primary operating system and have Linux installed in VMware as my secondary operating system. My works involve me to work on Microsoft Excel, MySQL, CRM with SQL servers and other similar software. These softwares experience regular crashes and it is nothing new to me. These crashes create a big problem of integrity of the database and to solve this problem, I have been using Paragon Imaging software. I clone the data in my SSD which proves useful when recovering data after system crash. The SSD that I am using is of SATA 3 connector type and it faces a great issue of improper stability. I have tried optimizing the configurations of the SSD but still it didn’t help me in any way.

[JErastus]

My Alienware M17x R3 uses OCZ vertex 3 SSD for storage and it too suffers from low speed problem. I tried tweaking the registry to see if it solves my problem or not. But this reduced the SSD’s speed more. On asking my friend about it, she told me that tweaking the registry must have reduced the CPU’s power management which has resulted in reduced throttle. I saw the performance of my system by benchmarking nut it seems that I have actually messed up the things more.