Poasters

Computers and Technology => System Builds & Upgrades => Topic started by: scuzzy on August 09, 2012, 17:10 hrs

Title: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 09, 2012, 17:10 hrs
As described in my wish list, I recently ordered and received a Plextor M3 128GB SSD, which set me back $130 at the time of purchase. I finally got a chance to install it today, followed by a fresh installation of Windows 7 64-bit.
 
After installing the SSD, I upgraded the firmware from v1.01 to v1.05. I had to download the ISO file, burn it to CD, then restart the computer to begin the firmware update. It was fairly quick, easy and uneventful. Next came reinstalling Windows.

A clean install was a lot of work, simply because of the ridiculous amount of updates. I also used an upgrade disk, which required me to install Windows 7 a second time (on top of the first installation of Windows 7) so that it would accept the upgrade product key.  ::)  It took several hours of work, and the only program I installed was MSE, followed by the latest NVIDIA display driver. I went ahead and installed IE9, and so far I'm not having any issues with it. We'll see how it goes, although I don't plan to use it on a regular basis.

Next will come creating an image of all I've done. Afterward, I'll begin the painful process of reinstalling and customizing all my programs. Of course, that will include Firefox, as I'm not liking Internet Explorer in any flavor.

With the new SSD, my setup is nice and snappy. The Windows Experience Index "disk data transfer rate" jumped from 5.9 to 7.8. Although my system only supports SATA II, the difference in performance is quite noticeable.

FYI: I chose not to partition the SSD.
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 09, 2012, 19:16 hrs
Just when I thought I had all the updates, I learn that there are still several more .NET updates. Each time I update them, I learn that those updates have more updates too.  >:(

Scuzzy; dang Windows.
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: Bill on August 10, 2012, 07:12 hrs
So now the wish list plan for the new "Cray" include a Plextor Pro to take advantage of SATA III? 

I'm not certain the difference between SATA II and III is really worth the extra cost.  My data transfer rate with the Intel SSD was 7.6, if I remember correctly, and with the Plextor Pro and SATA III is 7.9, although I think that's the highest score available in Windows experience at the moment and we won't know until MS upgrades the Rating capabilities, which I think I read is the plan as hardware improves.

Bill
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 10, 2012, 11:13 hrs
It's okay, JA. It took a moment for me to catch the Java joke too. Since Ace left, I've lost my sense of humor. :)

Bill, if I were building a brand new system tomorrow I would consider the newly released Plextor M5 Pro (http://www.anandtech.com/show/6142/plextor-releases-m5-pro). Like the M3 Pro it replaces, it also carries a 5-year warranty. But for now I am quite happy with the M3. I can't answer for SATA II vs III, but the Plextor M3 is noticeably faster in my aging system. I have most of my programs reinstalled, with a small handful to go, yet the system remains snappy. This is no doubt due to the SSD's performance, coupled with the new Windows installation. I'm sure the GTX 560 helps, too. The increase in performance is sufficient that, unless I have a system meltdown, I can't justify upgrading my system at this point. We'll see around this time next year.

Did you setup your BIOS to support AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface)? I learned during this upgrade that AHCI must be enabled in order to support hot swapping, which is helpful with external SATA drives. I enabled mine, since it also gives SATA a slight performance boost. If you installed Windows before enabling AHCI, you first have to do a simple registry tweak before enabling it. Otherwise you'll get the evil BSOD.

Talk about BSOD, I had a little problem with my Windows reinstall. I got a few BSODs while putting the system in sleep mode, until I remembered to disable "allow hybrid sleep" in the power plan settings. Now it's behaving properly.

BTW: It was nice to see Dropbox put everything back in place.
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: Bill on August 10, 2012, 13:24 hrs
Also don't forget to turn off the auto defrag. function in Win 7 which is enabled by default.  Saves a lot of 'Writes' to the SSD.
And, the AHCI was on by default on this board.

B
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 10, 2012, 13:29 hrs
Thanks, Bill. I checked and Windows disabled defrag for the SSD. I remember reading that it's disabled by default in Windows 7, but no harm in verifying.
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: Bill on August 10, 2012, 14:09 hrs
I remember having to turn it off but it might have been Win 32bit, which is what I was using with the first SSD.  I remember stumbling across it a couple of weeks after the SSD was installed and thinking"how much damage has that done to my brand new drive?"

But maybe it's all a figment........

Bill
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 11, 2012, 16:07 hrs
I finally finished reinstalling everything, as well as tweaking all the settings to my liking. The only thing that I have not reinstalled is MediaMonkey, as I haven't decided if I want to pony up for the latest version ($24.95).

My old setup had a 39GB footprint, my clean reinstall is currently at 24.5GB. The only difference between the two that I can think of is that I haven't installed MediaMonkey, but that probably only accounts for 1/2 gig at most. Regardless, my new setup is nice and fast. The difference is quite noticeable; it is literally like a whole new system.

FYI I created 3 images using Acronis. Each image is backed to a second hard drive.

Scuzzy; burning rubber.
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 12, 2012, 11:49 hrs
Just when I thought I was done, this morning I found 4 more .NET updates; all dated in 2011.

Before creating my final image, I checked, double-checked, and triple-checked that there were no more updates to be had. I went as far as rebooting a couple times just to be sure. Each time I manually checked for updates by clicking the "Check for updates" link.

Scuzzy; obviously that made no difference.
Title: Re: Plextor M3 128GB SSD
Post by: scuzzy on August 12, 2012, 11:55 hrs
Great, this is never going to end. Windows just threw yet another .NET update at me, this time dated August 2011.  ::)