eL_PuSHeR Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hello. Does anybody know if AHCI mode is imperative when using a SSD drive? I am asking because my optical drives don't work properly when ahci is enabled in bios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodles Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) Here's a little SSD guide. It's not necessary, but might give better performance with SSD. Also AHCI mode supports NCQ. Here's some reading: http://expertester.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/ahci-vs-ide-%E2%80%93-benchmark-advantage/ Edited October 29, 2012 by nodles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators mta Posted October 30, 2012 Moderators Share Posted October 30, 2012 definitely not imperative. i can vouch first hand having just installed my first SSD about 3 weeks ago on an old mobo that didn't have 6gig SATA ports(only 3gig) and i stupidly forgot to set AHCI before installing Win7 so I've missed the NCQ boost. the thing still rocks over the HDD but could be so much better. Backup now & backup often.It's your digital life - protect it with a backup.Three things are certain; Birth, Death and loss of data. You control the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_B Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 There is much information upon SSD from OCZ here http://www.ocztechno...forum/forum.php AHCI is recommended for faster operation of an SSD, I have seen opinions that TRIM might still work if you choose to avoid AHCI mode. but updating the firmware and issuing a Secure ATA Erase might require AHCI. Whatever is good for OCZ is possibly not good for other brands. It would be better to ask your question at a forum dedicated to your particular brand and model of SSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eL_PuSHeR Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 According to HDTune information tab, NCQ is still enabled for my HD even in IDE mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Fast Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 El, does this mean that it is enabled, or that your drive supports it? I'd imagine that the utility can do a read of the drive's capabilities & display what it is possible to do, whether it is enabled or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eL_PuSHeR Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 I am not sure. Maybe it's just an indication of "supported". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodles Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I am not sure. Maybe it's just an indication of "supported". Probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_B Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I believe the operation of NCQ actually PREVENTS the use of TRIM for an SSD, I have just found in the following :- http://blog.rethinkd...e-amplification An additional problem is that the TRIM command comes with a penalty. Modern SSD drives are parallelized devices that allow performing multiple operations in parallel. In order to get peak efficiency, multiple concurrent requests have to be sent to the drive. This happens via a Native Command Queuing protocol (or NCQ). Modern drives can run up to 31 commands concurrently and often achieve peak performance when there are close to 31 commands in the pipeline. The problem with TRIM is that on many interfaces it requires stalling the NCQ pipeline. That is, when a TRIM command is issued, all 31 commands must be finished while no other commands can go in. Then the TRIM command goes into the drive, and then the pipeline of traditional read and write commands accumulates again. I believe NCQ is quite irrelevant to an SSD. NCQ merely allows concurrent actions upon pending requests that are issued to a drive which can process in any order that the drive firmware considers optimal, e.g. by minimizing alternate excursions between the inner and outer tracks, and acting upon file clusters in the order in which they travel under the read/write head rather than the order in which user applications have issued file updates. The SSD firmware may have reasons for altering the order in which it executes pending requests, but seek delays between tracks and rotational order of cluster is the least of its concerns Also https://en.wikipedia...Command_Queuing Windows 7's AHCI enables not only NCQ but also TRIM support on SSD drives (with their supporting firmware). I believe the important thing for an SSD is not NCQ but AHCI, which is required for a "Secure ATA Erase", which is a special process that in a few seconds will SIMULTANEOUSLY erase all cells. ( I remember more than 30 years agao it took half an hour of a powerful Ultraviolet Light shining through a Quartz Window to achieve the same effect on a few KiloBytes of Erasible PROM.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eL_PuSHeR Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 Well, I swapped IDE <-> AHCI modes again. So far, no issues at all (even when burning multisession with NERO). Fingers crossed. I have in mind getting a SSD drive sometime in the future. EDIT: I have noticed a lot of stuttering playing L4D2. I must investigate this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eL_PuSHeR Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 After some benchmarking on two different AMD systems, I have found out I prefer IDE native mode over AHCI. My reasons are: 1. I don't have any SSD so TRIM isn't needed. 2. I don't plan on using hot-plugging 3. NCQ doesn't give me any benefits (it seems meant for servers) 4. HD Tune benchmarks show IDE performance is better. The two AMD systems are one Gigabyte (SB600 chipset) and one ASUS (nForce 720a MCP chipset). I guess Intel's AHCI is probably better but your mileage may vary. Also, I have read that some (or many) optical drives just HATE AHCI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodles Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 (edited) Yeah, AHCI/storage drivers can make a difference in the benchmarks/speed. I've used AHCI over IDE for a long time now, even with HDD (and DVD-drive). I've Intel CPU so I've Intel chipset (Z68) & the latest Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology). Edited November 28, 2012 by nodles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eL_PuSHeR Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 I have read somewhere that NCQ might incur in a small speed penalty or delay while sorting read/write operations sent to the queue. I also have an i7 running on a Z68 chipset that is configured for AHCI. I have not even bothered to look into bios to see if it can be changed. The HDD performance is very good right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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