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Sata 6GB with GA-P55-UD3 (Marvell Controller)
So I recently purchased a Corsair Force 3 120 GB SSD to serve as my main boot drive for Windows 7 64-bit. I was able to install Windows with no problems and am now using it via the drive. It seems to be working fine, though not quite as snappy-fast as I was hoping for. I'm using a GA-P55-UD3 (rev 2.0) MB, which has both an Intel Sata controller (3GB/s) and a Marvell sata controller (6GB/s). Since the drive is "Sata 3" and supposed to be super fast, I decided to install it on the Marvell 6GB/s controller to take advantage of the drive's full speed.
What I want to do is to confirm that the drive is actually working the way it's supposed to and actually running at full speed. I'm not sure how to do this. If I go into the Marvell Raid Utility (just for the info, I'm not running a RAID array), it says the drive is running at 6 GB/s. If I go into device manager, it's listed as running in UDMA Mode 4. Shouldn't it be Mode 6? I have the feeling something ain't right.
My second question is regarding Trim. I know I need Trim to keep my SSD in top shape. I know Win 7 supports Trim. I know the drive supports Trim. But does the Marvell controller support Trim? I've spent some time on the internet trying to find out for sure one way or another. This seems like a mystery on par with JFK. Some people say it does support Trim. Some say it doesn't. Some say it only supports trim if you use the MS drivers. Some say trim is not controller-dependent at all (which I find hard to believe). Apparently Marvell has said they can't confirm whether it supports Trim or not (because they don't know the details of Gigabyte's implementation), but they're not saying it doesn't. And Gigabyte doesn't say anything about Trim at all that I've seen. So does it support trim or not? Does anyone actually know?
Of course, the easy solution here is to just move the drive to one of the open slots on the other controller (Intel), which is Sata 3GB/s and which I know supports Trim. But if I can get the added speed of the 6GB/s controller, I'd like to have it. I know the real-world difference in performance between the two is small, but dammit, I want that difference, and I paid for a MB that supports 6GB/s!
I did, didn't I?
Any thoughts?
What I want to do is to confirm that the drive is actually working the way it's supposed to and actually running at full speed. I'm not sure how to do this. If I go into the Marvell Raid Utility (just for the info, I'm not running a RAID array), it says the drive is running at 6 GB/s. If I go into device manager, it's listed as running in UDMA Mode 4. Shouldn't it be Mode 6? I have the feeling something ain't right.
My second question is regarding Trim. I know I need Trim to keep my SSD in top shape. I know Win 7 supports Trim. I know the drive supports Trim. But does the Marvell controller support Trim? I've spent some time on the internet trying to find out for sure one way or another. This seems like a mystery on par with JFK. Some people say it does support Trim. Some say it doesn't. Some say it only supports trim if you use the MS drivers. Some say trim is not controller-dependent at all (which I find hard to believe). Apparently Marvell has said they can't confirm whether it supports Trim or not (because they don't know the details of Gigabyte's implementation), but they're not saying it doesn't. And Gigabyte doesn't say anything about Trim at all that I've seen. So does it support trim or not? Does anyone actually know?
Of course, the easy solution here is to just move the drive to one of the open slots on the other controller (Intel), which is Sata 3GB/s and which I know supports Trim. But if I can get the added speed of the 6GB/s controller, I'd like to have it. I know the real-world difference in performance between the two is small, but dammit, I want that difference, and I paid for a MB that supports 6GB/s!
I did, didn't I?
Any thoughts?
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