Notes to self

This benchmark and review is to show what performance differences you can expect when you try to run a SATA 3 SSD on older hardware that only supports SATA II (300 Mb/s) connections.

I was recently looking to purchase a SSD drive as an upgrade for my old socket 775 Core 2 Duo machine to keep it alive a bit longer. This meant purchasing a current SATA 3 drive and running it connected via the on-board SATA 2 connection.

When attempting to research whether I needed an add-on SATA 3 card I was unable to find any real world reviews of this type of upgrade, so this review is designed to fill this gap.

The Rig

Mother Board:	Socket 775, Gigabyte EP45-DS3
CPU:	Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz, running overclocked @ 4.0Ghz.
Memory:	4GB (2x2GB) Corsair CM2X2048-8500C5C (1066Mhz)
Video:	MSi R6850 Storm II 1G OC (R6850 PM2DIGD5)
SSD:	Corsair Force GT 120GB, (1.3.3 firmware on SATA II in AHCI mode)
ATA Drive:	Segate Barracuda® 7200.12 1 TB
OS:	Windows 7 SP1 – 64 bit

SSD Benchmark

The SSD drive in question is a Corsair Force GT 120GB.

Full specs and details can be found here on guru3D

This is connected via the on board SATA II Connection.

The theoretical throughput is 300Mb/s. The following is the results of AS SSD.

The overall score is comparable with the results from the guru 3d review with the obvious difference being the Sequential Read maxing out at 263Mb/s.

Here is the compression benchmark, so clearly the drive is not being pushed very hard..

OS Benchmark

The machine is running Windows 7 – 64bit, plus all the services and software one would expect, including:

• AVG Anitvirus
• Catalyst control centre
• HP Printer Software
• Msi Afterburner
• Core Temp
• Network and All CPU meter gadgets

The Test

This benchmark recorded the total time to startup the PC on the 7200RPM 1TB drive vs the SSD. The benchmark recorded the time from when windows started loading after the POST screen, until a working desktop was available. This was identified as the time at which the Gadgets appeared on the desktop. This was split into 4 timing points:

1. time to login screen
2. time to login
3. time to see the desktop
4. time until the gadgets loaded.

The windows startup time is now 4 times faster with the SSD drive, launching to a working desktop in less than 25 seconds, (including typing my password!)

Windows Experience Score

The windows experience went from…

to..

The slowest component is now my CPU.. may have to tweak that overclock

Edit Caveat: Note you will have to factor in the fact that the SSD benchmark is on a clean install Windows 7 whilst the ATA Drive have been running for a while, but even so I have been using the SSD setup over the past few weeks since writing this review and start up is still very quick with only a few seconds between clicking login and being able to use the computer

Crysis

I timed the loading of the application and the loading of a new game.
With the following results.

The load times were generally faster on the SSD drive and seem to have a larger performance gap as we moved from Crysis to Crysis 2.

Crysis Benchmarks

I ran both the Crysis and Crysis 2 benchmarks with no consistent pattern of improvement. The tests were within 2 fps of each other but in some cases the SSD was better and some worse. So it appears the Disk has no real impact on Crysis frame rates.

General Performance

The general performance of loading applications like Internet Explorer and Firefox, windows media centre was recorded. In most instances the load times on the SSD drive was around the 0.5 – 2.0 seconds, whilst load times on the hard drive were sometimes comparable but more often they were slower (Browsers took approx 4 seconds to load to Google homepage), but the hard drive was inconsistent in performance with load times as high as 14.5 seconds for IE being recorded.

PC Mark – Vantage (1.0.2.0)

To give some kind of industry benchmark for the entire PC experience I benchmarked the machine for overall performance using PC Mark, the results were

Hard Drive Score – 6313
SSD Score – 10683

This is a 70% improvement over the Hard drives score.

Conclusion

The general feal of the machine is much snappier with the SSD drive. Applications install really fast, open quickly and it is a nicer experience to use with no major delays when using the applications. Also I just realised my computer is also eerilly silent on start-up no more mechanical whirring and noises

I would say that it was worth the money even with just an old SATA II connection. Also this drive will be a useful addition to my Laptop at some point in the future .

SATA 3 add-on Cards

The next stage of this benchmark test will be to get my hands on a SATA 3 card like the ASRock SATA 3 card or the ASUS U3S6 and see if these cards actually provide any performance benefit, stay tuned…

Firstly, I will start this article by saying, I am a novice overclocker, i.e. this is the first go at overclocking a CPU in anger.

On top of that I am one of these people who choose to stay a few steps behind technology because its cheaper, and I can’t justify spending thousands on a new rig every few years. So 6 months ago when my Pentium 4 finally bit the dust I headed to the internet, eBay and various local online distributors and purchased everything to build a new computer, full cost $550 for everything excluding the case which I kept from my last PC.

Therefore, the specs on the test machine are not the latest and greatest, but should be comparable to other reviews of various coolers on the web to allow a comparison. The test machine is spec’d as follows:

• CPU* – Intel core 2 duo E8400
• Motherboard* – Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 rev 1.0
• Memory – Corsair CM2X2048-8500C5C – 4GB 1066Mhz
• HDD – Seagate ST31000528AS, 1TB, 32M, 7200RPM SATA2 Barracuda 7200.12
• Video* – ASUS EA-HD3850 512 MB
• Cooler* – Stock Intel Pentium
• PSU - Zalman ZM600-ST

* purchased second hand on e-bay.

So here I am wanting to get a bit more performance out of my CPU but the stock cooler will not do. A bit of research was done and I saw the A1-V8 had a few reviews that said it was good for the price, but I could find no reviews about the A1-V10, so thought I would do one for myself.

Aywun A1-V10 (May 2010 @ AU $43 )
Firstly be warned this is a big unit, dimensions:

• Weight: 865g
• Length: 131mm
• Width: 103mm
• Height: 153mm

The box says, a minimum 190mm case depth recommended. Fortunately my case is 205mm deep, but it only just fits, so be warned.

Here are some Photos:

The unit comes packaged with:

• all the mounting brackets to support the various sockets that it is compatible with.
• thermal compound, 25% silver,
• adjustable fan speed controller, with double sided tape for mounting it on the case
• anti-vibration rubber mounting brackets for mounting the fan to the cooler

Installation

Installation was relatively painless. As mentioned before the unit is big. The fan only just fit in but it does position well with the case fan so you get good ventilation with the Heat Sink fan blowing straight at the rear exhaust fan.

I used Artic Silver 5 Thermal paste for the installation.

The instructions were in pictures with very few words and I was a bit confused as the backing plate had a clear plastic covering on one side, and I was unsure as to which side was to go up. I put the plastic facing the underside of the motherboard, as the film would have interfered with the screws being able to slot firmly into the notches for the various sockets.

Pictures Again.

Testing
I have tested using both the Intel Burn Test 2.5 and Prime 95 @ stock 3.0Ghz, 3.6Ghz and 4.0Ghz.

Note: with the stock cooler it was unable to complete the intel burn test @ 3.6 Ghz. I stopped them when they reached 70 degrees.

All testing was performed with the Fan Setting on low. I found that the difference between Low and High was generally about 4 degress. I have a case fan that I run @ 1500 RPM, and at the same setting the A1-V10 adds nothing to the noise of my computer.

All testing was done with ambient temperature of  17 Degrees.

Results

10 to 15 degrees cooler than stock !

The stock tests were stopped when it reached 70 degrees, even so that is 16 degrees cooler on the Burn Test Std. Also 7 degrees cooler @ idel.

With the fan on High these Intel Burn test would not get above 54 degrees. I intend to leave the fan @ 15oo RPM and in this test that raised the temp to 56 degrees.

Conclusion

When running overclocked @ 4.0Ghz (25% overclock), the A1-V10 gave results the same as the stock cooler @ stock 3.0Ghz.

Pros

• Cheap
• Good Cooling
• Solid mounting
• Adjustable fan speed.

Cons

• Have to remove the motherboard to install.
• Very big, so make sure your case is deep enough.

Overall, $43 well spent I say.