Intel X25-M G2 34nm Firmware 2CV102HD Quick Test
SSD by jmke @ 2009-12-02
Intel recently released a new firmware for the second generation X25 SSDs. We flash one 160Gb SSDSA2M160G2GC to the new firmware to see what has changed.
Review
Introduction & Test Setup
Introduction
Those keeping track of the SSD evolution know that Intel’s SSD product have set a high standard for others to follow and try to keep up with. Their X25-M series features 10 controllers and has ruled the performance charts for everything but sequential read/write operations.
Intel released a new firmware for their second generation X25 drives (found in shops with “G2” in the product name), these drives feature smaller 34nm memory modules, which allowed Intel to fit more of them into a small package at a better price point. The entry level X25-M G2 is now 80Gb in size. Doing a firmware flash on this drive will allow TRIM support in Windows 7. For more info about TRIM we refer to Anand’s excellent write-up here.
The higher end Intel SSDSA2M160G2GC 160Gb drive or X25-M G2 160Gb can also be flashed from the older “2CV102G9” firmware to the new version “2CV102HD”. Next to adding TRIM support, the firmware boosts the write speed on the 160gb drive. By how much? Let us find out.
The new firmware
The new firmware can be found at the Intel site here
Yes the other models are also listed, you can upgrade them… but the release notes list “No changes” for these models; only for the X25-M/X18-M on 34nm we see:
2CV102HD : This firmware revision has several continuous improvement optimizations intended to provide the best possible user experience with the Intel SSD.
2CV102HA : This firmware revision supports the ATA Data Set Management Command “Trim”. Also, this firmware revision includes several continuous improvement optimizations that provide for increased write performance on 160GB drives.
The 2CV102HD is a tweaked version of the previous one, no clear sign of what has changed; there were reports of SSDs flashed to 2CV102HA no longer working; so this latest revision should hopefully fix them.
Test Setup
We installed the X25-M 160Gb G2 in a Dell E6400 Laptop. Windows 7 64-bit was installed. CrystalDiskMark test and HDD info tool used to see what changed.
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Those keeping track of the SSD evolution know that Intel’s SSD product have set a high standard for others to follow and try to keep up with. Their X25-M series features 10 controllers and has ruled the performance charts for everything but sequential read/write operations.
Intel released a new firmware for their second generation X25 drives (found in shops with “G2” in the product name), these drives feature smaller 34nm memory modules, which allowed Intel to fit more of them into a small package at a better price point. The entry level X25-M G2 is now 80Gb in size. Doing a firmware flash on this drive will allow TRIM support in Windows 7. For more info about TRIM we refer to Anand’s excellent write-up here.
The higher end Intel SSDSA2M160G2GC 160Gb drive or X25-M G2 160Gb can also be flashed from the older “2CV102G9” firmware to the new version “2CV102HD”. Next to adding TRIM support, the firmware boosts the write speed on the 160gb drive. By how much? Let us find out.
The new firmware
The new firmware can be found at the Intel site here
This firmware update tool provides the latest firmware for the following Intel SSDs in all capacities:
- Intel® X25-M/X18-M SATA SSD on 50nm (black case) - updates to FW version 8820
- Intel® X25-E SATA SSD on 50nm (black case) - updates to FW version 8850
- Intel® X25-M/X18-M SATA SSD on 34nm (silver case) - updates to FW version 02HD
Yes the other models are also listed, you can upgrade them… but the release notes list “No changes” for these models; only for the X25-M/X18-M on 34nm we see:
The 2CV102HD is a tweaked version of the previous one, no clear sign of what has changed; there were reports of SSDs flashed to 2CV102HA no longer working; so this latest revision should hopefully fix them.
Test Setup
We installed the X25-M 160Gb G2 in a Dell E6400 Laptop. Windows 7 64-bit was installed. CrystalDiskMark test and HDD info tool used to see what changed.
->
before and after - features and performance
Before and After – TRIM Feature
Windows 7 starts up in less than 30 seconds, with AntiVirus software and other tools in the system tray, the OS is very snappy, thanks to the goodness that is SSD. If you haven’t worked on a machine powered by a current generation SSD, you are missing out.
First up we launched Crystal Disk Info tool:
Things to note here are the Firmware version and the Support Features area.
We rebooted the system, went into the BIOS, set the SATA operation mode to “IDE”; booted from the downloaded CD. After about 5min the new firmware was written to the G2 and the system was powered down.
The upgrade process is quite painless and if everything goes fine you should not have any data loss; of course, nothing is certain in the IT world; so we recommend making a backup of your valuable data if it resides on the SSD.
The system was started up again and CDI revealed the following changes:
The firmware version has correctly changed, and in the feature list we see that “TRIM” has been added!
Anandtech tested to see if TRIM was working by performing 4k random writes, doing a performance test before/after; they noticed a performance drop, then they formatted the drive, this will invoke the TRIM command, and afterwards the performance was back up to the original highs. Now what if you don’t want to do all that just to see if TRIM is working under Windows 7?
Open a command prompt (with admin rights) and run the command:
This will check the value of the disabledeletenotify variable. If it returns “0” it means that the TRIM feature is enabled in Windows 7, it doesn’t mean it’s working though.
Next item on the checklist is to go under Device Manager and check your storage controllers; the drivers of the one the SSD is hooked on to should be the Microsoft driver! Any other 3rd party driver (including Intel Matrix) doesn’t support TRIM.
Performance
CrystalDiskMark HDD bench does read and write tests; we ran it on the Intel SSD with a test file of 1000Mb, an average of 5 repeats. The first test is sequential, the second is random with 512k file size, the third random with 4k file size chunks, the last test is the 4k random with a queue dept of 32.
The results with the shipping firmware:
The results with the new firmware:
A noticeable boost in sequential write speeds, the G2 is now capable of over 100Mb/s, while sequential read speeds dropped by ~10mb/s. The 512k test shows less difference, the write tests are even 100% identical.
At 4k the new firmware proves superior in both read and write. With a queue depth of 32 the result remain consistently slightly in front of the previous firmware.
Looking at the numbers, if you’re a lucky owner of X25-M G2 160Gb, there is plenty of reason to upgrade to this latest firmware and enjoy extra features and performance for free!
Windows 7 starts up in less than 30 seconds, with AntiVirus software and other tools in the system tray, the OS is very snappy, thanks to the goodness that is SSD. If you haven’t worked on a machine powered by a current generation SSD, you are missing out.
First up we launched Crystal Disk Info tool:
Things to note here are the Firmware version and the Support Features area.
We rebooted the system, went into the BIOS, set the SATA operation mode to “IDE”; booted from the downloaded CD. After about 5min the new firmware was written to the G2 and the system was powered down.
The upgrade process is quite painless and if everything goes fine you should not have any data loss; of course, nothing is certain in the IT world; so we recommend making a backup of your valuable data if it resides on the SSD.
The system was started up again and CDI revealed the following changes:
The firmware version has correctly changed, and in the feature list we see that “TRIM” has been added!
Anandtech tested to see if TRIM was working by performing 4k random writes, doing a performance test before/after; they noticed a performance drop, then they formatted the drive, this will invoke the TRIM command, and afterwards the performance was back up to the original highs. Now what if you don’t want to do all that just to see if TRIM is working under Windows 7?
Open a command prompt (with admin rights) and run the command:
“fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify”.
This will check the value of the disabledeletenotify variable. If it returns “0” it means that the TRIM feature is enabled in Windows 7, it doesn’t mean it’s working though.
Next item on the checklist is to go under Device Manager and check your storage controllers; the drivers of the one the SSD is hooked on to should be the Microsoft driver! Any other 3rd party driver (including Intel Matrix) doesn’t support TRIM.
Performance
CrystalDiskMark HDD bench does read and write tests; we ran it on the Intel SSD with a test file of 1000Mb, an average of 5 repeats. The first test is sequential, the second is random with 512k file size, the third random with 4k file size chunks, the last test is the 4k random with a queue dept of 32.
The results with the shipping firmware:
The results with the new firmware:
A noticeable boost in sequential write speeds, the G2 is now capable of over 100Mb/s, while sequential read speeds dropped by ~10mb/s. The 512k test shows less difference, the write tests are even 100% identical.
At 4k the new firmware proves superior in both read and write. With a queue depth of 32 the result remain consistently slightly in front of the previous firmware.
Looking at the numbers, if you’re a lucky owner of X25-M G2 160Gb, there is plenty of reason to upgrade to this latest firmware and enjoy extra features and performance for free!