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Even with the slow downs it is still at least 10 times faster than the Velociraptor.
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- Thread starter ildondeigiocchi
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Even with the slow downs it is still at least 10 times faster than the Velociraptor.
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16739
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=691
"This update implements several continuous improvements and optimizations to the drive algorithms including a resolution for a performance issue first reported by the PC Perspective review website. Keep in mind that the risk of a typical PC user experiencing this issue is very low. We are offering this firmware download to our OEM customers and any consumers who have purchased the drives. Consumers with questions can contact their PC maker or visit Intel support at http://www.intel.com/support/9089.htm for more information. "
"The 8820 firmware enables the X25 to power through any preexisting fragmentation, keeping write speeds *way* closer to 80 MB/sec. While write speeds very briefly dipped to less than 10 MB/sec, I suspect it was working particularly hard to defragment that particular area."
Firmware Can't Fix Everything
Despite the massive improvements seen with the new firmware, there are a few things not yet rectified. Lets get these out of the way before proceeding further.
The MAC thing
Some MacBook users have reported their X25-M failing to cooperate with Bootcamp. This is caused by a timing issue related to the SATA handshake process that does not play nicely with some of the newer MacBook hardware. Low level handshake timings are only partially controlled by the user-flashable firmware. The earlier part of the power-on process is controlled by the bootloader, which is unfortunately not end user flashable.
There is a very narrow slice of drives affected by this issue. It really boils down to how much of an early adopter you were. While all current (as of this writing) X25-M drives have shipped with the same 8610 firmware, the bootloader ROM *was* revised about a month into retail sales. The 160GB model is not affected, as it went into production with the newer ROM. This is a very rare timing issue that depends on variables other than just the bootloader. It is entirely possible you will never be affected, even if you own a MacBook and a first run X25-M. Intel is making things right and encourages those effected users to contact their support team for resolution. One of our pre-production review units showed this problem, and the 8820 firmware did not correct the issue.
Thanks for the links... I just applied the firmware update to my X25-M successfully. No bootcamp or Nvidia card issues (as warned in the documentation). The drive seems lightning quick as always -- so I can't say I noticed any improvement.
You have the Mac Pro, right? So you should never see the Nvidia/Bootcamp issue. It is only for Nvidia-based macs like the newer macbook/macbook pro and mac mini.
Ah -- well I didn't read the documentation that carefully then 🙂
Anyway, the firmware update was quick and painless. It doesn't require erasing anything and the flashing itself only took about a second.